I knew I’d forgotten something.

Sorry, faithful readers, but I totally forgot about posting yesterday. It was not that the week had been particularly trying or that I was that busy. I just plain forgot.  One might blame old age or “chemo” brain or any number of things.  I just forgot.

The week just past was devoted to the third round of chemotherapy.  Not Sunday, however.  Singing in the choir on Sunday morning is something I’ve come to enjoy. Sunday afternoon I picked up a friend and enjoyed the Rawlins Piano Trio, a University of South Dakota based group. They play superbly. The first half was really “trio” with two contemporary numbers one of which was quite jazzy and fun. They were joined in the second half by a visiting Romanian violinist for a Brahm’s Piano Quartet quite superbly performed.

It’s sometimes surprisingly hard to get me to budge out of the house on Sunday afternoon. There are times when I finally get going that I really enjoy hearing some of the wonderful performing groups we have available to us here.

Monday there was a surprise visit from my friend Moses who had flown into town for a short time.  It’s always good to see him. I’m so happy he and his mentor Rhonda stopped by to visit.

Tuesday was the first day of chemo preceded by accessing the “port” and blood work.  A short appointment with the oncologist gave me the good news that my sodium has returned to a normal level. No more fluid restrictions as long as I don’t go overboard!  One becomes quite thrilled with the little things in life, like not having to measure the amount of liquid one consumes. According to the doctor the sodium level is an indication that the chemo is doing its job.

Then off to the infusion room for the days liquid intake by IV. This weeks course of treatment was considerably shorter each day. On Tuesday I had one hour long bag of chemicals and two half hour bags. (This is the way I measure the medicine, by the length of time the “drip” takes.) On Wednesday and Thursday  I had an hour bag each day.  The previous infusions were twice as long. Two of the days I had company which also makes the time fly by.

October 8, I will have a CT scan to check on how things are going. The prediction right now is that I will have one more round of chemo during the week of October 14th through 18th.  Then we’ll find out what is next.

Yet again I’ve had no ill effects from the chemo other than my bald head. For this I am very grateful.

I did get a little exercise in on Friday and Saturday, but not much.  I find that lack of exercise wears me down more than the chemo does.

Saturday night I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a friend’s home with a most decadent desert!  Superb!

It was a good week. Thanks be to God.

I blogged about the realization I had that it was OK to ask for help when people offered to do things for me.  I receive a quotation from Henri Nouwen in an email each day (he’s long dead but his writing lives on). I thought this one was particularly well stated given my realization of “community through helpfulness.”

“Our weakness and old age call people to surround us and support us. By not resisting weakness and by gratefully receiving another’s care we call forth community and provide our caregivers an opportunity to give their own gifts of compassion, care, love, and service. As we are given into their hands, others are blessed and enriched by caring for us. Our weakness bears fruit in their lives.”  Henri Nouwen

Amen.

It’s time for me to get ready to go to Calvary Cathedral. Today is the anniversary of my ordinations — 38 years as a deacon, and 37 years as a priest. I can’t believe it’s been that long.  The Dean of the Cathedral is allowing me to celebrate the 10 AM Eucharist so I can be at the altar on this occasion.  I’m so grateful for this parish community who is supporting me with their prayers.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and good wishes. They mean the world to me!

The Way to End a Week

I’ve just returned from a magnificent concert. The musical group is called Transept. It is a professional group of musicians directed by Timothy Campbell from the University of South Dakota.  The singers are largely from South Dakota with a few coming in from other states for the performances.  

The concert was titled, Echoes of Plainchant, Ancient Melodies, Heavenly Harmonies.  As you can tell the basis of the program was plainchant melodies. Composers were included from the 11th through the 21st centuries. They sang in the Cathedral of St. Joseph which has tremendous acoustics. a perfect venue for this group. 

The concert closed with Biebl’s “Ave Maria.” The two groups I directed for the Singing Boys of Sioux Falls performed this number years ago.  Transept sang the more difficult two choir arrangement. Hearing it and the other melodies reminded me of the musical experiences we provided for the boys with whom we worked for so many years. As it sometimes happens, we find gratitude after the fact. We also experience a degree of satisfaction after the fact. We are too often tied up in the present moment, worrying about a million details and we fail to see the larger picture because we are focused on the minutiae. The concert, along with providing a marvelous listening experience, gave me a chance to reminisce a bit and grasp a vision of something larger than I realized “in the moment.”

