HAD a lovely day today while shirking things that fall under the rubric of work, endeavor, enterprise.
This morning I took a wintry motorcycle blast down to Narragansett, caught up on the news with old friends Marty and Diana, then zipped back up the highway where the bride had a fresh pot of coffee going and slabs of homemade bread fresh out of the oven.
When I walked in the house, the little girl, D1D2, not quite 3 yet, was happily chirping to herself upstairs while drifting off for her nap. Life could be tougher.
Pam snapped this pic of me just in off the iron piggy, defrosting in front of a kitchen wall that needs painting. I plastered it not too long ago, primed it, then I thought: Who’s going to get the winter motorcycling done if I don’t?
About the bullet-headed look… which I completely forgot to mention in my previous post: It’s for a newspaper colleague from yesteryear, now braving a chemo regimen at Dana Farber in Boston.
She’s not thrilled about losing her hair, needless to say, but it’s the hair—I took this position—it’s the hair that’s needless. I said, you know, the people who care whether you’re bald are roughly equal in number to the people who care whether I’m bald, so since nobody cares we might as well both be bald. We can put our heads together and people will think we’re mooning them, it’ll be loads of fun.
My friend Fabo had her third of six treatments yesterday. Now she gets 21 days to recover, then on to round 4.
Three weeks ago we had fall mayflies swarming but now this New England winter is finally starting to feel New England-ish. When I rode down to the coast this morning it was 12 degrees Fahrenheit, wind chill on the highway, 15 below.
I’ve got an electric vest, socks, gloves, but unless I’m planning to ride all day in freezing weather I don’t bother with them. I don’t even know where the controller is for the heated gear. It might be hooked up to the 650 piglet, the little Arctic thumper that’s parked in D1’s garage on the other side of town. I haven’t even looked at the bike in well over a year now.
Anyway, Marty and Di are 40 minutes down the road, you can’t get cold in 40 minutes. Not cold enough that it matters.
On days like today I’m more concerned about my tires. They don’t even begin to warm up. You want to be mindful of what you’re asking them to do in the corners.
My friend in chemo had two movie recommendations for me, good calls both. They gave us interesting things to talk about (the Hey-I-have-cancer-you-have-cancer conversation gets old in about three minutes.) Check these out if your fear of heights is anywhere in the normal range. If you experience anxiety at heights you might want to pass on these two.
The Alpinist is on Netflix. Free Solo you can rent for a few bucks on Amazon Prime. If you see one, or both, please let me know what you think. If you see only one, I recommend The Alpinist.
That’s it, just popping up to say hi, nothing really going on. Until next time…
Tony DePaul, January 11, 2022, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA
Pam has fresh coffee and hot bread ready for you. She is okay with your long trips on the bike! A rare jewel indeed!
Tony: On a serious note, medical insurance covered my Amy’s wig as a prosthetic during her chemo. There was some needless bureaucratic hassle from the call center, but they paid in full and it looked great! Since she stayed in touch on Zoom with friends, it made a huge difference in her morale at the height of Covid.
I realize this is unsolicited advice but if the loss of hair is important to your friend, it might be worth investigating. I hope she is tolerating her chemo, Dana Farber is a top cancer hospital. We used them as a second opinion.
She is lucky indeed to have your support.
Best wishes to Fabo.
Very kind of you, Robert. Thanks so much. I’ll forward your note to fabulous Barbara, aka Fabo Babo.
I might be the one who coined the nickname back in the 90s but will defer to our fellow ink-stained wretches on that. 🙂
Happy New Year Tony. The hair will grow back, or so I’ve been told. And…. I can borrow Free Solo from my local library on DVD for free! Can’t find The Alpinist in their collection just yet.
Cool. Does your library also have a streaming service? Here in the States local libraries can join a streaming service called Kanopy. Our library’s a member, I think we get six free movies a month. They have lots of things you can’t find on Netflix or Prime.
Any of the Great Courses are gratis, they don’t count against your viewing credits. Which is nice because many of the courses run for 18 episodes or more. Lectures on science, history, art, literature… interesting stuff.
No, the library here in town is a bit behind the times. They just went rubber stamp-less. The librarian told me the other day that they were the last to do so in the “Marigold Library System.” They actually don’t have Free Solo in their collection but will bring it in for me via the inter-library system. That can take anywhere from a week to a month depending on where the other library is located. There’s 15 copies available over 15 different libraries. The closest one is just 10 miles south. I’ve put in a request and I’ll let you know when I got it and watched it.
Free Solo arrived today from the library in High River, Alberta. I’ll watch it soon and let you know what I thought of it. Just reading the blurb on the back of the box gives me the heebie jeebies.
Please do let me know, Bill.
We saw another climbing movie last night, 14 peaks. About a Nepalese team of climbers that summited all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter-plus peaks in a single climbing season. The choices the filmmakers made were not always the best. Here and there they strayed into melodrama, a bit of grandstanding, but the climbing itself is a tremendous story, an almost superhuman accomplishment.
