Clear blue sky ahead

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear – or not.

There are times when clouds cover the sky and things seem a little dark. But
with a gentle breeze the clouds are gone and the world is bright again.

I saw the doctor on Tuesday afternoon. He said that little cancerous
growth on my arm is very “superficial” and in the second lowest level
of an early stage of melanoma.

So, he will do a small surgical procedure today to remove all of the bad skin going all the way down to the muscle. We are praying for clear margins and then I will see an oncologist next week.

There maybe some scarring, he said. So I asked if he could make it a cool looking scar. “I have been thinking of getting a tattoo, so maybe you could just make a sun, or a moon or something and then I won’t need a tattoo,” I said to him. Hedidn’t quite know how to answer that, except he said he would see what he could do.

I am looking to the positive in this situation and in life in general.
There is a lot to be said about the power of positive energy vs.
negative energy. So for now I am concentrating on the power of the
positive and the power of the Light.

I took a deep breath and did some meditating. OK, a lot of deep breaths and a lot of meditating. I have such good friends who are sending angels, prayers and positive
energy my way, and I truly, truly appreciate that and love you all more
than ever. Thank you.

There is a lesson in this. I haven’t figured it all out, but I know it is there. Right now I am thinking it is a wake-up call. Apparently there is something in my life I am not paying attention to, or the wrong kind of attention. And this was a little smack on the head (like an “I could have had a V8) to get me to pay attention and make some changes in my life.

I love the sun! I refuse to hide from it. There is nothing better than lying on the dock or on a boat and feeling the warmth of the sun on my bare skin.

I guess I will use sunscreen this year.

There is a clear blue sky ahead. I’ll keep you posted.

I still love the sun

Today was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining and the weather guy on the radio said this week, we will see an increase of 13 minutes of daylight. That means 13 more minutes of sun — that wonderful yellow ball of warmth and light and happiness.

I love the sun.

So, about a week and a half ago I wrote about my lifestyle changes, working out and going to the doctor. Well, the test results are back from the labs.

The good news is my (mostly) healthy eating habits and working out are paying off. My weight is down. My cholesterol is down and up - meaning the bad is down and the good is up. I forget what the numbers are, because to me they are just numbers. And as I said before, my blood pressure is wonderful and I have a healthy heart and strong muscles, according to my doctor.

And now, here it is Monday — deadline day at the paper. I am in a good mood, for the most part. Why not? I mean the sun is shining and it is 23 degrees ABOVE zero. And I am having a good hair day. What could be better? Well, apparently one of the doctor’s at the clinic has been trying to get a hold of me for a few days. I was out of town to attend my uncle’s funeral service. So this morning I returned his call.

That is when the shadow fell on my sunshine. The nurse told me the mole on my arm is “malignant melanoma.” She followed up by saying it is a very aggressive and the most serious skin cancer a person can get.

Ok, now hearing those words, “you have cancer” is a bit overwhelming — especially on a Monday — deadline day. Pretty much, after I heard those words, I didn’t hear much else. And it was quite difficult to concentrate for most of the day. It was almost as though I was transported to another time and place where everything was simply altogether unimportant.

It didn’t matter to me if the photos I took over the weekend went into the paper or not. It didn’t matter if I wrote anything anybody wanted to read. It just didn’t matter. That nurse told me I had cancer.

It’s not that I feel sorry for myself, because I don’t. I just don’t know what is going to happen next. That nurse, whose name is Jan and she really is a lovely person, by-the-way, made an appointment for me right away tomorrow. In the mean time, I did a quick google search, and found that most websites agree, it is a serious form of skin cancer. But the sites also say it is nearly 100 percent curable if caught in the early stages.

When I see the doctor tomorrow I will hopefully ask the questions I could not ask today. Like what stage is this cancer in, how advanced is it, treatment options, chances of recovery and re-occurrence, and so on.

For now, today, I am on an emotional hyperdrive. I wouldn’t call it a roller coaster, because quite truthfully, there haven’t been many highs to the day. But I know it will get better.

After all, the sun will come up again tomorrow and I still love the sun.

I’ll keep you posted.

E-flowers

Happy Valentines Day!

I got an email card from a friend today, one of my girlfriend's from the Cities. Just one of those “forward this on to 10 people and you will have good luck for a day” or something like that. I didn’t forward it, I usually never do. maybe that is why without bad luck, I would have no luck at all.

