Tuesday: Good News Day

 

I was having the oddest dream this morning when John woke me.  In the dream he'd booked a family day outing to a labyrinth of an old house to be followed by sea fishing.  Bess, Sam and the children, John and me, and Caleb were all there.  Bess was troubled about something and I got an overall feeling of sadness from her that really made me feel upset.

Somehow I got left behind and I kept catching glimpses of Caleb who'd apparently been cut off from the group as well and I was chasing him down.  There was a room full of huge ice blocks (pretty sure that is the result of reading Farmer Boy), a sand snail farm with gigantic snails that had a Zen like patterns raked into the sand beds, a farmer's market (prices on beef were good, lol) and more.  Suddenly John was with me and he corralled Caleb.  We were checking out of the place and the cashier insisted I had to unbox every item I was purchasing because they wanted to recycle it all.  I was so upset because some of the items were meant to be gifts.  At this point, John woke me.  

Now the dream was neither more or less strange than other dreams I've had but I was especially struck by Bess in the dream.  And then John came out of the room this morning and said, "I had the strangest dream last night.  Bess was in it."  That is the odd thing to me, that we were both dreaming of her.  

We pray for her each night and I pray for her off and on throughout the day, but today I've been especially mindful of the need to cover her in prayer.  Please join me in this.

We headed off to the dermatologist's office this morning.  They were very efficient, very personable and nice.  John got a diagnosis right away of Basal cell cancer.  They assured him it was not melanoma and that it is a fairly common skin type of skin cancer that is easily removed.  

They took a sample that has gone to the lab in Savannah for testing but we were told to expect to hear the results in 1-2 weeks and then they'll schedule his surgery.  As well he will need to return visit 2-3 times a year for them to check him to insure that he doesn't have more spots.  And helpfully the technician told John that if he sees a pimple or a sore to mark the date on the calendar and in six weeks check again.  If it's there still, make an appointment immediately.

John's relief was palatable.  You could see him physically relax.  Again, I think the technician and PA were absolutely the best.  They immediately put him at ease and their calm demeanor was helpful.  John, being a retired medic, knows professional calm from real calm.  He understood their lack of concern and knew it was a good thing, not a cover-up meant to help him relax.  

I'm relieved as well.  I was fairly sure from the way this place would heal over and in two days time turn into a sore once more that it was cancerous.  I was beyond frustrated with John for his refusal to even consider going to the doctor and his insistence on doctoring it himself, but this man can be incredibly stubborn when he chooses to be.  Just Saturday I'd told him he probably needed to go to the doctor about it and he said "I can't afford it!"  I told him bluntly, "Well if you die from this I'll be sure to say how grateful I am that you saved us that $200, especially as I'm making out the check for your funeral fees!"  That really ticked him off. 

But it is over.  Thank God!  He has vowed to wear the UV protecting shirt and his big hat and long pants and boots and gloves when he goes out to mow in the future instead of heading off for 3 hours in the hard sun of the day in shorts and a t-shirt.  

I don't plan to do much of anything else today beyond making supper.  I am wiped out, more than I'd thought I'd be and I know that I must have been holding onto tension the same as John.  He walked into the house this afternoon, sat down in his chair and immediately went right to sleep.

later:  John laughs every time I say, "I'm done."  He knows well and good that I am not and I wasn't yesterday either, except I did leave this post hanging.  

I got up to make our supper, Philly Cheesesteak Pizza.  It was good but needs tweaking a little more.  The crust was a little too thin for my liking and I put a bit too much sauce on the crust.  I think it could have used some mozzarella as a sort of 'glue' that the provolone didn't offer.  But flavor-wise it was on point.    I sliced some sirloin (or was it Chuck Steaks?) very thin and cooked onions, peppers and mushrooms as well as the meat, then made my own sauce using broth, worcestershire, steak sauce and ketchup.  

While all of that was cooking in its various stages, I mixed up chocolate chip cookies. I'd put the eggs and butter out yesterday to come to room temperature.  Mixing took hardly anytime at all.  I made those up into doughballs for the freezer.

And of course, I cleaned, and cleaned and cleaned the kitchen.  

As for leisure time, I read.  I sailed through quite a few chapters of Farmer Boy  The sheer abundance of good foods is astonishing but the real story is behind all the incredibly hard work that went into that farm and it required every able-bodied person to help, including the children.  As well it was year round work.  There was no point in the year when there wasn't something to be done.

And his mother was just as busy as her husband and children were.  Again, the sheer volume of food she prepared was astounding plus she did a routine baking day on Saturdays.  She spun and wove woolens and made clothing for all of the family from the inside out.  She kept the house and must have had a kitchen garden, preserved foods, made cheese, butter, and cream from the daily milkings of the cows.  

I'm watching the third season of Mountain Men and those guys there are always busy, too.  At one point they mentioned that Eustace Conway ate about 5500 calories each day because of the sheer hard work he did daily.  Compare that to the average 2000 calorie a day diet of most and note that even so there is a little extra weight being carried.   These guys on Mountain Men are not carrying extra weight.  You might think they are due to the multiple layers of clothing they wear but they are lean and strong, everyone of them.  

I think about that as I use my 'servants' of running water, dishwasher, slow cooker, gas stove, etc.  Even so I never lack for something to do though I might give in to being leisurely for a longer spell each day.

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