Daifung vs. The Brain Invaders

Sulky races, Meigs County Fair

Yesterday we went down to Pomeroy, OH to check out the sulky racing (elswhere called harness racing) at the Meigs County Fair. This was my first Ohio County Fair and it was a serious slice of Americana. The grandstands are 80-90 years old and built right on the first curve for a great view. The benches may have seen better days, with worn wood and a few loose boards here and there, but they are sturdy and provide good cover. The age is reflected in the un-broken grain on the huge beams.

Sulky racing is a big tradition in Ohio and throughout the midwest, and a lot of the horses are driven by their owners. While you would expect that the drivers would all by short, fit folks like the jockies in thoroughbred racing, in reality they were a very diverse group, including several drivers who were over 250 pounrs (one of them a woman who placed first in her race) and one who is 90 years old! All American!

Grandstand, Meigs County Fair


This driver is 90 years old!

In addition to the races, there was everything else you’d expect of a county fair. There were barns for cattle, goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits and hogs, along with a packed livestock auction. In addition to the 4H displays there was a display of cool antique tractors and judging for flower arrangements, paintings and quilts. The flower arrangements were particularly cool, many displaying a distinctly minimalist japanese flair.

Hog auction, Meigs County Fair

Old tractor in the tractor barn, Meigs County Fair

Out on the midway there was a surfeit of rides for the adventurous along with all the classic fair foods. My dad said the chicken ‘n noodles, a South-Eastern Ohio specialty, was excellent but I was a little disappointed to not find any deep-fried mars bars. In the young and fearless days of childhood I would have exhausted myself riding all the rides, feeling safe in my ignorance of the physics and the mechanical realities of those well-traveled contraptions. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Instead of risking our necks and stomach contents on the tilt-a-whirl, we satisfied outselves with checking out Buffo, World’s Strongest Clown!

The midway, Meigs County Fair

Buffo, World’s Strongest Clown

When we arrived home after the Fair we had another surprise waiting; Nicole’s permanent residence has been approved! She should receive her 10-year green card in a few weeks, and after that she will be able to leave the country and return without a problem.

That’s it for today, sorry I’m not in a more profound and poetic mood but I just woke up and need to get cracking on final preparations for Burning Man.

Take care of yourselves and each-other.

TC

Sunflower and bumble bee, Lowell Ohio

my 8′ sunflowers

The last 2 days have been a time of serious reflection for me. It was just 2 years ago in Hong Kong, while giving a 3 hour sales presentation to a big Taiwanese insurance company, I suddenly couldn’t read the slides in front of me. I was seeing colored dots in my field of vision and suddenly felt dizzy and had trouble speaking. I left the meeting, and after sitting with my head on my desk for a while I had the worst headache of my life. Somehow I managed to take the MTR home, where I curled up in bed in the dark and suffered until early the next morning.

I thought I’d had a migraine, but 2 months later I learned the truth, the headache was caused by swelling which severely pinched the ventricle on the left side of my brain. The swelling was caused by three brain tumors.

I’ll never forget that headache or the 2 more that followed. I’ll also never forget getting the results of my first MRI and finding out that there was something very wrong in my brain. I ‘ll never forget learning that I had lesions and I’ll never forget learning they were cancerous.

I’ll also never forget how many people in my life were so eager to support me.

I’ll never forget my parents and my brother jumping on the first plane out to see me, or Andy and Rob following right after to see me before my surgery. I’ll never forget all the emails, phone calls, cards and positive messages of every kind. I’ll never forget that in that night alone in the hospital before surgery I’d never felt less alone in my life.

2 years later I am still alive, feeling well and full of hope. Every day before I go to bed I give thanks. I give thanks for having been able to live that day, and for being able to spend it with Nicole and with my parents. I give thanks for my family and friends who have been so supportive, and for the doctors who have cared for me with honesty and compassion. I give thanks for the sunshine and rain, the wind and the ability to see and smell and feel and experience all the strange and wonderful beauty of the world. I give thanks for being given the opportunity to understand what is truly important in my life, and to see all of the incredible, chaotic, senseless beauty that is life. Someone told me that my life started over that day 2 years ago, and that I’m celebrating my birthday now. Maybe that’s true, but the eyes I’ve been given these last 2 years have shined a bright light on the 36 years before that, on all the amazing people who have been a part of my life and all the amazing places I have seen. I feel luckier today than ever before, and know that I will not need to look back to see the same beauty in the next 36 years of my life.

To all the people who have supported me these last 2 years, I have no words to express how much it has meant and will be in your debt till the end of my days.

And to anyone out there who is facing cancer or any other grave disease I send a message of hope. I send it because Hope is strength. Family is strength. Friends are strength. God is strength. You are strength and recovery is possible!

-TC