It was a perfect way to end the week. There were a lot of mundane happenings this past week. Something spectacular like tonight concert provided a climax which would not have “made” the week otherwise.

I set myself a goal this week to increase my steps by 1,000 per day over last week.  Last week’s goal was 5,000 per day. This week’s goal was 6,000 steps each day. I made it! It’s a good thing I had credit from other days because today was a little short.  I also set a goal to return to all my exercise classes.  I achieved that as well. I was at the Fitness Center five days this week. I felt much better being active and participating in Just Stretch, Strength and Balance, Aqua Chi, and Tai Chi, as well as working with my trainer on the “rack,” the fearsome pilates reformer. 

I had not been to Tai Chi for a quite a while.  I was amazed at the number of things I remembered.  We work on “The Form,” a set series of steps and movements which are derived from martial arts but done in a much slower version. It looks rather a beautiful when well done.  I can’t say that our group looks beautiful but we are working toward beautiful. It’s always good to have a goal!

I also went to an OLLI class on Monday afternoon on centers of conflict in the world.  OLLI is a fantastic program for adult learners. They provide a variety of classes (there were close to 100 offered this semester in Sioux Falls), on a wide range of topics.  Most of the classes meet one or two times. They are taught by college professors and community members who have a particular passion for a topic. For a set fee for the semester you can take as many classes as you wish. It’s a bargain.  There are no tests, few assignments, and attendance is pretty much voluntary, although there are some class limits so it is a polite thing to do to cancel if you can’t make the class so someone else can go.

The rest of the week involved normally scheduled things. Our Benedictine Community meets on Tuesday evening. I work at the Pavilion of Arts and Science on Wednesday afternoon. I usually am at the Eucharist at the Cathedral on Wednesday and Good Shepherd on Thursday. Saturday morning is the Farmers’ Market. 

I forced myself into a project at home that needed to be done but could easily be ignored.  Several chairs and the piano bench have labored under the load of organ and piano music that needed to be sorted into categories. Why? So I could find that for which I was searching without going through all the piles every time. I’ve also found that my increasing age has necessitated enlarging items from the Hymnal so I could read them.  This resulted in a pile of paper which I sorted by hymn numbers and placed in a binder. No longer will I have to enlarge a copy of Hymn 645 if I’ve already done that. It was amazing to find that I had 4 and 5 copies of some hymns. I only have the service music left to sort. Maybe tomorrow or Monday. 

Our church foyer group met on Thursday evening for dinner. The foyer groups are small groups of parishioners who meet together for dinner once each month. The usual pattern is for the group to go to an host’s house for dinner. The host furnishes the main dish and the other members bring dishes to share. Our group is the “going out to dinner group.” Most of the groups change composition each year. We’ve stayed together through several years. Our group is very adventuresome. We enjoy trying out the new restaurants including the ethnic eateries. This week we went to a place that specialized in barbecue. I had some delicious brisket. The group seemed pretty evenly divided between the brisket and the ribs. 

The city continues to clean up after the tornadoes of last week, and the floods which followed. The river is still quite high but I think has receded from most of the parks.  Sioux Falls has been wise in establishing most of the river banks as park areas which means that houses will not be as affected by flood waters. Yet there are certain areas of the city that are flood prone.

Next week is round three of chemotherapy.  This week I’ve suffered no ill effects other than the wonky eyesight which I’ve been promised will improve. I was warned not to rush out and get new glasses, but I’m tired of blurry vision and have made an appointment with the optometrist. I would rather be able to see clearly for the next two months. I trust the medical profession, but sometimes you have to take things into your own hands.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for all the prayers. Thanks for the visits.  Thanks for the phone calls. All of these keep me going. You have no idea how important they are to me. I am so grateful.

How do you like the new hat?

The Good and the Bad

This past week has really been something. I had the week off from chemotherapy so there were no infusions intruding upon my “busy” schedule. 

Sunday was our first choir Sunday, if you will, and we sang a couple of special numbers, had some brass accompaniments and generally “whooped it up” a bit.  It was fun and challenging. I had a lone rehearsal throughout the week since I missed our Wednesday night gathering. 

