Good Friends

A nice day, today. A bit overcast this morning for my walk with Bailey. Not too hot, not too cold. Here is a nice rose we saw along the way.

  

The color is a bit washed out. I have to figure out how to fix that in the pictures I take with my camera phone. That or else start taking the regular camera with me. This was the best of the lot of the flowers we saw. Most are a bit past peak bloom now, starting to wilt and droop.

We took Max, the local lightrail, downtown with some old friends this afternoon. Our destination: Hubers for a light snack and libations. Max dropped us off a block from Waterfront Park. There was some sort of festival going on, lots of people, food vendors and live, loud music. We didn't find out until later it was the Get Your Pride On, a celebration of "diverse" life styles. We headed to Hubers to relax and visit. Fred is under going chemo and radiation therapy to combat a recently diagnosed aggressive cancer. He had several lumps removed from the lymph node area under his chin a couple of weeks ago. Several more started to grow but it appears the radiation has beaten them back, for the time being. This is the second strike for Fred. He has been fighting lymphoma for years with some success but this latest is a new cancer. Fred has been losing weight because, as the doctor says, the cancer is eating him up. He has a dietitian working with him to try to maximize the number of calories he eats. He doesn't have the best of appetites now so when he does eat they want him to pack it on. As you might imagine, his spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, literally. He's got a bum leg because of a knee wound that knocked him out of the Vietnam war. He relies on his cane now, more than ever. And he's been carrying it around for years. It hasn't always seemed like was needed in the past. In the end, a good time was had by all. There were lots of interesting characters from the Pride celebration to observe on the ride home. It is simply amazing all the different ways humans can (and do!) express themselves.

Next week at this time we will be on our way to points east! It's time to do some serious packing and planning. Making lists of things to take, things NOT to forget. We have a small electric cooler that plugs into one of three cigarette lighter outlets in the Rav4. We will have cold drinks and healthy snacks along the way. This is really getting exciting. We are still working on the route to Montreal. More homework with the road atlas!