48 It's not true what they say

An initially glorious return got a little dicey, a challenging transition.  Think of moving from an isolation cell to a dorm floor.  Plus was feeling off, tired, out of sorts.  Luckily I love my roommates.  And brother do I sleep up in this joint.  Easy, soundless, extended.  And my three alarm clocks sound like angels singing (loudly).  Yesterday and today have felt better and better.  I have live chess opponents:  W's game could use a little polish.  Ags and Ads now know how to set the board and are learning piece movements.  Started me some Dostoevsky (Brothers).  He makes a lot more sense to me than Tolstoy.  Don't feel like I moved anymore, feel like I'm home.  You can come home again.

Talk to me

45, 46, 47

Had a bad feeling when they sent a nurse practitioner to see me at the clinic on Wed.  Nothing against the NP (no relation) but really thought I needed a doctor to cut me loose.  The blood work was good to very good.  I now have a normal German's white count.  RBC, pretty damn close to normal.  Platelets held steady.  Another bad feeling:  i thought i'd need 50 to come home.  I had a sinking feeling.  I sorted things out with the NP and she said she didn't see any reason to keep me.  She ran it by the Doc and it happened about as fast as you can say individual mandate.

I got a boost of magnesium and then made tracks for the cardiac center to have them pull the line.  Got home Wed night/Thurs morning 12:30.  Hugged and kissed my kin and cried big crocodile drops on the bedspreads.

Im due back on the 9th and then likely 3 more times in the next 6 weeks.  Im banged up and battered and there is still a non-trivial amount of game left but I like my position and have a materiel advantage.  I like my chances.  And I'm so very happy to be home, where the best parts of me were all along.  The blog is good at least until day 100, check back.  Keep the comments coming, they make the next post much easier.  After a 100, I'll run it by Legal and see where we stand.

The part I'm leaving out is Lut was with me for nigh every second.  He flew up, rented a car and was by my side before blood draws. When we wrapped up with the medical types, he drove me back to the school, we loaded up and he drove all the way to Amish Country and chased it with a solo trip back to DC.  Our conversation roamed hell's half acre from Joyce to, well, let's say 5th amendment.  We were sore for him to stay but he said he just had to be on the steps of the SCOTUS when they overturned ACA.  oops.  seriously, three cheers for Lut.  Huzzah.  Huzzah.  Huzzah.

What's truly amazing and wakes up the crocodiles every time I think about it is how many good turns, Generous, selfless, milk-of-human-kindness turns you all have done me the last four years.  If you can read this, THIS MEANS YOU.  There's no ranking you because you already make an all-star team:  Pop tending to me like a mama bear.  Rick for going above and beyond what one could reasonably ask, and throwing all those chess games.  Nate good for 4 visits and bringing the rebel for half of them.  Chuck and Hallie and Tisha for the visits and the cleaning and this list could get very long.  And this paragraph could get long if I tried to catalog all your decencies.  You care, your concern your favors and your reaching out or hanging in there with me--a known difficult guy to hang in there with.  I am moved with gratitude that I am at a loss to properly convey, so I'll just say this and hope you'll know I mean it much as anyone has:  Thank you.  If you could see in my heart, you'd see a big feast prepared where all of you have a seat, a comfy one.  The wine is free, the food delicious, the conversation scintillating, your chef and your waiter both go by CJ, and I won't stop running until everyone is stuffed.

Your're my kinda people and I dont like very many people.

Enough (44)

Had it with jersey numbers.  Had it.  Quiet day by my lonesome.  Took a walk.  Played a ridiculous amount of chess and did not fair badly.  Went 5-1 with some Israeli who kept hitting challenge.  3 minute games, gotta move.  A majority of my wins were on time.  Finished the 1000-piecer.  Below is probably the acme of my MFA visit.  JMW Turner's SLAVE SHIP (The Zong).  Chilling.  Thrilling. Taught me how important it is to see the things in person.  I took a picture but it has some glare.  This one is from the web.  Big appt tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.  I'm trying to prepare to leave without preparing to leave lest I jinks things.  Kinda hard.  I should wash the sheets but that would REALLY be putting my coat on.  I'll work it out.  And keep you posted.

