Company!

Yesterday I woke up and felt slightly better than the previous day. I immediately thought: I'd better look in the fridge and figure out what needs to be cooked...and discovered the big eggplant I had bought a week before. I sliced it, onion and garlic carefully into strips and sauteed them together. Just as I got the mixture fully cooked and sat down, Trooper barked and I looked out to see cousin Terry. She brought veggie soup and ginger snaps and we sat down and had a great visit. We visited wig options and there really is a favorite and second...both contingent on different things to make each right. One needs a shaping and cut and the other needs to be received in the proper size...so that matter is not yet resolved. I wear caps and scarfs for the time being. When I want to let my bare head breathe, I mostly find it chilly. Chilly and Central New York in winter...cal surprise.

Just after Terry departed, a call from Bernie came and she would be over in a half hour! Wow! Bernie and I had not seen each other to talk face-to-face in months. It turned out we chatted the gamut for many hours. Thoroughly enjoyed having spent the day visiting!

I was tuckered out and find I am fighting a cold...and it is cold. Today after tackling some paperwork and attempting to remedy some California affairs on the phone, I had to drop off papers to UPS. I could not believe the temp of the wind gusts I endured while walking into and from the store. It had me stop and really think about living in a climate such as this long term. I truly do not wish to continue on this path once I am well.

The patterns of people's behavior vary from region to region. This fact became apparent to me as a young teenager who traveled across the country gaining my first formal education post grade school. The patterns and norms and cultural variances later drew me to become a sociologist.  My previous life experiences, the years spent elsewhere, cannot be erased. I have experienced a much milder way of life and want that again. There are some very positive things that have developed here in my old homeland and I have found places where I can experience a land-to-soul bond. But California beckons. If only I could be at the shore looking out to the Pacific...or touch the bark of a redwood tree.

Reality of the day is I am here and grateful for many reasons to be able to say that. When this challenging chapter of restoring balance to a body with cancer is over, there are new chapters to begin...So today, for the first time in a long while, I went ahead and looked online to distant places I hope to one day visit. It was a fun diversion. I looked at the village in Sicily, Castiglione, where my mother immigrated from. I recall the stories she once told and have a place in my heart earmarked for that place from which my mother came. I located rural lodging spots and those nearby the sea...and for now, that little hopeful dream is going to carry me through the remainder of this day.

I feel better but not great. I want to walk and have found it too dang cold to do so outdoors. I am going to set some exercise goals for the period of time in between chemo. And as the days get notably longer, I rejoice internally...