Another great blog from the wonderful Kathleen Bade.
Girl Talk
***CLICK PLAY BELOW TO HEAR LOREN READ ALONG***
BREAKING NEWS: I’ve become a chick.
Please excuse the un-evolved reference but seriously, I need some man time. I need some knuckle bumping, beer guzzling, sports watching man time.
I worked on a news set surrounded by women. I live in a house full of them. And it’s my female friends who are most insistent that we hang out—or maybe they’re just the ones I’ve been saying ‘yes’ to. Suddenly I’m going to luncheons where the drinks are pastel colored and there are purses on chairs. And inevitably, someone wants to split an entree. In recent weeks I’ve had lunch dates with some beautiful (and brilliant) San Diego newswomen—while the people around us wonder if I should be envied or pitied.
But I’m not complaining. Sharing a table with the likes of Kathleen Bade, Aloha Taylor and Susan Lennon is nothing to complain about. But I have a girl time threshold and I crossed it about 10 minutes into the first lunch.
I like man time because we talk about man stuff. You know—tools and digging holes, fishing and football. But girl time means girl talk. Nail polish and Stevie Nicks, hair color and horoscopes. There’s lipstick on stemware and lettuce on every plate. And crying. Lots of crying. And they’re not even crying about my terminal cancer. They’re teary eyed and sniffly and I don’t even know why.
So, I raise a toast to my girlfriends: Enough already! I love you but I’ve got man stuff to do—rattlesnakes to wrangle, fires to build and facial hair to grow. And I think I’ll watch some baseball. There’s no crying in baseball.
Loren
Aloha Taylor & Kathleen Bade
Sandy Phillips, Kathleen Bade, Susie Nancarrow, Hannah Nancarrow & Susan Lennon
Tagged with: Aloha Taylor, Brain Cancer, Girl Talk, hannah nancarrow, Kathleen Bade, Loren Nancarrow, Susan Lennon, Susie Nancarrow
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The Sign Off
***CLICK PLAY BELOW TO HEAR LOREN READ ALONG***
Walter Cronkite signed off the same way every night: “And that’s the way it is.” Paul Harvey had his own “…[pause]…[pause]…[pause]…good day!” There was Edward R. Murrow’s famous “Good night and good luck.” Even my favorite pretend newscasters had their nightly rituals. Chevy Chase did “Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.” And we all know how Ron Burgundy ended his broadcast.
A sign off is a newscaster’s signature—and I’ve never really had one. Well, that’s not entirely true—for the last couple of years it’s been “Goodnight everybody. Two and a Half Men is next.” But now I find myself in need of a real sign off.
Still not sure how all this is gonna end for me with this brain cancer thing. But I do know that I’ve missed my last opportunity at a clever sign off. So consider this it. What I’m trying to say is I won’t be back on the evening news.
Now, don’t go picking out songs to play at my funeral just yet. I’m still fighting the fight and doing just fine—but a left frontal lobe brain tumor and live TV don’t mix. To my Fox 5 colleagues: don’t worry I’ll still be available for fashion advice and tips involving lemons.
So, back to that sign off. Let me try a couple out on you:
Peace and compost, San Diego. Nah… that doesn’t work.
Goodnight and have a good dinner. Nope…
See, this is why I never had one. Ah, screw it…Goodnight everybody. Two and a Half Men is Next.
Tagged with: Brain Cancer, chevy chase, edward r murrow, Fox 5 San Diego, frontal lobe brain tumor, Loren Nancarrow, ron burgundy, San Diego, walter cronkite
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The Good Stuff
Life can be rough. We sit in traffic, get ingrown hairs, stuffy noses, wrinkles and parking tickets. We step in dog poop, chewed gum and muddy puddles. We track it into the car and through the house. We breakdown, stress out and mess up. {Sh}it happens. But I’m tired of focusing on the sad stuff, the bad stuff and the downright crappy stuff. I want to pay tribute to the stuff that makes us smile, the stuff that makes us grateful, the stuff that makes us LAUGH. Here’s to the good stuff…
Here’s to nitrous at the dentist, ‘that’s what she said’ punchlines and arriving on time. To Facebook birthday wishes, A/C on a hot day and freshly shaved…legs. To brand new love, lifelong love, following the rules and breaking the rules shortly thereafter. To horoscopes, cold beer and authentic Mexican food. To inspirational quotes, rediscovered gift cards and…
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The Bucket List & The Beehive
You haven’t heard too much from me lately. And that’s because—well—I feel really good. So instead of writing about living—I’ve just been living. Kinda fun. Life has become one big field trip doing all the things on my bucket list.
I’m a treehugger, so I have a treehugger’s bucket list. It includes things like formulating the perfect compost recipe, exploring Yosemite in the Springtime and learning how to harvest honey—which I did this week.
We drove along scenic Lake Hodges, through the rocky hills of North county San Diego ’til we arrived at house where a beehive sits on a chair in the front yard. Normally, visitors would just see the beautiful yard; speckled with the light that filters down through shade trees. A nightblooming cereus snakes its’ way into the trees’ branches. There’s a pond flowing with aquatic life like lotus flowers, fish and native frogs. A tank nestled into the landscape holds water harvested from winter rains. This front garden is a feast for the eye. But it’s just the beehive on the chair that catches my attention.
