dream ranch

Chamber music concert Sunday afternoon cleared cancer at least briefly from my thoughts.

Turned out it was a celebration of my recent retirement from newspapering, too.

I first realized my retirement and its pleasures a couple of weeks ago when I looked up through my living room window to watch clouds rolling in over the mountain and having a sudden, second level of awareness that I was home reading a book at 5 p.m. It was quiet as always here. Cooper was at my side.

This is what I what I would seek even on a luxury cruise. And, on a cruise, I would miss my dog.

It was my first Placitas Artist Series concert. I’ve meant to go since moving out here for 26 years ago but always let work get in the way. Today, sister-in-spirit Susan and her gracious 92-year-old pal Ruth had an extra ticket and asked me along.

The violins, bass, cello and reed organ playing Dvorák pulled my thoughts away from the status of cancer cells. With newspaper work and political ballyhoo fading, too, I was free to listen to artistry in the thick-walled Las Placitas Presbyterian Church.

My retirement was supposed to be all about time for art. So, I am grateful to Susan and Ruth for helping introduce me to the future.

And I thank my sister Hope for reigniting my interest in poetry, bringing some Richard Hugo with her when she came down from Montana.

I am still excited from seeing  interviews with painters Bruce Lowney and Woody Gwyn on KNME-TV’s Colores.

I await one more scan before a decision on surgery for my lung cancer. I’ve learned that nothing is for certain any way I go in cancer treatment. I guess the point is to sit straight in the saddle whichever direction I choose to take.