Wells Cathedral Chapter House

Following the late service, we had our monthly Chapter Meeting. For those not familiar with Benedictine practices, the Chapter Meeting is usually a daily meeting to attend to any business on which the Chapter must make decisions. It is held in a special room. Some of the Chapter Rooms remaining attached to the English Cathedrals are stunning examples of architecture.  Whatever business is discussed is kept strictly secret. The Chapter advises the Abbot or Prior in making the decisions necessary for the good of the community. There is also a reading of the Rule of Saint Benedict, and a reading from the Benedictine Martyrology, a book which lists all the Benedictine saints who died on a particular day. Sometimes there is a Chapter of Faults in which each member confesses that he or she has not kept a part of the Rule and asks for the community’s forgiveness.

Then it was home for another quiet Sunday afternoon with the paper and a few naps thrown in for good measure. Nice! It was a good nap day, weather-wise.

Monday, as I recall, was another rather gloomy day. One of the side effects of the chemo is a malady of vision. Things close or far are blurry and this changes throughout the day. I had made an appointment with the eye doctor because it was bothering me. The chemo nurse said not to rush out and buy a new pair of glasses because one’s normal vision would ultimately be restored. So I cancelled that appointment.  I opted instead to walk at the Fitness Center and to go to aqua chi.  It was good to be back with most of the regular crowd.  The classes at the Fitness Center become mini-communities. You see and converse with the same people on the same day of the week and become concerned about them when they are missing from the class.  Get-well, sympathy cards, and reports about health concerns are shared with the group. It is just a nice place to be. 

After lunch I headed for the AFLAC office with a pile of papers so they could choose those they wanted for processing my claim.  I have been paying on a cancer insurance policy for practically ever. Now it’s time to collect!

Tuesday I went to the Fitness Center again to do some walking and go to Just Stretch, a wonderful class taught by my friend Joni.  Great people again and sincerely concerned about you.

Tuesday evening is our regular Benedictine time. We celebrate the Eucharist, pray Evening Prayer and have a little time to visit which the Benedictines refer to as “recreation.” It doesn’t involve ping-pong, volleyball or other physical activity. We just talk and catch up on how things are going in our lives.

Returning home for some dinner, my phone notified me of a flash flood watch for this area. I could understand that since we had over five inches of rain Sunday and Monday nights. The rain began later in the evening and around eleven o’clock the wind noise became pretty awful. I checked my phone again and there was a tornado warning. It’s been thirty years since a tornado touched down in this city. Sophia and I headed for the basement.  I heard that a tornado was headed down 57th Street toward the east and that was a little too close for comfort. 

It turned out that three tornadoes touched down in the city causing a lot of damage to certain areas. This was at midnight. Check out the link for some pictures.

https://secure.brightcove.com/services/mobile/streaming/index/master.m3u8?videoId=6085352343001&pubId=28911775001&secure=true

A good number of warning sirens did not sound because of human error. One of the tornadoes hit the Heart Hospital on 68th Street and caused some damage, but next door is the Behavioral Health Center which was nearly destroyed. It was full of patients, many of them in fragile condition.  A decision had to be made about those patients. They could not stay in the building. Now it is estimated that the repairs needed will take 6 to 9 to 12 months before the building can be used again. My Benedictine brother Mark works there. He will be traveling to Yankton to serve the patients that have been transferred to the Human Services Center there. There have been numerous news articles about the staffing at that place. Thank goodness they have room, and the Avera system will be providing the staffing necessary. There was one broken leg and some other minor injuries. There could have been many deaths.

My neighbor's tree

That is truly a miracle that no one was killed in this fierce storm.  Parts of the city look like war zones with roofs missing, houses shattered, and trees uprooted. One tornado did hit a business district along 41st Street. Most of the signs are empty shells. Several of the businesses have no idea when they might open again.

My property was fine.  My neighbor on the east lost a large tree which mostly blocked the avenue. There were a lot of twigs, branches and leaves, but one can cope with that kind of damage. I’m just thankful that so many neighborhoods were spared any damage at all. 

I made it to the noonday Eucharist at the Cathedral on Wednesday and to my usual post at the greeters’ desk at the Washington Pavilion. It was a rather quiet afternoon. I picked up my “Father Friend” and we went out for coffee. I also went to choir rehearsal and lasted through the whole thing!