Honestly, I hardly ever even open the emails that, in the subject line before the actual subject are those dreaded little letters: FW. But, since it is Valentines day and the subject was Valentine Flowers, I figured my only chance at seeing any, let alone getting any flowers, was this email. So I opened it.

It was cute. Nice e-flowers. All roses. And the following message:

May you always have:
One Rose for Unconditional Love
One Rose for Financial Wealth
One for Everlasting Happiness
One for Success
One for Knowledge
One for Beauty, inner and outer
One for Family
One for Honesty
And the last one for a long and healthy life

Those are all very nice. I don’t mean to complain, but that is only nine. What happened to the last three? I am going from memory here, but shouldn't there be a dozen?

So, if I wrote the ending, the last three would be:

One Rose for friendships, both near and far
One for laughter
and the last one for perseverance and strength, both physical and emotional.

I guess I could think of at least five more, but we will stop there.

Now here are my favorite little “love” sayings I found on the inside wrappers of those luscious Dove dark chocolate hearts we have been savoring, one a day, for the last month:

Make someone melt today.
Savor small romantic moments.
A gentle touch speaks volumes.
Discover how much your heart can hold.
Watch the sun come up.
Share a sunset.

And my favorite: Laugh until your heart overflows.

Happy Valentines Day!

And p.s. Those cute little electronic Valentine roses were the only roses, or any other Valentine flowers I will get, so thanks, Gail, for thinking of me.

Arctic Blast wrap up in smoke

Well, to sum up the Vikings Arctic Blast weekend, let's just say it was cold.

the celebrity poker tournament Friday night at the Casino was warm, freindly and fun. Each poker player paid $110 to get $4,000 in chips and tried to win the pot. there was one celebrity at each table with a bounty on their head. Whomever knocked them off the table won an additional $100 cash. The big winner of the tournament stood a good chance of winning over $50,000 real cash. I will have to check with my friend Sara at the casino to find out the exact total, because quite frankly, I lost my notes. Along with a bunch of photos — I'll get to that later.

But really, that amount is not what is important. What is important is the money that is collected for charity.

So, Saturday morning the weather was about 18 degrees, but the bottom dropped out of that quickly. by 1 p.m. the thermometer in my Jeep read minus 6 and the windchill made it about minus 30.

That's where the lost photos and notes came in. Somewhere along the line, through the blowing snow and frigid temperatures, my camera froze and damaged my memory card. Long story short, frostbite on two fingers, photos gone. As for the notes, I think they are blowing around in the middle of Wisconsin by now.

So the smoke comes in during an interesting turn of events at Barnacles Resort in Malmo.

Watch my video. And then read my story on www.millelacsmessenger.com or in the print version of the paper available on news stands everywhere. Please feel free to comment.

--- Well, I can't get the video to load into this page. Please go to www.millelacsmessenger.com to view the video.

Thanks again!

Thanks!

A little sunshine goes a long way

So I mentioned a while back that I have decided to make lifestyle changes. I refuse to use the word diet, but inevitably, whenever I turn down a cookie or albeit rarely I turndown a peanut M&M, people always say, “Oh, you are dieting. That’s right.”

Because I will eat pizza when I want to and eat chocolate when I want to. And still feel comfortable with my lifestyle changes.

I have decided that anything can be justified. Pizza is actually healthy. There is cheese for dairy, tomato sauce for lycopene, and meat for protein. Sounds healthy to me.

Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is loaded with antioxidents, so they say. Okay, maybe loaded is not a good word, but there are some in there. Not to mention that chocolate can release those pleasure endorphins we all need. Sounds healthy to me.

The key is to enjoy in moderation.

As for my working out, I think that is working out very well. I have been going to the IREC four days a week. Two days every week I am in a class. Julann, our trainer calls, it the dumb bell class, or power bar class, or some other names. Truth is, it is a fun fitness class that includes aerobics, strength training, pilates and yoga moves.

The fun comes from our group. Julann is an amazing trainer. Her enthusiasm for fitness is unsurpassed and her encouragement is contagious. She celebrates our success and offers new insight for when we are not so successful. (We don’t use the word failure.)

The gals in our class are wonderful, echoing the spirit of Julann as best as we can.

But the best part is the fun. I look forward to those two class days more than I look forward to sleeping in on a Saturdays. (A rare opportunity, but it does happen once in a while.)

We laugh a lot. And laughing is good for the overall well being of a persons mind, body and spirit.

Now I can’t tell you what we talk about, that wouldn’t be fair. Because, well, it is a lot of girl talk. And while it is ok to talk girl talk within a girl circle, it is not ok to share it outside the circle. Does that make sense?