Polamalu

Biletnikoff goes hair out the back and it's cool.  Polamalu does it and it's a hairdo?  Sorry, this guy's game is fearsome.  He can put it in pig tails for all I care.  Another  visit from Nate and Cip.  More good jawboning.  This afternoon I will knock down some pages of a Joyce bio and read some poetry.  Have about 100 of 1000 puzzle pieces looking for homes.  But they're the hard ones.  Hard, but not this hard:

42 (have i mentioned any steeler DB's?)

A pretty splendid Sunday, all things considered.  Like all good Sundays it started Saturday night with Brother Nate and Cip's visit.  Good Chinese food and good story tellin'.  This AM  Sarah dropped by for a visit, the sunshine was warm, the air was cool and the conversation edifying.  Baby Mirany fought valiantly but in the end was won over by my magnetic personality.  In the afternoon I visited The Rick and his very tolerable children (other people's aren't always).  We had some barley beverage and tasty stir fry.

I should have said earlier that Lut was my introduction to the work of Donald Judd and, truth be told, Iconography.  Here's one more.  I forget every detail about it, but that pear looks like it's gonna fall on your foot, does it not?

always only enjoy

40, 41

I think I messed up the count.  gonna go with 41.  I think Gale Sayers was 40.  I only think this b/c Brian's Song was on the tube the other night.  I couldn't believe it and watched a few commercial blocks worth.  Aunt and Uncle headed home today.  Their visit was a huge help.  Here's another from the MFA.  I read all about it and promptly forgot every detail.  It was strangely affecting, mesmerizing even.  The holy sprit as homunculus made me laugh out loud, but then you sort of confront the artist's seriousness and desperation to depict belief and. . . well you end up staring at it a long time and taking a picture.

39

This is the Donald Judd at the MFA.  I saw it from two galleries away and almost ran to get close to it.  Industrial, speaking of the machine (or The Machine), cold, simple and spare, but also if you spend time with it, seductive, complicated, even somewhat of a painter's work the way it messes with light and shadow.  To generalize Valery: we should apologize for daring to speak about art.

About 39, stumped again except to say one of those old timey Steeler DB's maybe.  Perry, Lake, Bell.  Who knows?  I was gonna close in and get the guard out of the pic, but I decided to leave him in for scale.  Dig those shadows.  Comment it up.

38 (Unknown Steeler Tim Worley)

Got a golf lesson from The Rick today.  Turn your left shoulder under your chin.  Hit the catcher in the mask.  Rotate your hips.  Hit 'em like you never did.  Picked up a 1K-piece jigsaw puzzle.  Uncle and I (and The Rick, truth be told) finished a 400 piece-er of a topo map, no picture.  Maybe the hardest jigsaw puzzle ever  and I put together a few Staves (google it).  As The Rick said, it's like a mine accident/rescue:  Every 40 min you fit a piece or save a miner--everyone sighs with relief.  And then you go after the next one.  Spent the afternoon at the Boston Museum of Fine Art.  Really delightful.  Highlight:  coming out of the Hall of Masters into American pop art.  Like the clouds parted, you got all the jokes and they were all funny.  Still, hard to top Achilles readying steeds for the big battle.  This one had me in it's tractor beam for a LONG time.  Hope your day was filled with goodness not badness.

The Twelfth Prime Number

Very good clinic visit.  All numbers up or steady.  Big news was plts more than doubled.  Making your own platelets is a big deal.  Doc said see you in a week, if everything continues as is, we'll pull the line and send you home.  HOME.  Where my thought's escaping. Where my music's playing.  Where my love(s) lie waiting.  So, to be clear, a lot has to go right and plenty could go wrong, and I'll still need to return fortnightly, but hey I made the schlep weekly through the winter.  I can deal with the visits.  Especially now that I know The Rick's (down 6 games) address.  Keep your fingers crossed and don't bet money on it, but it's a good thing that could happen soon.  Special thanks to Pop for his steadfastness the last two weeks.

Lester "the molester" Hayes, covered in stickum.  Best bump and run cover man in the biz.  I can't take credit for the jersey number but I get misty thinking of those Raiders.