update on the Baby Brother...

I took him in today and we only saw the surgeon, and then he was refered to the oncology clinic for Chemo..

It is bad, but not hopeless...It is an adrenocarcinoma, which started on his apendix and then grew from there. It is tons of little cells like bubbles growing everywhere.

WORST CASE is the tumor can say UH UH no chemical cocktails here, and grow agressively, and then he might have 6-9 months, but the Dr does not think that will happen. He THINKS that the Chemo will retard the growth, and then MAY just stall there for awhile. It will Never go away, but it could buy him YEARS!

I came away feeling full of hope, Mike on the otherhand thinks of it as a death sentence, and is very negative, so we have to get him through that and the treatments. (He is a guy, and you KNOW how they do pain and sickness!!) So we have our work cut out for us!

I really appreciate the kind words and the prayers. THey all help.

As soon as I know for sure what the treatments are going to be, I will start a blog on him for those that are interested. I will post it here so you can follow him at your leisure.

Now I have to go pull the curtains shut, turn off the porch lights, get the cat in, and hibernate until the little brats are through trick or treating. (Yeah, Im the Halloween GRINCH!!)

A LATE full moon....

This is late, but blogger was giving me hell and not letting it post until today.

I first noticed the full moon last Wednesday when it really looked full, but was not in totality. Then THursday evening at dusk, I drove in to prairie Center to get some groceries, and as I got out of the car, I looked over my shoulder towards the East, and saw the really large full moon just climbng over the tops of the trees about 5 miles away. It was Bright, and a beautiful golden color. The night was COLD, and we were expecting frost later that night. THe air was full of moisture, and you could see your breath, and the breath of the warm earth as it exhaled. The fog was forming along the bottom of the swales, and fingers of light mist were making their way over the tops of the low areas, and heading across the field like live ghosts.

I just stood there and watched the moon, and the fields and then I turned to the west just in time to see the many colors of dark dark mauve turn into navy blue, and complete the cycle of colors and light that the sun brings with it. It was after all the Moon's turn to take the stage.

This was called the Hunter's Moon. Maybe that was before there were laws about hunting after dark. It surely did light up the earth, so that seeing without a flashlight was not a problem. I like to drive down the back roads with my lights off, looking at all the animals that are out there safe and snug in their knowledge that they cant be seen. (HA!!) I had to be careful, because it is illegal to drive with no lights, not to mention dangerous. I was watching far down the road and could see well ahead of any cars that may be coming our way. Lots of deer, and rabbits and only one coyote!

I made it home and went out on the back deck to wait for the Moon to make it over the tops of the Alders. THey are only about 80 feet away, so the moon is fairly high in the sky before it is seen in my back yard. By the time I could see it fully, it was getting really nippy out, and Sadie was wanting in. So I watched it for a few minutes more then went on in.

I Love to reflect on Full moons. I have always felt a strong pull to it, not in a lunatic way, but in an Awe-inspiring way. Almost like I know that it really was once a part of the Earth. Maybe in another life I lived on that chunk that is now ever so slowly escaping the pull of earth's gravity. It will be a really long time before it finally zooms off into the sun like another asteroid, and none of us or our kind will be here to see it. Maybe I study the moon so that I can imprint it into my genes for future generations of whatever comes after us to know.

Hmmmmm....

well SHIT!!!

I have been having computer problems...Every time I open my internet connection, I get an application hang, and I have to start all the way over. I went through last night and did a PC=Cillin scan, then a scan to check for spyware adaware. and thought that would speed things up, then I upgraded to IE7 which did not help anything either.

Just now I tried three times to load a picture on my blog, and kept coming up with some error from blogger, which it would not let me copy and save or redirect to their trouble desk. SO that was a useless hour! I actually sat down here three times this weekend to post a nice piece of writing, and each time got interupted. SO today, after Bob had left for the day, I turned on the CD player, popped in Mozart's REQUIEM, and Gorecki's Symphony No 3 Symphony of Sorrowful Songs and was ready to compose.

I had a nice roaring fire going in the woodstove, the animals were all settled in and I was ready. ANd then I got interupted AGAIN!!

