High Achievements

4:55pm - The last few days have been emotionally draining & a blur.  This evening it's felt as if things are coming back together again.  I stayed at M.'s place last night, so in a way it was like being away for a retreat.  It gave me time to somewhat get my mind off of things, and actually eat a real big meal.  Those two alone were achievements for the week.

Another achievement was making it up to Highwood Pass on bike today.  I was off to a slow start, way at the end of the group, but kept pushing on.  Slow and steady got me to the top and it felt great.  Never mind the thrill of riding down, loosing over 500m of elevation on the return, and going at 60km/hr.  Next time I'd know to pack warmer gloves.  While it poured in the city when we left, we were spared any precipitation out there. 

It looks so flat here!

Day one of cycling pants

Approaching 2,206m

Bike received first big scratch today

I took the Smith Dorrien back to Canmore, somewhat in a daze, but enjoying some solitude.  The entire way I saw five other cars, a moose, and either a big coyote or a small wolf.  I can't really tell the difference.  Then as I passed the Nordic Centre I decided to call my parents' place, and much to my surprise my mom picked up.  She's been puttering around here, so chemo seems to have given her a boost for day one at least.  Now she's insisting that I get raspberries and 18 eggs so that she can make jam and bake a cake tonight.  Who would have thought?

9:00pm - My mom sent me to break the news to a friend of hers.  I hadn't seen W. since 2004 because I haven't been in Canmore that much since then.  I think at first she was surprised to see me.  She runs the garden centre in town, two weeks ago gave my mom two straw plants for making it through the breast cancer, so didn't take the news very well.  Her reaction was f***, along with tears in her eyes.  Then she ran to the back of the tent, grabbed a plant and said she had that one set aside for my mom for some time.  It's something orange, but with a sunflower in the middle.  Ironically enough, sunflowers represent ovarian cancer.  W's daughter just made it through a stage 3 breast cancer after fighting it for two years.   her husband had left her because he didn't want to deal with a sick wife.  Sick man really. She gave me all her phone numbers, said I could call any time, especially if I'm not in Canmore and need someone to just check on my parents.  I might need that.

Meanwhile, my mom seems to be back to much her old self right now.  I've already got enough hints that my car needs cleaning, and I still have all my cycling stuff scattered by the entrance.  Normally I wouldn't have been allowed to even leave it there for a few hours, but I can tell she's trying hard not to say anything because we've learned that other things are clearly more important.  Better clean that up though before it drives her up the wall.