Sadness and Quiet

Wow, I actually feel like I'm in mourning. My favorite Angel and Michael Jackson passed away on the same day! I know many of my friends in PNW aren't as sad about Michael Jackson, but where I grew up, he was just part of our lives.

I remember double dutching on the playground at Beaver Run to the Thriller album, and talking my mom into buying Bad for several of my black friends who couldn't afford it at North Salisbury. I even remember dancing to Off the Wall with my big sister at her first place when I was really little, and watching re-runs of the Jackson 5 cartoon. He became easy to laugh at when he was older, but I think his life story is so sad.

Farrah's story actually hits harder home to me, though. It didn't really bother me when my grandpa got a colonostomy, I thought it was something that happened to old people. Then I got really sick in 2003. I couldn't keep much food down, and I lost 17 pounds in 3 weeks. They ended up removing a good-sized polyp from my colon that was pre-cancerous, and I realized it could happen to anyone.

I was lucky my body reacted, Farrah had no symptoms, and her cancer was found at a routine screening. I had a hard time watching recent clips of her, because she was so beautiful and healthy, and was wasting away from colorectal cancer. You have no idea how painful your colon can become until it happens. I'm glad she's not in pain anymore.

Since I've been back in the "real world" of working full time, I've found my downtime quite boring. It was fine when it was sunny, I could go for a hike or run, but it's been typical PNW rainy lately here in the mountains. I have been able to get into a reality show on the History Channel that's based on Stanley's expedition to find Dr. Livingstone in Africa. It's called Expedition Africa: Out of the Wild, and it's on every Sunday evening.

I couldn't decide what to read in my free time this summer, but the show has inspired me to read some expedition journals. I realize that Stanley wasn't the nicest guy, beating his porters into carrying equipment with full-blown malaria, but after reading Howard Zinn, many great men have lost morality ground in my book. I've read Darwin a few times, but his journals lack excitement as he was more into taking detailed notes, after all, he was on to something.

So I'm going to read some expedition journals, and some adventure books recommended by one of my nieces. She's got great taste in music and literature, and I know she won't recommend a lame kids' book like Harry Snothead, I mean Potter. I do believe a trip to the library is in order tomorrow. We have an empty nest until Sunday, so I might as well enjoy the peace and quiet before the drums start up again. The youngest asked for money for his birthday, and bought a drumset. Here comes my trumpet karma.