There was one guy, Ernie, in our class last session, but I think we scared him away. too much girl talk.

We still see Ernie on weigh training days, the off days from the fitness class, so we keep in touch that way.

Apparently, the fitness training is paying off. I went to the doctor last week for a physical. My doctor is wonderful. Sidebar: She is Chinese and believes in the benefits of both Eastern and Western medicine. She is very blunt. I like that in a doctor. In most people, actually.

So, she says to me, “Oh you have very healthy heart. Heart of an athlete.”
And said my muscles were getting “very big.”

My weight is down and my blood pressure is 110/64. (I think that is good. That’s what the nurse told me anyway.)

Then she looked at a mole on my right arm.

“Oh, no need to worry, but that look like melanoma to me. You see surgeon right way.”

My answer: “So I guess I should cancel my appointment at the tanning salon later today.”

“Oh, you don’t go there!” She said sternly. “You want sun, you go south.”

Well, I saw the surgeon yesterday. He was not as worried. That is a good sign — I think.

The only part that hurt was the lazer beam that cauterized the incision area. I had flash back to my childhood when my brothers made an electric chair and invited me to sit in it. Which I did. And i have had an eversion to electricity ever since.

We will have the results of the biopsy in a few days. Good thing it is colder than a well digger's, um, well, you know, other wise I would be out in the sun right now.

I guess I will just use sunscreen from now on.

Cabin fever? Not a chance!

Tomorrow is Ground Hogs day! I am not sure why this day is not really more of a national holiday, but that’s the way it goes. If the ground hog sees his shadow or not, face if folks, there is a lot of winter left.

The entire month of February is back-to-back good times in Garrison. Starting tomorrow -- Ground Hogs Day. With the recent cold snap over and a brief warming trend heading our way for the weekend, the temps are expected to be in the mid-to upper 20s. That is going to feel like spring around here! And the perfect weekend to visit Garrison.

The action will be hot in Garrison Bay Saturday and Sunday Feb. 2 and 3 with the pros taking to the ice at over 100 mph for snowmobile racing. Added to the action is pro 4-wheeler races and motorcycle races.

Feb. 9 is the Arctic Blast with the Blue Goose as one of the check points. One of my favorite events of the Arctic Blast is the fireworks display that Saturday night. They are shot off from the ice in the middle of Garrison Bay and is one of the best winter displays I have seen. Stand outside and the ice rumbles under your feet as fire lights the sky. Seriously, check that one out!

Feb. 16 and 17 Garrison will be sponsoring another action packed weekend with the first leg of the Triple Crown snowmobile races. The Milled Lacs 300 CC sponsored by SledHead 24/7. You have not seen a cross country race until you have seen this one. But don’t keep your eyes planted solidly on the ground. Look up and (weather permitting) you will find the sky adorned with hot air balloons.

But wait! There’s more! The Minnesota Balloon Pilots group will be performing a Moon Glow that Saturday evening in front of the Blue Goose. You wont want to miss that. Meet the pilots and crew and get up close and personal to the hot air balloons glowing in the night. Also a great photo opportunity for all the shutter bugs out there!

The action just keeps going in Garrison. I will be out there wandering around with a camera or two and shooting a few videos for our website. Stop on out and if you can’t make it there, check out the website for the videos, photo galleries and my blog.

This is no time for cabin fever to set in. And no reason to utter those three dreaded words, “I am bored.” If you are bored any weekend in February, then you haven’t been to Garrison! My favorite catchphrase of the season, "Get out there!"

See you on the ice!

Elevator music

Jamie and I, and some of the Messy Crew, we were at the Minnesota Newspaper Association convention at the recently multi-million dollar renovated Sheraton in Bloomington. Of course, there were the usual convention type activities. You know what I mean, meetings, seminars, lunches, dinners and socializing, brain storming, idea exchanges, tips of the trade and more socializing.

So there we were, Jamie and I, late (if you can believe that!) for a mandatory rehearsal and sound check for a skit were were to perform later that evening. Jamie and I boarded elevator number one on the 12th floor “going down” to the second floor. As usual we walked into the elevator and continued our conversation.

We weren’t moving.

“Did you push the button?” I asked Jamie.
“Yes,” she said.

We still weren’t moving.

I pushed another button. One floor down.
Still not moving.
I pushed one floor up.
No good.

“Jamie, we are stuck,” I said.

