The regaining of my health has been so miraculous that some sort of divine intervention must be involved. I mentioned the Dipsea last time; I ran it in June and finished in the top 70%. (I am so tempted to make a typo here, but I have too much integrity.) I’ve dropped some more weight, and kept in pretty good shape. Last month, while visiting a website for the San Francisco Marathon, I learned that I could run as a member of the National Brain Tumor Foundation. I impulsively signed up for it, even though it was only a couple of weeks away. Working up a training schedule, I took a 9-miler, then a 10, then a 12. I had to take a nap after the 12, and the rational side of my brain kicked in and convinced me to switch to the half-marathon, which is 13.1 miles instead of 26.2. (By running the second half of the marathon, I could also arrive 2 1/2 hours later than the 5:30 a.m. start time, giving me all the rationale I could want for switching.) I got my T-shirt from the National Brain Tumor Foundation (a disappointingly plain cream-color with nothing but text on the back) modified it to my liking (see photo) and chugged across San Francisco as traffic was stopped, scrappy bands played along the route, and a wonderfully diverse river of moving humanity flowed towards the Ferry Building. I felt so great afterwards I went home and took a nap.
Music continues to be a primary focus as I have not only my own CD out, but have reunited with my long-time psychedelic band-mates The Vanilla Extract, who have their own website nearing completion (www.thevanillaextract.com) and a very groovy demo that can be listened to on the site. (Now I’ve got three websites to manage.) We have a couple of shows coming up that those of you in the Bay Area may want to check out: A free daytime (11 a.m.) concert in the outdoor plaza at Larkspur Landing Saturday Oct. 2 (benefiting Sunny Hills Children’s Center) and a Kerry for President benefit (for which I haven’t thought of a clever name yet) on Oct. 16 at the Pint Size Lounge in San Rafael at 8 p.m. The Pint Size show will have three acts: a set of Anne Zesiger and her songs, a set of me and my songs, and a longer set by The Vanilla Extract including the Groovy Light Show, which is an intriguing combination of old and new technology put together by our lightmeister Joe Paulino. My set will include songs from the CD, newer ones yet unrecorded, and some old songs dating back to the ‘70s. It’s sort of like a career retrospective without the career.
Since the last update, we’ve taken a couple of quick trips...one to the amazing Clayoquot Wilderness Resort on Vancouver Island for our anniversary, and more recently, a quick jaunt to Calistoga for a Chris Isaak concert at Clear Lake and a wine country bike ride. The Clayoquot experience was transcendent, if a little expensive. Incredible vistas, remarkable food, memorable day trips, enthusiastic and helpful staff, indulgent spa treatments?a place with all the good things civilization has to offer, with none of the bad.
As for the future...one of the principles shared by my support group at the Center for Attitudinal Healing is "Let go of the past and the future." A friend and fellow member of the support group recently had a recurrence of his brain tumor after three years of good health, and faces a challenging recovery after surgery. He gave me hope that surviving, even flourishing, was possible...and on the news of his setback, fear showed up, trying to crash my party. I remind myself to stay in the now; that the future can’t be known and shouldn’t be worried about.
On the other hand, I have recently made contact with two musicians and brain tumor survivors who have been recording, touring and performing for eight years after malignant brain tumor diagnoses. Their stories give me great examples to follow, and nourish the strength I am summoning for the remainder of my journey. The same day I was introduced to one of these musician/survivors, I received a phone call from someone who had heard about my story from a friend…his wife had just been diagnosed with a tumor, and he was seeking any information and guidance I could supply. At that moment, I felt a profound connection to everyone who has had to walk this path, realizing that as those who have gone the furthest serve to inspire those like myself, so can I be a source of inspiration and strength to those just beginning the journey. And that not only can I do that, I have a responsibility to, as a way of paying it forward for the gift of being alive at all. I’m guessing that my songwriting may begin to come from a more enlightened place from this point on. Hopefully, my audience will follow me there, and not be disappointed that I’m not writing lots of songs about junk culture. (Hmm…that could be a good title.)
The docs have moved my MRI schedule back to every four months now, so readers will enjoy a respite from these until sometime around Christmas. We hope that you will enjoy life’s blessings between now and then, and we continue to be grateful for all your thoughts, prayers and support. I feel that you have all walked beside me as this journey has unfolded, encouraging me and giving me strength. They say that life is a marathon, not a sprint. Good thing, because I’m not very fast.
Peace and love,
Dan
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