To Whit…

We have a horse farm at our humble abode where Laurie operates her dressage training facility, Timberlane Farm. Typically, activity slows down in January and February to give the horses some rest and the past few weeks have been brutally cold which also takes some fun out of riding for both parties involved. The natural break, as well as my unexpected change of condition, has given Laurie time to “get organized”. This organization could not be possible without the continued assistance of Whitney P. The adage, “When momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy,” seems to be true at Timberlane Farm so anyone who can help make momma’s life easier is welcomed and appreciated.

Having said that, my newfound shut-in status has given me more time to consider painting; something I have not made time to do. I approach painting in marathon sessions where paintings are completed in huge blocks of time often into the wee hours as opposed to a disciplined series of sessions. I came across an image of Picasso’s Le Reve (The Dream) and really wanted a copy for our bathroom so I cranked out a copy to get the ideas flowing. This is the $50M painting that Steve Wynn put his elbow through and had to cancel the deal to sell it for $139M. Although I’m a geek for contemporary sculpture and work by “minimal” artists, I started a project several years ago to produce 100 horse paintings in order to better understand the aesthetic side of my wife’s passion. I’ve never sold any of the work aside from some greeting card reproductions that we produced as gifts in 2007. Laurie asked me to produce one for Whitney as thanks for all the work she has done to help get Laurie organized.

So that is, “To Whit #30” and Whitney doesn’t even know yet.

On the health front, still steady. I have been noticing more stray hairs on my desk, around the bathroom sink, etc…although I have heard that many people lose their hair in quick clumps, mine seems to be clinging on. Everywhere the hair gets rubbed by clothing, there are large bare spots. I’ll keep you updated as the shedding continues. Secondly, the cough seems to be hanging around. Not as debilitating as before the diagnosis but a persistent cough none the less. Coughing makes me anxious to get through the next Lymphemo on Feb 3rd in order to a get “progress report” CT and a full work up by the Onc.