Weekend Warriors

The Hero needs to continually learn new skills to advance his quest. This weekend I learned a new skill, not that it will help directly with my particular quest, but it did provide a welcome distraction from the week ahead.

Kelly and I took a Beyond BOW archery workshop on Saturday. We were introduced to the basics of the sport, allowed to practice in the indoor arena and then we were taken outdoors to the club's 3-D archery range. Here we shot arrows at a wide array of targets including boar, deer, bear, turkey, antelope and leopard. We both did pretty well at hitting the targets, and Kelly put two arrows into the kill zone of the running boar -- a target attached to a pulley system which flies across the path. She so modestly pointed out that my shot was equally as good -- I hit the rope, which is a much smaller target, just not the one I was hoping to hit.

It was a beautiful day for walking through the woods, although I found the black flies to be a distraction. We did have the privilege of seeing a pair of pileated woodpeckers.

On the way home we stopped at the Fox Hill Cheese Factory, Blomidon Nurseries and Hennigar's Farm Market. The Cheese Factory makes gelato (delicious) and a wide variety of cheese. I picked up block of gouda but several cheddars are available as well as havarti, smoked gouda, quark and feta (there are more -- the sample tray had about 18 different offerings). Kelly picked up a Japanese quince at the nursery for her mom and I bought some fresh rhubarb at the farm market and made a pie.

Sunday morning Rob and I got in the truck and drove to my parents. Dad is home from the Yukon for a couple of weeks and we figured with my chemo cycle this week, yesterday was the best day to make a quick visit before he heads back. Mom had lobster for supper, which was delicious, and my pie was served up as dessert. My brother Wally, his wife Jen and the kids also arrived and stayed for a couple of hours. We looked at the photos Dad had taken this trip out, including buffalo up to their bellies in snow and the stunning mountain vistas. I even had a chance to chat with my youngest brother James, who called while we were visiting. On the way home we saw a turkey vulture on the edge of the road; a relatively rare site for this part of the province (although my sources tell me the species is now more common and there have been sightings in Cape Breton).

Rob introduced Jessica to the fine art of casting. We gave the kids fishing gear for Christmas. Mom has a huge back yard so Rob put a weight on his spinning rod and showed Jess how to cast. He was impressed at how quickly she was picking it up. He's looking forward to getting the kids out fishing.

This week starts the treatment cycle again. I have my doctor's appointment and blood work tomorrow afternoon, then Thursday is chemo treatment number four. This will be the first treatment with the second drug. Instead of three different drugs being pumped into my system, the next three treatments are one type of drug (at least that's my understanding at this point). Nausea is not supposed to be an issue with the last three rounds...although fatigue may be a larger factor. Only time will tell. I'm just glad we're passing the halfway mark with the treatments; it gets old pretty quickly.