So the moon theme and the fall theme that I was going to write will just have to wait until another time when I can upload the full moon, and thus reflect on it while I write. Until then sit back and listen to some wonderfully powerful music interspersed with Dawn Upshaw's beautiful soprano voice. It will do your heart good.
It has mine.

info please:

When I migrated from old to new email, I randomly lost email addresses for all of you. So PLEASE send me an email, and I will reply, which will put you BACK into my address book.

Tank ewe berry mush!

WHEE!!!!

When we leave the island,to go to the mainland, we either drive up to the bridge and drive around, or we take the Clinton/Mukilteo Ferry.

It can be a real fun time during windy weather. THe windstorm we had last Thursday stopped the Keystone Ferry, but it is too critical to stop the Clinton Ferry. So they push the cars back towards the middle of the ferry and then just let



Leading up to this shot, the ferry took on a series of waves and the bow of the ferry was on the way back down when it met this wave. The car deck went under as the wave hit and is on the way back out of the water in this picture. the captain changed course right after taking these waves. This was the last ferry they ran at full capacity, after this run they added a 3rd ferry and ran them ½ empty.

It can really be an adventure around here when it is stormy!!

Michael...

Well Mike is not doing well at all. Phyllis took him down yesterday to Everett for surgery. Here is what she wrote on HER blog

Friday morning they went in three different places with a laproscope and camera and biopsied the masses. They told Sherry that the procedure should only take about an hour and a half. He went to the operating room at 12:30, and at 2:30 Sherry and I looked at each other and said "Dang, this doesn't feel right". About three o'clock the doctor came out and told us they found numerous little tiny masses in the area and they are cancer. He said they cannot operate to take them out as there are thousands of them. They are around his colon, appendix, pancreas, everywhere. He said the only hope (if any) is chemotherapy, and that will only prolong it. I asked how long, and he just stared at me. I asked "Weeks? Months? Years?" He could only shrug his shoulders. This type of cancer is very rare. It is mostly found in women.

Mike will go to the oncologist on Friday, and we should know more then. It evidentally is a VERY rare cancer. and all of the growths are the size of a very small pea. I don't know what treatment they will have him on, but it will not be life saving, unless somehow a miracle occurs.

I am just a wreck! I do not show my emotions very well, and tend to stick my head in the sand to avoid any emotional outlets. I wanted a brother so very badly, and when he was born, I took over for Mom and raised him until he was 12. It is so hard to believe this is happening to him. To make matters worse, Mike is very depressed and has been for a very long time. This is not going to be easy for him or for SHerry. He will not be able to work, and he has no life insurance, and his medical insurance is minimal at best.

Thank you all for your prayers and your thoughts. He will be needing them for awhile yet, so if you would stick him in your prayer circles, he will appreciate it very much. Michael Brett age 52.

Well as you can tell, I have (had) no power. The first good fall storm of the season blew in today around 100, with a POW! winds were to be expected to be between 25-50 MPH with gusts up to 60. I had no power so I dont know what they finally came in at.



I drove down to the beach and watched the waves come right up from the Hood Canal and smack right into Admiralty Inlet and our beach! THe winds are always the strongest right here, as they come around the Olympics from the South, and squeeze between the Olypic Penninsula and the Kitsap Penninsula and gain strength. THey close the Hood Canal Bridge down so it won't sink again.



Then I drove down to the Keystone Ferry Landing, and watched the waves crash over the top of the jetty. THe Ferry was stopped over on the Pt. TOwnsend side, because it is calmer and protected over there.

My power came back on just a few minutes ago, so I am hurrying to post this before the NEXT storm due in tomorrow, hits us.

I need all of you to please put my Baby brother in your thoughts, as he is going in for Cancer surgery Tomorrow, and he has a really bad feeling about this. I went over today and hugged him hard, gave him a pocket angel and told him I loved him. I have loved him since the day he was born, I wanted a brother so bad! I was 10 when he was born. I raised him until I left Home. so for thirteen years, He was my baby!

Phyllis and Sherry are taking him down tomorrow, and I will go on Sunday when he is conscious again. THis is gonna be a long haul for him. There is a mass in his abdominal cavity, and they are removing it and looking at it about 11:00 AM.