The work crew dealing with the tree. 

Thursday was the usual round of working with my trainer Glenda, going to aqua chi grabbing some lunch and going to the Eucharist at Good Shepherd. That church is in one of the neighborhoods that was hit  harder by the storm.  It was an adventure getting there because of downed trees blocking the streets and/or equipment dealing with the effects of the storm. The church lost some trees on the property but the building was not harmed. 

My usual stop following that service is at Costco for fuel for the car and whatever else I think I need. This month’s special is cat litter which I can always use so I picked up my limit of three bags (42 lbs each) and a few other things. There was quite a line-up at the fuel pumps. Many business in that area were hit by one of the tornadoes.  Costco lost some trees and there was a roll-off dumpster full of twisted sheets of metal that I assumed originated from other locations and had been deposited by the winds.

Friday was a quiet day at home.  My lawn-mowing friend came over to do his task and I went to visit with the daughter of the friend that I will bury on Saturday.  The American Guild of Organists held its first meeting of the season with a banquet and installation of officers. There was some very fine music by the choir (augmented with a few AGO members), and an excellent trumpet player and organists. Get a few musicians together and we can make quite a production out of most anything!

This morning I rose early to make it to the Farmers’ Market when it opened. I rushed back to change clothes and get to the Cathedral for the 10 AM funeral. The friend who had died the previous week was the great promotor of the arts in this city and in the state. She had served as the executive director of the symphony and then as the head of the state arts council. Her daughter had asked the string quartet from the symphony to play the prelude and postlude, and the principal flutist from the symphony to play as well.  The music was exquisite. It was a fine tribute to a great lady who really brought the arts to life in this city and state. Her daughter had expected a small crowd since her mother was 97 years old. The church was full!

As we drove through the cemetery we could see the damage the winds caused there. There are a lot of old trees and now a lot of limbs, split trees, and other detritus that still need to be cleaned up. 

There was a very nice reception at my friend’s home following the internment. Then it was off to the Cathedral again for another reception for another old, old friend’s ninetieth birthday party.  It was a great time with a number of parent’s of former students and other friends to see and with whom to visit.  I came home and took a nap!

That’s it for this week in which I expected virtually nothing to happen! How wrong I was.  

P.S. Sophia evidently invited all her friends to lunch.

Sophia's luncheon party.

A Quiet Saturday

For my loyal readers I will try to be faithful about writing this blog on Saturdays so you won’t have to keep checking throughout the week. I appreciate your reading it, and it certainly is a timesaver for me so that I do not have to repeat information multiple times, fearing that I will forget something important along the way.  That is, however, if something important has happened!

Sunday I went to the 8:00 service, returned home for breakfast, and returned to the Cathedral to manage the bookstore following the 10 AM service. Two of my longest, most loving friends came in to announce that they were moving out of Sioux Falls. I am struggling because I will miss them so much. Many interior and exterior tears have been shed over this news.  In time I know I can cope with it. Afternoon was spent with the Sunday New York Times. I consider it a victory of some substantiality when I can read the whole thing in one afternoon.  To be honest I skip the parts in which I have little interest.

Monday was Labor Day and a quiet day until the evening when the friends arrived. Having prepared most of the dishes on Saturday there was little to do except fix the pasta and heat the grill for the aforementioned Labor Day lamb chops. We had a good time and it was great to have friends around the table. It’s been a while since I’ve entertained. It is something I really enjoy.

Tuesday, bright and early, it was off to the Prairie Center, a magnificent palace of healing as I would describe it. My good friend picked me up and I joined the line for blood draws. Then it was waiting time for the lab to do their thing during which I ate breakfast. The oncologist had a visit with me after the results came in.  It appears that things are going well and that the chemotherapy is doing its thing. I have had so few side effects that I was beginning to wonder if it was working at all. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want the side effects, but I do want the stuff to work. His opinion: it’s working. Thanks be to God.

Wednesday morning round two of the chemo began.  It turns out that the first day is the longest followed by two shorter regimes. I was hooked up to my girl friend “IVy” for four hours. There were visitors throughout the time that certainly made it pass quickly. My very first personal trainer stopped in to see me. She is a dietitian at the Prairie Center now. The chaplain stopped in.

My choice, my quilt.