The look on her face was a combination of disbelief, amazement, bewilderment, confusion, perplexity, shock, calmness and indifference.

We pushed the call button in the elevator to call for help. We were connected to Charlotte, who worked somewhere downstairs I imagine. Safe. Sitting at a desk.

I also called Kevin from my cell phone explain. “Um, Kevin? This is Viv. Jamie and I are stuck in the elevator.”

His reply: “Viv, I would like to believe you but I don’t. Get down here. You are late.”

So, I put the phone over by the call box and said, “Hello, OnStar? My boss is on the phone and doesn't believe me that we are stuck. Will you verify that with him, please?”

Kevin must have believed us then. He hung up. Or I simply lost a signal. I did have four bars on my phone, however.

“Should we be sitting down, Charlotte?” Jamie asked. “I mean we are on the 12th floor, and if we fall, it might be better if we were sitting down.”

We were laughing and making jokes about it. The carpet needed vacuuming we told Charlotte. And we could not hear any elevator music.

“I have contacted someone on my staff and they will get you out soon,” Charlotte said. “Do you want me to stay on the line with you until you are out?”

“Well, yeah,” Jamie said. “Isn’t that what you do? Like 911? This is sort of a 911 situation you know.”

We continued to make jokes with Charlotte and talk. Good thing we didn’t need to use the bathroom.

The Elevator just started moving after a little while. That was a little unnerving. We were a little unsure if we were plummeting to our deaths or if we would be placed gently back on floor number two.

We landed safely and the elevator was promptly closed for repairs. Hmmm....

Later that evening, after our performance ended and we abruptly headed for the hotel lounge for a shot of liquid, ummm, encouragement(?) after the fact, we noticed about five Bloomington firefighters standing outside the elevators. Elevator number two.

We wondered what was going on, but I was not in reporter mode. More important to us at that particular moment was getting to the lounge. And were still in full costume. Wigs, odd clothes and all.

We took the escalator down one floor and found about half-dozen more fire fighters standing there.

I couldn’t take not knowing. I had to ask.

“Ma'am, there are 11 people stuck in that Elevator. Been in there 45 minutes. You are going to have to stand back so we can evacuate them,” a firefighter told me. I am pretty sure I disliked being called "ma'am" at that particular moment.

The people all got out safely and nobody was hurt. I bet at least one of those women had to go to the bathroom. What if asomebody, before boarding the elevator thought to her self, “I probably should “go,” but I will just wait and go when I get up to my room.” That could have not been pleasant.

It is kind of unfair, however. Jamie and I were stuck in elevator number one for probably 12 minutes and we didn’t get a dozen cute firefighters to rescue us.

Apparently, the multi-million dollar renovation did not include elevator upgrades. And there wasn’t even bad elevator music for our listening pleasure.

Happy New Year

By the way, happy new year to you all. It has been a while since my last post (sounds like a visit to a confessional). I have no excuses to offer, I just run out of time.

As for new years resolutions - I don't really believe in them. While I do sometimes say, "Every year, I just want to be nice like Deanne." She is my cousin and has the patience of a saint and never a harsh word for anyone. I am sometimes the polar opposite of that. I know this and resolve to try to be nicer every year. And some days I am. Nicer. Or nicer than other days, so I guess that qualifies.

I believe in setting goals and try not to lower my standards just to meet them. But I am a firm believer in the saying, if at first you don't succeed, try again. So I try and try and try some more sometimes.

My goal this year is a lifestyle change. My goal is to work at one or two areas of my life at a time and make healthy changes. for now, I am trying to eat more veggies and work out four times a week. I joined the fitness center and so far, I am on track for four times a week. I am not going to say the word diet. I am going to make healthy choices and get fit.

I think it is starting to work. At least a little bit. While I don't have six-pack abs, at least I know I have abs. The reason I know this is because they hurt. Someday, I may even be able to see them!

One small step at a time.

Fishhouse counting

OK, some of you may be wondering about the Mille Lacs Lake fishhouse video that is now appearing on our Mille Lacs Messenger website. I will attach a clip here, on this blogsite, as soon as I can figure out how to do it.

Anyway, here's the play by play — behind the scenes deal on the fly-over.

Every year, the DNR counts the number of fishhouses on Mille Lacs Lake. They use the information as an indication to fishing pressure on the lake. It is just one tool in the toolbox the biologists of the fisheries department use to check their numbers.

The fly-over is scheduled on the same like Saturday every year and usually, two counts are used before the actual fishhouse count is tallied.

