UPDATE on my cancer. I'm pleased to have this news for you and apologize for its length.

I took this photo on Memorial Day as I walked the path to the Benson Bridge at Multnomah Falls, on a quest to celebrate my new-found-self by making a steadfast effort to overcome my fear of heights. I had to get in enough steps to burn off those pancakes that I had for breakfast and knew that walking circles in the crowd of people trying to see the falls from that viewpoint wouldn’t cut it. The only way to get those steps was to take the two-tenths-of-a-mile paved path through the woods, switchbacks and all.

The photo illustrates how I see my life today. There on the right is a bridge, a pathway, that has been somewhat blocked--that's what my life was like while undergoing two surgeries, six rounds of chemo, and 28 radiation treatments with the fear of not getting rid of the cancer hanging over my head. I had a visible path in my life, but it was blocked by the cancer. Those medical procedures I listed opened up the block by doing away with the cancer in my body. Now I see my life as that wide-open bridge, a pathway, that you see on the left. I'm on my way to my future, one step at a time, one correct bite of food at a time, one sip of life-giving water at a time, one round of laughter mixed with smiles at a time, one out-and-about enjoying life at a time, one realization how much God loves me at a time, one heart full of joy at a time because my sons are so close by, and one warm feeling when I think of so many folks who love and care about me.

Monday morning I had an appointment with my oncology surgeon. She was pleased about my CT scan from May 2 with no abnormalities; pleased with my exercise, weight loss, and eating right efforts; pleased with my attitude and outlook; pleased that I had used my new-found-self in overcoming my fear of heights. She said something along the lines of what we hope for each of our patients is that they come to a point where they realize they’ve looked their mortality in the eye and have gone on to regain joy in their lives. She told me she knows that I’ve done that, a sweet smile all over her face.

I myself am pleased that she said she'd see me in three months, no CT scan scheduled prior to that appointment. The only thing I have to watch for is any change in my health, such as increasing fatigue. She knows that my level of fatigue will continue to fluctuate for some time to come, but if I go downhill, I'm to contact her then, not wait for the three-months-off appointment.

I don’t believe I’ll have to call ahead. I told her that over the three-day Memorial Day weekend, I went for a late evening walk on the Sunday, came in and sat down in the recliner, not out of breath, not tired, and this thought popped into my head: I feel younger. Shocked, I let myself say it out loud: I feel younger. Then I told her that I’d not mentioned this to anyone else, that I’d saved it to share with her. She smiled again. When Lamont came back into the exam room, I shared it with him and we all three smiled. Now I’m sharing it with y’all and know in my heart that as you read this, you’re smiling, too.

I'm pleased to be able to report this to y'all and to say again, thank you for your continued prayers, love, and concern.

ESHT 2014 - Several photos of boats, a canal, and a footbridge, taken through the coach window

In Wrexham, our coach drive Tommy made a valiant effort trying to cross the bridge from which I took these photos--it's on the New Road and goes over the canal. The bridge turned out to be too narrow and awkwardly angled for us to continue, so he backed off it and parked nearby in a coach park. We didn't have to walk far to experience something wonderful, up close and personal--those photos tomorrow, promise!



Right out of the camera, not straightened or altered in anyway. Isn't it an enticing sight?



This one's a bit blurry, but since it has that yellow and green boat beyond and to the right of the footbridge, I just have to show it to you. Where, you may wonder, on what is that boat floating?



There's the yellow and green boat again, with a red and white sign at the end. The gold lettering says Aqueduct Cruises. Yep, aqueduct. Isn't that something high up in the air that moves water, built centuries ago by Romans? As I looked out the window, listening to tour director Anna telling us facts about it, I got more and more excited.



Found on the Internet: Pontcysyllte Aqueduct - They call it 'the stream in the sky.' Pontcysyllte means 'the bridge that connects.' It consists of a cast iron trough supported 126 ft. above the river on iron arched ribs carried on nineteen hollow masonry piers (pillars). Each span is 53 ft. wide. To keep the aqueduct as light as possible, the slender masonry piers are partly hollow and taper at their summit. The mortar was made of oxen blood, lime and water. Kind of like treacle toffee. The aqueduct holds 1.5 million litres of water and takes two hours to drain. The structure is 1,007 feet long, with the River Dee running beneath it. The work was undertaken by Thomas Telford and supervised by the more experienced canal engineer William Jessop. The first stone was laid in July 1795. It was completed in 1805 using local stone. This is the largest aqueduct in Britain. It's fed by water from the Horseshoe Falls near Llangollen. The water runs through an iron trough that measures 11 feet 10 inches wide and 5 feet 3 inches deep. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument; a Grade I Listed structure and was granted World Heritage status in June 2009, putting it on an equal footing with the Great Barrier Reef and Statue of Liberty!