PLEASE MAKE HIM WELL!!

Twelve Angry Men again...

One of our cast members has a website, and has put a collage of pictures up for the world to see. They are a really good representation of our play.

Go have a peek!

OK I have been told the link does not work, but it kinda does...you will get the "page not found" first, but embedded in that is the link to http://www.normboynton.com/ So open THAT page and scroll down to twelve angry men.


This is really going well. Only three more shows and then I take a break until February when I audition for SOCIAL SECURITY, which I will direct!

I will also have time then to really think about what I write, and maybe, JUST MAYBE, I will get back to writing something worthwhile again. It is well past time.<

October in Coupeville...

Every October, Coupeville encourages all of it's businesses (mostly B+B's) on main street to decorate with scarecrows depicting a theme of one sort or another. Each year it is different, and each year I take pictures.



This year it was raining, but the scarecrows were out anyway.



Pur one and only market is called Prairie Center, and in the years past, it was also known as "punkin center" . The fields that were once full of pumpkins and winter squash, are now all filled with businesses and housing developements, But the pumpkins still manage to make it to the bins at Prairie Center.

Sunday Funnies....

I thought this was hysterical, so I swiped it from Bob Brady at PURELAND Mountain I cant say I understood the rest of the math questions, but I did get this one.

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We struck the set of A CHORUS LINE tonight, and it went wonderfully well. The kids all pitched in and got right to work. THe guys from 12 pissed dudes were there as well, and the set is almost ready to slap a coat of paint on and get ready for next Friday's opening. I will get the light cues set on Monday, and train Pat in the light booth and then we just sit back and watch the pros work!

Now to bed!

Goodbye Summer…Hello Winter!

Here in the Pacific Northwest we enjoy very mild Fall weather, Sunny and warm days and cool and foggy nights. The leaves on the trees slowly turn color, and the growing season for vegetables usually extends into November before the first really hard killing frost.

This year, we had Summer, briefly, and then went right into winter! It is cold, it is windy and it is WET! I normally do not turn on the heat or build a fire in the wood stove until Nov. 1, but this year I have already had a fire, and the heater has been on for two days. Global warming you Say? Well Yes it is. I understand that the warm weather at the equater has caused a La Nina to start forming off the coast of Chile. When this happens it causes a shift southward of the Northern Jet stream, and with that comes the colder air from the North pole, and the storms from the Gulf of Alaska that usually head into northern Canada. We have had a couple of weeks of wet windy cold weather, Thunder storms, Hail, but no Frost YET!

Fall is my favorite time of the year, as it is a time for reflection, for gathering the larder and filling the cupboards, and getting ready to hunker down for the winter. I have 24 pints of applesauce all canned and ready for the shelf. Now I am looking for the best price on pears! The corn this year was not very good, and ripened really early and was gone, so I did not get any of that.

We can not grow a good tomato here, because the warn growing season is so short. I would LOVE to have all of Brenda’s “maters! I go through a lot of canned tomatoes. In fact right now a heave a very hearty stew on the stove bubbling with gravy and tomatoes and carrots and onions. And potatoes. YUM!!

Our fall weather crops like lettuce and spinach and cabbage are filling the fields right now, and I think it is time I got some of that to freeze too.

Gotta fill those feeders also, the birds know something that we don’t as the suet is all gone already, and the squirrels are hiding apples and walnuts!

Better get some wood brought in to dry also. I think we are in this for the long haul! Watcha wanna bet, snow in October?

12 angry men

I am now almost ready to open 12 angry Men, which will be in two weeks. These guys are GREAT! getting them all together to play 12 different men with their own reasons for finding the accused guilty or not was not an easy task.


Tempers flare to the point of violence in the Jury room, but cooler heads prevail, and they start talking the points of the trial over.


They decide to play out the killing, and disect the points that were made during the trial.



If you are within driving distance, It is well worth coming over to see. THe play runs 6 shows only...October 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20. Tickets are 12.00. 360-679-2237 for the box office!

This was indeed a wonderful group of men to work with. THey get along with each other, and play off of each other just beautifully! Now if only we can get some really good publicity, and sell out!