Hello, friends. It’s past due time for an update on life and reading. Well, there’s been a lot of life going on, but not a lot of reading for me this month.
July has been an intense month for us filled with too many medical appointments. My focus, and the focus of our family, has ended up being entirely on my husband and his illness. The cancer journey truly is a roller coaster, and the last three weeks have been filled with gigantic ups and downs.
That said, we are still living each precious day to the fullest. Despite physical challenges, we still do as much as Byron’s limited energy allows. We share time with friends and family near and far (mostly on Zoom calls), and we laugh a lot, watch good shows on TV, try out new recipes or take-out food that might taste good to Byron’s chemo-damaged sense of taste, and we cherish our time with our daughter, son, and our precious grandboy.
Byron is reading more than I am right now, and what a potpourri of genres! His current read is The World as We Knew It: Dispatches from a Changing Climate, edited by Amy Brady and Tajja Isen. He recently finished the first volume of one of the graphic novels on my shelf called A Man and His Cat, by Umi Sakurai. Before that, he read The Cat Who Saved Books, by Sosuke Natsukawa. And before that, it was a book he liked so much he bought copies for our kids — Other Minds: The Octopus, The Sea, and The Deep Origins of Consciousness, by Peter Godfrey-Smith.
Early mornings finds me in the garden watering and weeding. I can’t keep up with either, it seems, but it’s nice to be out there. And I have also been working on my project of scanning old slides and photos from the last 53 years!
We are busy with life right now amid the ordered chaos of medical treatments and tests. And we are deeply grateful to our medical team, and to our extended family and friends team, and to our own little family unit team. All of whom bolster us up and help to give us the courage we need to face whatever life brings each day.
A Glimpse of our July in photos: (there are captions to the photos)
A Fondness For Reading 
Robin, thank you for updating us on daily life, books and the challenges you are facing. My thoughts are with you often as you and Byron are on this journey. I loved all the pictures you shared.
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Thank you, Diane!
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I am so sorry to hear that you have been dealing with ups and downs in regards to health. It’s always difficult to navigate but I don’t know about you, but I am not able to deal with much after 2.5 years of a pandemic. My tolerance for things is not great. I hope the medical ups and down can stabilize a bit. I do enjoy your photos so thanks so much for sharing them.
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Thank you, Ti. I agree that it’s particularly difficult to navigate these medical issues during an extended pandemic! It’s been an incredible emotional roller coaster! Take care, as I think we’ve all been on a roller coaster these past few years!
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The pictures are great and so nice to see shots of your lovely part of the world. Always keeping you and Byron in my thoughts and prayers, Robin. Always.
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Thank you so much for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, Kay! They help!
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I’m sorry things are so intense right now for you two. It’s great, though, that you are able to have your family nearby for visits. I know you (and they) are cherishing those visits.
I’ve been working on a photo scanning project, as well! It’s going to take a long time, but I do a little at a time and enjoy looking at long-forgotten photos. What are you doing with the photos once you’ve scanned them? I’m giving some away (to those in the photos) and throwing others (less important pictures) away.
I can see your smiles behind those masks. Actually, I see your smiles in your eyes.
Big hugs to both of you. xoxo
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Thank you, Les. I haven’t gotten rid of the actual photos and slides yet, but what I don’t give away, I’ll toss. It’s time to lighten the load! I’m glad you could see our smiles behind those masks!
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I love your smiles in spite of everything. And your grandson mowing, and the flowers. You have a gift for finding the good things in life.
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Thank you, dear Nan. The smiles are an important choice in this situation. And finding and appreciating the good things in life is what it is all about, I think.❤️
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Robin, I think of you so often, and am amazed at your strength and courage in what I know is a very difficult time. I think the two of you are doing a fantastic job. And having lived through some of it with my Bill, I know how hard it is.
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