The Marlboro Man

Yesterday we were to be besieged by visitors, a dear friend from my Fairbanks days who is now in Portland flew out so that we could celebrate our birthday together, a day that we share, and my sister and her family were to join us as well in celebration of their wedding anniversary. My friend arrived safely, a joyous, laughing bubble eager to explore and do new things. From my sister however came an odd phone call, another drop in the family worries. Her step-father (we are half sister's, really, through my father, although to us there is no half about it) has been ill for some time. You may have heard me refer to him before, he is an old time Coloradan cowboy and was one of the original Marlboro Men. He had a stroke last fall from which he has hardly recovered and yesterday his doctor called to say that they had found cancer. He is an old man, we just celebrated his 80th birthday, and I wonder if he will not just decide to go back to his Marlboro Man days and re-take up his vices until he submerges and expires. But I doubt my sister will let him. She, and her family, are currently living with him and it is hard to let the people we love go, even when it might be kinder to do so. We shall see her and her family, her husband and my niece & nephew this weekend but they have taken some time to be with Clyde and ease him through the news and I have this odd feeling that the traveling should be reversed - I should be going there. And so I shall, soon, as well as to Ontario where my Oma is still doing poorly, but for now my friend and I shall have a celebratory weekend and take what joy is to be found in friendship and aunt hood and home baked pies.

Until the weekend I find myself, surprisingly at a National Geographic event on the environment, selling books. This is a surprising turn of events and I hope to take advantage of it as there are some very respected names here and a few of people I know. Scientists as well as activists, attempting to present the pitfalls of global climate change and potential solutions to insurance agents and business persons, the people who seem to just be catching on that this may be an issue that will directly affect them. Luckily the talks are piped into the book-room and I hope to get the opportunity to circulate during the breaks. I must continually remind myself not to buy any of the delicious books on science & the environment that arrayed in front of me. So tempting!