Hi Tony, the Alpinist was great!!!! May I recommend “The Rescue” amazing watch, enjoy!
Hey Tony,
I’m seeing a few films with that title. One about a cargo ship afire, one about Navy SEALS, and there’s a movie still in theaters about those Thai kids trapped in a flooded cave a few years ago.
Your comment about head over hair is spot on. Deal with what’s important.
You may remember Bob Taylor, former city editor at the BDN. One day he told me he was having cataract trouble and it was suggested he have that operation (fairly new at the time) to replace his lens with an artificial one. He was very hesitant.
“They cut your EYE, he said,” with some fear showing through the growing cloudiness.
“Bob,” I said, ” a couple of years ago you had a heart attack and they cut into your heart. You’re an editor, you don’t need is a heart, but you do need your eyes.”
HA! Great comeback, Dave! And so true.
I remember it was understood that if the KC-135 crashed into City Hall on St. Patty’s Day, Bob still had the day off. We used to sneak out of the newsroom to visit Bob’s basement, where a plastic leprechaun on the bar would pee green whisky in your glass when you pressed down on his hat.
On the journalism front, I didn’t realize until years & years later that I could have learned so much more from Bob. Didn’t even scratch the surface.
But that’s life. A whole lot of stuff slips right by you when you’re 25.
I remember those very cold RI winters. Brrrr
The temp here in beautiful St. Augustine is going down to 57 tonight. Living close to the ocean is great.
You are looking good, Tony!
Hi, Claire. At 10 p.m. we’re sitting right at 10 degrees, and a balmy 10 it is with the wind dead calm. Got a nice fire going in the woodstove.
Hey Tony,
Remember, we’re not bald.
We’re aerodynamic!
Remember that rubber becomes hard, brittle, and loses grip the colder you go below 40…. Your limits seem to be further out than a tire so do be extra careful.
Cheers!
So true, Steve. You can actually feel it in the ride. The tires never soften up enough to soak up the road.
You are much tougher than me. I don heated gear if it’s below 50 and I park the bike if it gets down to freezing. Having spent most of my life in the sunny South, I have a deep respect (fear) for icy roads.
We are busy planning our annual ride for Dust to Dawson in June. We were shut down for the last two thanks to Covid. Trying to decipher the border crossing requirements is taking some of the fun out of the project.
Stay well!
Hey, Robert! I think I rode through Dawson City two weeks after D2D 2019. In 2013 a D2D guy I ran into in Anchorage tried to talk me into turning around and riding up to Dawson. I think it was two days before the solstice. I was headed south to Homer at the time, stuck to my plan.
I’ve seen a bit of it on video, looks like fun. Not a rally, right? Isn’t that what they say? Maybe that’s why it looks like fun.
I’ve ridden right by Sturgis twice, no desire whatsoever to stop. Same for Daytona Bike Week. A glorified traffic jam, drunks blipping the throttle. I rode down to Key West instead, never felt I’d missed anything.
Riding a motorcycle from Cranston to Narragansett in 15 degrees below!! And not even a little frostbite. My hat’s off to you, Tony.
Hi, Ellie. Thanks for reading. I did resolve to buy new mittens today, mine are worn out & tattered, they let too much air in.
They lasted me a dozen years, though. Easily that. A nice pair of gore-tex mountaineering mittens from EMS. Time for an upgrade.
Free Solo, shot in my neighborhood! This last summer I was doing public information officer work for Yosemite Fire and Honnold stopped by one of my stations in the valley. Nobody else around, just Honnold and me chatting about the benefits of prescribed fire. He’s a nice dude.
Yeah he seems right up front in the film. I’d be surprised to hear that there’s any pretense about him at all. Definitely comes across as an authentic human being.
When I saw the movie I thought, man, lose the girl as fast as you possibly can. She’s bad juju in your line of work.
You look dang good with that new shiny dome!
Ha! Man, I was thinking about you the other day, Steve. Wondering if you’re still up around Yosemite. Send the news when you can.
The Hair – The Hair. It really bothers women to their core, us men not so much during cancer treatments. My hair has been gone so long I wouldn’t know what to do with it if it came back – might have to set foot in a barber shop again if it did, haven’t been to one in the past two decades. But I get it, women like to look good, most men not so much.
Next month I am 15 years since my Stage 4 cancer treatment. 2006. 15 years I got that I wasn’t supposed to get. I’d like to go find that surgeon that said I’d be dead in 6 to 8 months back then and show him I’m still here. HA! Apparently, you suck at your job, Doc, you should maybe get a different profession and leave Oncology to those that know how to do it.
I still have a few more miles to go before I take the big dirt nap. A drive here, a ride there – it’s all good.
Rock on, Duano! Your cancer challenge was major, very much along the lines of Johnny Danger’s. You both stand tall among my heroes.
Hey, Duane. Happy new year. Congrats on the bonus 15. Stay well, Brad