A very kind lady with the “Prayers and Squares” quilt ministry came to visit and ask if I would like one of their quilts. After inquiring about my favorite colors she brought two from which I could choose. This ministry is a volunteer program. The hospital furnishes a sewing room with the equipment. The volunteers contribute fabric and if more is needed the hospital furnishes it. The quilters produce the quilts and then more volunteers distribute them to those who would like them.  My quilt was something like the 3,560th quilt produced. The long strings on the quilt puzzled me until the volunteer said a prayer for me and then tied a knot with one of the strings. Everyone who says a prayer or has a kind thought for me is asked to tie a knot. My nurse tied a knot.  My friend tied a knot. The quilt kept me warm during the long hours with “IVy.”

It is such a difference being treated in a faith-based hospital. I can’t say enough about the excellence of the staff and their attention to the patients. The Prairie Center is the cancer treatment center for Avera McKennan Hospital. The whole Avera system is based on the hospital ministry of the Benedictine and Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary sisters who began the hospital work in South Dakota. Although the system is now huge they still maintain their presence. It is interesting that a Roman Catholic Hospital has an Episcopal Deacon as their head of chaplains. They practice integrative medicine which includes the potions from the pharmacy but also Tai Chi, yoga, music therapy, diet, and a multitude of other things. The infusion rooms have a beautiful view out the large windows. They welcome and encourage friends visiting while the infusion takes place. They provide snacks and beverages and another volunteer comes and takes lunch orders and returns with the meal. Television and music are also available in each infusion room. 

Later Wednesday afternoon good friends from Denver arrived for a visit. They had been attending an event in eastern Iowa and took a side trip to see me on the way back to Denver—rather quite a bit out of the way.  It was so good to see them again.  They did so much for me when I was the interim priest and St. Michael and All Angels.  We had a little happy hour and went out for a light dinner. They were tired and so was I so we had an early night. 

Thursday morning they picked me up for my second infusion and spent the morning at the Prairie Center with me. The also had a chance to enjoy the gardens, the waterfall, and the art in the building. They commented that it didn’t even seem like they had been in a hospital. Check it out: https://www.avera.org/locations/profile/prairie-center-at-avera-mckennan/

Following the much briefer infusion (only about two hours with the prep and all) we went out for brunch, viewed the newest art addition to Sioux Falls, the Arc of Dreams, went to the Washington Pavilion to view the exhibit there on the Arc, went to The Parlour for an ice cream, went to the Cathedral to see the new decorations there, paid a visit to the Benedictine Oratory, went out for a delicious, quiet dinner, did a little shopping and called it a day. 

The Arc is quite an engineering feat, the latest work of Dale Lamphere our South Dakota Artist Laureate: https://lampherestudio.com/home/

Friday my friends took off for Denver. My guide-through-chemo picked me up and delivered me to the Prairie Center where I had my third infusion, another shorter one. We ran an errand and then she dropped me off at home. Other friends came by in the afternoon including my beer-drinking group complete with snacks. So we had our monthly meeting sans beer hall. It was fun.

Now a quiet Saturday which has already allowed me to get a lot of paper work done. Quiet days are not all bad and necessary once in a while.

But the quiet day also brought a sad phone call.  One of oldest and dearest friends left for the Church Expectant last night. Her family hesitated to call me then because they knew I was in treatment. Her daughter called this morning and told me of her death. She wanted me to be the celebrant at her funeral. I had baptized two of her grandsons, buried one of her sons, and enjoyed her company so much.  She will be sorely missed in the arts community in Sioux Falls.  She was such an advocate. I could not say no. Her funeral will be next Saturday. God willing I will be at the altar and in the pulpit. I know He will provide the strength.  May Charlotte rest in peace and rise in glory.

No particularly good at selfies,
especially overhead selfies

I mentioned before that the side effects of the chemo have been minimal, very minimal. The most noticeable one being the losing of the hair, or what there was of it start with. I only have to shave once a week, and that is mostly going through the motions. That’s a nice break. Every time I shower there is more hair in the drain. The medics promise it will grow back, perhaps in a different color.  That would be a shock after several years as the “silver haired teacher” (once described by the local newspaper). Maybe I’ll be a red head!  A red headed Swede, imagine that!

Have a wonderful week.  Remember to keep sending up those prayers.  You have no idea how much they help me.