“A swarm of bees showed up in the tree one night, so Bill put on his bee suit, picked it up and dropped it into the hivebox on the chair. We should probably move it to the backyard.”
Friends Bill and Sunni will probably move the hive…eventually. But today they’re harvesting its honey—and I’ve been invited. These are the kinds of things I get to do now, as I wait to get better—or worse.
When we arrive at their house, Bill has his big stainless steel honey spinner propped up in the dining room. It works with centrifugal force. And the sweet amber gift flows into mason jars. Nothin’ better on an English muffin or in a cup of tea than Bill and Sunni’s honey. We’re eager to see if raw local honey really can cure our allergies. And I can cross another wonder off my bucket list.
I’m looking forward to exploring Yosemite in the Springtime. That road trip starts next weekend.
Loren
You can see exactly how we harvested the honey on Bill Toone’s blog here: www.ecolifeconservationblog.org.
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No Mud, No Lotus
I got an overdraft notice from the bank this morning, accompanying a $35 fee and bounced rent check. I washed all my black clothes—in bleach. I dropped my iPhone and stared helplessly as it shattered on the ground. My cat pooped in the kitchen sink. I repeat: he pooped in the kitchen sink. I’m breaking out in a way I can only imagine will leave me looking like “Craterface” from Grease. I spent $50 on a tanning membership the day before my brother found skin cancer on his toe. I crashed my car on the way to the hospital—where my dad was having emergency brain surgery related to his terminal cancer diagnosis. AndI’m happier than I’ve ever been.
I’ve heard that life is a journey, to enjoy the ride. I’ve been reminded to count my blessings, to be thankful for what I have and to live each day…
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Condors & Cancer
***Click Play Below to Listen to Loren Read Along***
A pair of California Condors flew over us, bright and early one morning. I marveled at their unmistakeable white wing markings. And then I threw up.
That’s the kind of week it was. Rare and beautiful—–and dark and scary. Susie and I are back from a road trip. I was eager to share with her some of the rural scenes along the California coast I’ve covered as a T.V. reporter. We made it as far North as Carmel before heading East into Paso Robles wine country and back to the coast again.
I’m not allowed to drive. Something about brain surgery and seizures. So I spent the week as copilot as Susie winded up Highway 1 and then East through the oak forests and bright sunshine. We’ve been together for 30 years so we know each other pretty well. Having read Susie’s blog entry from those days, I see how I may have been having more fun than she was. A little under the weather, I slept for some of the trip on the bed she’d made for me in the back of the RV. She drove and worried. I slept and recovered.
The condors are part of a captive breeding program in an effort to save the species. The throwing up is part a cancer treatment program in an effort to save just one man. The meds that keep my brain from seizing can be toxic to the liver in high doses. My dose was too high—causing my road trip sickness.
Now that we’re home and I’m taking the right meds—I’m feeling the best I’ve felt in months. My right side has feeling and movement again. I’m able to button my own shirts, tie my own shoes and brush my own hair—you know, the stuff adult men take for granted. I want keep this good feeling going.
But more than anything, I want to get some doctor’s visits out of the way, pack up the van and hit the road again. Eastern Sierra this time. There’s an illusive marmot I want to find.
Tagged with: Brain Tumor, California, Cancer, Loren Nancarrow, road trip Susie Nancarrow
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Ranch & Coast Magazine Interview
A couple weeks ago I sat down with Ranch & Coast editor-at-large, former anchorwoman and coworker, Andrea Naversen. You can check out her article on The Nancarrow Project in this month’s issue of Ranch & Coast Magazine by clicking here. (Hint: Page 70)
Thanks Andrea!
Tagged with: Andrea Naversen, Britta Nancarrow, Cancer, Graham Nancarrow, hannah nancarrow, Loren Nancarrow, Ranch & Coast, San Diego, Susie Nancarrow, The Nancarrow Project
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More Tomorrows Like Yesterday
***Click Play Below to Hear Loren’s Voice***
I tied my shoes this morning—and I’m typing about it with my own hands. Rode my bike to the coffee shop too. Small tasks for some, major feats for me. I guess I’ve begun to learn more about the lives other cancer warriors experience. Diagnosis, treatment, acceptance, struggle, support, love, the need to plan—but there’s reluctance to stretch the horizon of that plan. Veterans of the battle know all this. They’ve swallowed the fistfuls of pills; some effective, others gut-tearing and wrong. They’ve been lifted as they regain strength or have been ready to just rest and take what comes their way.
For me, I want more tomorrows like yesterday. Susie and I had our van parked at Swami’s near the Encinitas street fair by 7 AM. Stayed until the PM opposite. Graham and Susie jammed for hours. Christine and Mike Arme cruised in on the Street Glide. I think someone said we were “pimp”. The park was cool. There were no waves so it was a quiet day for locals. Busy for young European visitors and colorful people doing cool stuff like Tai Chi or slack lining. We’ll be back there very soon.
The moment I’m living in now is what I’ve got and it’s one with working hands, healthy, blooming roses, plans with my crew.
At the moment, couldn’t be better.
Loren
Tagged with: Cancer, Encinitas, Graham Nancarrow, Loren Nancarrow, Music, Susie Nancarrow, Swami's
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The Nancarrow Project 