Simple Pleasures

The old cliche that having a life-threatening illness makes one put things in perspective is actually true. Sunday, for instance, was just a very special day. We had a delicious dinner the night before with close friends, then was treated to another warm, sunny day. I went for a long walk with Mara & the dog that just felt great, something I would not have thought twice about last summer, when I was routinely walking the golf course for 4 or 5 miles several times a week.
Then, Chris came over with his new 12-string guitar and treated us to an hour of playing & singing. I realized it had been months since I'd heard him. He has a wonderful voice, an amazingly huge repertoire and the new guitar sounds great. Among the many songs he did was Jackson Browne's "Something Fine" with the line "Now you say 'Morocco' and that makes me smile; I haven't seen Morocco in a long, long while," and several other references to the place where Tony & I met. Made me think I'd really like to get back there for a visit with Tony, all these years later.
As Chris was singing, we were treated to another spectacular sunset, which made me think of Jayson, who has some great sunset photos he took when he was home. It was very moving.
One of the several pluses of the diagnosis is that the news is still spreading among long-ago colleagues, old friends I'd lost track of, even a favorite-of-mine one-time girlfriend of Jayson's from when they were teens. Every day brings new e-mails and cards from these 'lost' people, so the circle is growing exponentially and it's just great to make contact again. I was never very good about keeping up old networks. I was always too busy with the current to spend time on the past. Now, I have the time and am relishing the reconnections.
So I am just enjoying working on Bounty, feeling good, getting ready for a big Thanksgiving with family -- all simple pleasures.