The flight was schedule to depart Brainerd Regional Airport at 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan.5. Due to unseasonably warm temperatures, and something to do with a pressure system holding moisture down, no wind, and some other scientific Belinda Jenson type stuff I don't understand, there was fog. Lots of fog.

I got the call from DNR biologist Kevin Martini — who would be doing the counting — at about 7:30 a.m. stating a delay due to fog. He said pilot Tom Pfingsten thought fog would clear by 11.

It did not. (See SIDEBAR below on killing time.) The flight was rescheduled until 12:30, and eventually departed a couple hours after that.

Tom kept checking the weather radar and aviation stuff on the maps waiting for visibility to clear to 7 miles. It was good to go in Brainerd and he knew it was clearing, but still under 7 miles in Aitkin. He figured it would clear by the time we got over the lake.

On the way over, flying was wonderful. Overcast and a bit hazy, but it was a smooth flight. On the way to the lake Tom went to check on an area suspected of possible logging violations. "We just want to check it out," he said. Just so you know, the DNR is in the air almost every day (weather permitting) looking for, and following up on leads relating to violations such as shoreland, wetland, logging and just about everything else. Always an eye in the sky. Tom said they were also involved in searching for the Garrison Bank Robber last year.

It was clear to hazy all the way until right over the lake. Floating over just the lake were clouds. A thick layer of clouds hanging there at about 1,000 feet. We were flying at about 1,500 feet. Needless to say, the clouds were so thick, we did not see a single fishhouse. The unofficial count on Jan. 5 was zero. Well, Kevin saw two on the northside, and that was it. But the count for that day will be thrown out and another count, with yet another flyover will be done on Jan. 26.

So, no numbers to chart and no front page pic for the paper. It was a nice flight. So, thank you Tom, Kevin and the Minnesota DNR for letting me tag along. I am looking forward to the next flight.

That is the way it goes with weather and science, and life in general. Things don't always work out the way we want them to, but if we are patient, the fog will clear in the end.

SIDEBAR: Killing time, waiting for the fog to clear.

I was on my way to the airport to be there by 11 a.m. when Kevin called again saying we would try at 12:30. Since I was already on my way into town, I just kept going.

I had errands to run, so it was really no big deal if I did them before or after the flight.

One stop was to get my oil changed. I usually change my oil pretty close to the 3,000 mile manufacturer's recommendation. If I don't, my Jeep yells at me. However, this time, apparently I was a little farther over the manufacturers recommendation — almost 1,500 miles over, according to the guys at the super speedy oil change place on Washington Ave., across from Westgate Mall.

Because I drive a few miles, I am getting my oil changed about every other month. those guys at the super speedy oil change place know me pretty well. I think they especially like it I always have a coupon and know when to yell, "Oil pressure up!" Of course, they have a tendency to razz me a bit and tell me the tire pressure is off by about a 100 pounds on the spare tire, and my turn signal fluid should be changed, that sort of thing. Of course I am too smart for that. I don't even know where my spare tire is, how are they going to know?

But this time, they were not kidding and I needed a new battery and talked me into the synthetic oil for the winter in case I run over the recommended 3,000 miles — again.

So, a shout out to my pals at the super speedy oil change place in Brainerd/Baxter across from Westgate Mall! Especially, the guy with the same last name as me. Thanks for taking care of my Jeep.

A Christmas morning snow globe

I collect music boxes and many in my collection are snow globes. Those in my collection hold little tiny pieces of sentiment. I have one that holds a snowmen, one a mother and a child, another a father and daughter dancing a waltz, another of a ballerina in toe shoes, another an ice skater on a frozen pond, and one simply a butterfly. One is a city landscape, and one is a cabin in the woods. Others are scenes from favorite movies, and others seem to have no reason. Each one individually is special but if you put them all together, they are tiny little pieces of my life. Each one is special.

Looking at them sitting on the shelf they are pretty. If you turn them upside down to swirl the snow, something magical happens and watching the snow puts my heart at ease.

Christmas morning I took my dogs for a walk in the woods. It was quiet. Silence surrounded me except for the squeaking of the snow beneath my boots as I walked. And the occasional jingling of the dog tags of my companions. And then it started to snow. A flake here and there. As I continued walking in the comfort of the quiet the snow picked up — big fluffy flakes that seemed to sometimes gently swirl.

I stopped and the dogs stopped. We just listened to the silence. And enjoyed a moment in a Christmas morning snow globe of our very own.