"Plein Air" Wrap-up.....Meeting with Dr. Amersi

I am so naive....really!..... Sue and I drove up the coast on Hwy 1 toward Cambria and decided to stop at Harmony, a small "town" of several relic dairy buildings occupied by kitsch art galleries. We used to go there years ago with the boys and pick up ribs and chicken from some entrepreneur who I am sure went broke  for lack of customers. Anyway, I was wandering about a courtyard photographing wild flowers and other details of the garden with the macro setting on my digital camera when a woman approached me and asked if I could take a picture of her and "Molly", her little white poodle. She was very specific about where I should stand and where she would pose with Molly. I took several pictures and handed back the camera so she could view the results, which she found to her liking. She then proceeded to ask me questions about features of her camera she simply could not understand. As I pondered her questions and attempted to explain she moved closer. At that point Sue suddenly appeared at my right side, having materialized out of nowhere, as far as I could tell. And just as mysteriously the camera lesson ended as the woman said "Thank You" and bid adieu. And it was a good thing....I couldn't answer those questions. In fact, I don't think there were answers.

I love wildflowers. They are like nature's jewels. I was surprised how many were still showing their colors this early in the summer. Poppies were everywhere...I don't know the names of the others. I think some people are like wildflowers....different from the others, unique and unto their own nature. You know them when you meet them.

We reluctantly set our direction back to Whittier on Sunday morn. We visited two wineries, one just outside of San Luis Obispo and the other in Los Olivos. We traveled through backcountry on roads winding through hills studded with ancient oaks and newly planted vineyards. The last leg of our rural journey took us over the San Marcos Pass and past Lake Cachuma. We dropped down into Santa Barbara and joined the thousands of vehicles crawling back to Los Angeles and other points East and South.

An afterthought.....We sat in our parked car at the winery in Los Olivos and ate some of the snacks we had picked up in Avila Beach. I gazed at pepper trees and oaks swaying in the cool breeze. The bright sun made the shadows dark and the leaves glisten as if wet. A furtive jackrabbit scurried by, not more than ten feet from the front of the car. Horses stood stock still in a corral across the road...... I looked away and tears filled my eyes. It was good to be alive.


Meeting with Dr. Amersi....

Sue and I drove across Los Angeles to Cedars-Sinai for a 5:00 pm meeting with Dr. Amersi. I expected some routine visit in which Dr. Amersi would examine the incision, dress the wound if necessary and check out vitals. The expected meeting with Dr. Wollin, Dr. Amersi and the Hamrocks had not been arranged due to schedule conflicts. We expected to hear, at that meeting, what Dr. Wollin, the oncologist, prescribed for future treatment, if any.

As it is, Dr. Amersi came into the small examination room and proceeded to tell us about the difficulty of pulling all interested parties together at one time. She went on to say that Dr. Wollin concluded that, based upon patholgy reports and Dr. Amersi's observations, "any treatment of  Mr. Hamrock would be unnecessary at this time"........I furrowed my brow, did a double-take, and stated warily "That's good news, isn't it???"

It was good news....very good news.......And it is still sinking in.

Stephen