January 2, 2008
2008 begins! Snow on snow, and cold, cold weather that keeps the ice firmly frozen on the pond and in the streams. We started out yesterday with the entire family around the table at Heidi and Jon’s house. This year, we decided to hearken back to our forebears with a feast which would celebrate the finest foods from years past. This meant that Heidi would prepare a goose; her first attempt at such a project, and she was in fine form until about a half hour before serving time. The oven failed, with sparks flying from the inner workings, and the goose lying there in the cooker looking pale and underdone. What to do? There was a creative thinking session in the kitchen, and Jon and Heidi determined to start a wood fire in their grill and brown the goose there. Jon used cedar shingles to begin a blazing fire, and Heidi delivered the fowl for the final touch, whatever that might be. In less than five minutes, they brought in a beautifully browned, crisp-skinned creation, and we concluded that this procedure could be added as the final step to the instructions in the finest cookbooks. We all enjoyed the feasting and the festival. We drank champagne and sang Christmas songs while the children danced to the music. There is much to be said about a gathering that includes the little people just beginning into their lives with entire stories yet to unfold and the elders, namely Charles and myself, who have rich tales to share about what has gone before. Our children, in that generation between, watch their children and listen to our stories even as they work hard to actively shape their own destinies.
Our Christmas holiday season included mornings when ice crystals covered every branch and twig and made Sanctuary a magical place of incredible beauty. We would walk through the forest and enjoy the sights, but we also were aware that the birds and creatures would be having a hard time finding food. We started carrying more seeds out to the feeders to help out.
Alphie got high marks for splendid behavior with the grandchildren but then lost his good behavior medals with a determined attack on one of my favorite clogs while we were gone on New Year’s Day. Normally, we put our shoes behind closet doors while we are out, but this time, I was in a hurry and left the pair in the middle of the bedroom floor. Sadly, Alphie regarded this as a special toy offering, or perhaps he was dealing out punishment for our leaving him behind. He worked through the leather and heavy sole leaving it not only open-toed, but shorter by a mouthful. After trying to imagine how to save the shoe, or have it mended, I had to reluctantly throw them out.
I have been researching the Internet for information about treatments for MDS that I may not have seen before. Everything seems to come home to the stem cells, those basic generators of our lives, and there is great hope that the errant cells can be addressed at the source. The drugs, Decitabine and Azacitidine (Vidaza), still remain the latest and best discoveries, but there is tweaking going on and perhaps in 2008, something new will arrive. We enter this year with thanksgiving for the good and happy times that took place within 2007 and with hope for a good number of days into the future. It is really the only way to go.