The towpath is mounted above the water, with the inner edge carried on cast-iron pllars in the trough. This arrangement allows the water displaced by the passage of a narrow boat to flow easily under the towpath and around the boat, enabling relatively free passage. Pedestrians, and the horses once used for towing, are protected from falling from the aqueduct by railings on the outside edge of the towpath, but the holes in the top flange of the other side of the trough, capable of mounting railings, were never used. The trough sides rise only about 6 inches (15 cm) above the water level, less than the depth of freeboard of an empty narrow boat, so the helmsman of the boat has no visual protection from the impression of being at the edge of an abyss. The trough of the Cosgrove aqueduct has a similar structure, although it rests on trestles rather than iron arches. It is also less impressively high.

Every five years the ends of the aqueduct are closed and a plug in one of the highest spans is opened to drain the canal water into the River Dee below, for inspection and maintenance of the trough.



A sign, in English and Welsh, about a bridge beyond where we parked. I wonder if there was a sign about the one that we tried? I didn't find one when I Google-walked around and over the bridge. I did get to see its narrow width and awkward angles. To my non-coach-drive-eye, our coach carrying 52 tour-goers was just too long. I'm so glad that the coach park was as close as it was to the aqueduct. Yea for us! And it didn't rain!

Rooftop Garden Friday, No. 1

Flowers bloom, making shapes with their stems and blossoms. In the background, the newest bridge across the Willamette River rises. I liked the juxtaposition enough to try to get a decent photo. A blustery wind got involved, too.

Thursday, August 25, Part 1 of this day's fun!

On the phone--during one of our numerous phone calls discussing important things like "Are you gettin' ready for us, Lah-neigh-yet?" and "What are we gonna do all those dayzzzz?"--Milton told me the one thing he wanted to be sure to do, visit Multnomah Falls like they had done with Mama and me back in May, 2007, on their first visit. "I want to video it 'cause Mama loved it so."

Here's how we got it done.

Lamont picked us up and drove us to the Zipcar which does not live within walking distance of my apartment. Bus distance, yes, but that sweet son of mine offered to give us a ride over there, and we jumped at the chance! The Ford Escape waited patiently on the corner of SE Division and SE Caesar Chavez/39th Avenue in a service station parking lot. We put the cooler in the back and drove over to Fred Meyer for supplemental supplies: our bottles of water and pop, some cookies, some chips, and a loaf of buttermilk bread. Then we headed east toward our first stop.


I love this natural wonder even if it's difficult to get all of it in one photo. I read online that the upper falls of 542 feet and the lower falls of 69 feet have a gradual nine foot drop in elevation between the two of them which adds up to a total height of 620 feet. Not sure I totally understand that bit about the gradual nine foot drop in elevation, and since I won't be walking up to the bridge any time soon and looking into the pool at the bottom of the upper falls, I may never understand it. And I hadn't read those facts prior to Milton's going up on the bridge, so I didn't know to ask him to check it out for me.


I had no trouble understanding the sign on the left.


A. E. Doyle, one of my favorite Portland architects, designed the 1925 Multnomah Falls Lodge, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places. A bit about the lodge that I found on the Internet: The Multnomah Falls Lodge is located at Multnomah Falls, Oregon, at Columbia River Mile (RM) 136. It was built in 1925 as an overnight rest area on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Originally the lodge had dormitories and four rooms for the overnight stays.

Then I found this up-to-date information on the building's Web site: Thank you for your interest in an overnite stay at the Lodge. Unfortunately, the building was origionally construsted as a day lodge only, and does not offer overnight accommodations.

Available for public viewing, the Lodge houses a U.S. Forest Service interpretive center, an exceptional gift shop, , snack bar, espresso cart and public restrooms on the plaza level. The second floor accessed by Stair or elevator is home to the restaurant lobby and dining rooms, spectacular patio dining in suitable weather, cozy lounge and bar area.

Ah, the joy of the Internet, where anyone can post anything. I'm pretty sure we ought to trust the building's own Web site as factual.


I managed to get it all in one photo! Amazing accomplishment, and I didn't have to stand on my head. My camera has one of those viewer thingeys that rotates so that you can hold your camera in out-of-the-ordinary places, so I wrapped the strap tightly around my wrist and held the camera outside the railing, with the viewer thingey tilted so that I could see what the camera saw. Neat!


Milton on the bridge, wide shot.


Milton on the bridge, close shot.


The best buds, ever!


One last look, for Mama.


Then we headed for the SUV.