Friday, January 6, 2012

ASALTED

[BY PETER]

Today I finished the third week of the 5 and 1/2 week regimen of radiation (5x/wk.) and chemotherapy (1x/wk.). Vital signs look good and the weight loss has stabilized with the help of a prescribed medication. After we returned home, Susan and I took a long walk with Buddy the Border Collie to the Little River and back.

Tree near Little River
 We both felt good and strong today. Susan is trying out a month of a vegan diet, which I seem to confuse with a "wiccan" diet. If any of you know the difference, please set me straight.

Susan has taken a strong interest in good nutrition as a means of wellness and disease-prevention and -cure. She reads constantly and discusses the issues with both believers and skeptics alike. Though Susan fully agrees that I need to maintain and gain weight (I'm 6'3'' and 193 lbs. today), she'll often and rightly suggest a healthier alternative to one I might choose. But last night got a little strange.



Per her offer, I asked her to make me some lumpy mashed potatoes. I not only like the taste, but it's easy to add a lot of heavy cream and butter. Per usual, Susan suggested a few alternatives, but in my condition it's smart to go with any cravings that come up. Susan started to make them while I was in another room when I heard her cuss a blue streak. Some of you haven't seen this side of Susan, but it's true.


NOT what Susan looked like last night.
I saw her stabbing feverishly at the bowl with a spoon but wasn't sure what she was doing. At first the potatoes tasted good, but this quickly turned into a taste of one-part potato, one-part butter, one-part cream, and three-parts salt. Seems when Susan was shaking salt into the bowl, the top of the shaker came off and most of the contents poured into the bowl. She thought she had removed the excess salt, but really not. The ways of my wife of thirty years are mysterious, deep, and wise, and I'm still trying to figure out why she didn't tell me about the salt.




Re: the one-car wreck that we came upon three minutes after midnight on New Year's Day (see the previous posting), here's a follow-up. Jim emailed us to say that he's having anxiety, sweats, and nightmares. His fiancee describes the incident as surreal, almost like a dream. The good news is that Jim realizes that with time and effort he will heal. He has already met w/ an addictions counselor and an attorney and will begin participation in the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. He expresses gratitude for the help he has received.



I wear my Marvin Gaye T-shirt on special occasions or when I want to feel ...well, I can't explain it. His music was really important to me and I still haven't  dealt with the reality that he died violently in 1984. Though I bought it at a Bimbe Festival in Durham about 15 years ago, it's in perfect condition. The shirt has been a great conversation starter on many occasions. Today, for example, Phyllis, a Durham native (~40 yo) who prepped me for chemotherapy, noticed the shirt, then shared information about growing up in the area, her twin 13 yo boys, and her own musical tastes. We got her email address to invite her to music happenings at the farm. As Marvin might have remarked, "Ain't That Peculiar."- Peter K

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KC7uhMY9s


5 comments:

  1. Peter,

    re: the difference between a vegan & wiccan diet, the latter skimps a bit on the veggies but is definitely organic. Consider this recipe from the second of the three wiccans in Macbeth:

    Fillet of a Fenny Snake,
    In the Cauldron boil and bake;
    Eye of Newt, and Toe of Frogge,
    Wool of Bat, and Tongue of Dogge,
    Adder's Fork, and Blind-worm's Sting,
    Lizard's leg, and Howlet's wing

    Might be good served with asalted potatoes.

    Rob G.

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  2. lovin that Marvin,on youtube, satellite radio, and my big bunch of classic CD's as well. However, it REALLY makes me feel it imperative to get my vinyl in order. I still haven't done the ton of cataloging, preserving,and creating new covers & slips for several hundred albumns, 78's, and 45's, many of whose jackets were soaked by fire hoses, then mildewed, rotted, and disintegrated after the fire. Given your love of historical tunes, Peter, this would be a great past-time for you, and I can let you do it if you pay me the small sum of $5.00 per hour....

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  3. I had my own experience with too much salt...

    Many years ago... I was a big fan of cheesecake but I didn't have a recipe. So I called my old girlfriend's mother and she read the recipe to me over the phone. Not being a real cook myself, I didn't realize that she said "one eight teaspoon salt" and not eight teaspoons of salt. I made the cheesecake and it was only when I got to the potluck at Monkey Top that someone next to me exclaimed "Stay away from that cheesecake - it's like a salt lick!"

    Haven't cooked a cheesecake since then. Trying to improve my listening skills too...

    - Jay

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  4. Reminds me of the time I almost asalted the chilluns from our JiP community project lookin forward to making chocolate chip cookies on the last day, by grabbing an unmarked bag of sea-salt from the JiP pantry thinking 'twas sugar...!Fortunately we didnt make it too far into the cooking process before I was Almost cussin a blue streak...;)

    [..u2aresomethinelse..!] <3
    Prayers during the last chemo week
    ~Karen

    ReplyDelete

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