Under the Lindens

(lots of back-and-forth this week about the dendritic cell therapy. Liz says it best:)

"Here we are back in the hills of Bavaria. In our three week absence the trees have begun to turn, pears are now bulging suggestively, walnuts beginning to drop, and all the gardens now putting on their last hurrah. It looks like everyone has more tomatoes than they can eat, dahlias and sunflowers and roses all making a run for it, plums all over the walkways and pumpkins starting to show up by front doors. We have bright blue skies.

"It's a good thing, this country living... We did spend a lot of our weekend ruminating on the next step in Nick's treatments, as this is the moment where the big deal Dendritic Cell Therapy begins, and it is an expensive aspect of the whole process, and we are trying to put the money where it's really going to do some good, so Nick was hoping to get enough information to know this is the right thing to do. It has caused a good bit of anxiety and deliberation, mostly because we don't know exactly what we're doing, and one seldom does with this crazy cancer stuff. By the time this morning rolled around Nick was exhausted, sleepless and resistant to beginning the treatment that is scheduled today and so we decided to have a meeting with Dr Thaller to try to get a clear idea of the importance of this procedure. Herr Doctor was emphatic but controlled, he did his best to not be frustrated with us, and to try to find a way to explain. He sees the Dendritic Cell thing and the Newcastle Virus thing as a very vital combination and gave his reasoning. Nick still was concerned and wanted to be clear on this route, (it's no picnic, these treatments) and so, after awhile Doc suggested we go to the Linden trees. We hadn't been there yet, up on the hillside above the town, in the middle of a cherry orchard. There are seven really old Linden trees in a circle and a spring there in their shade and we had heard that the water is very good to drink and there was a log bench and it is just the loveliest spot you can imagine. Ancient and still and really perfect. So we drank the waters and sat in the shade and by the time the church bells below were bonging like crazy like they always do at noon I think the trepidation was past and the road got a little clearer and Nick saw his way to moving forward with this therapy at hand.

"We are on foot this time, not renting a car, and in this small town our rented "vacation" house is right on the edge by the fields with good views of the forests and hills. There is a tiny grocery store and we filled up a cart there with what we could, not too bad... decent bread and good looking fruit and some nice wine, even a few frozen fish entrees. Our house has six rooms, each one closed off from the next and all very neat and undecorated. Adequate in a handsome way. With internet, and plenty of eiderdown, stacks and stacks of bath towels for some reason. The landlords have that proper upstanding German look that is so often mixed with a real warmth. The sort of people that keep the shutters drawn when the sun is shining but tell us to call them by their first names. As we walked through the streets this morning everyone said good morning. I am often taken for German and get all kinds of commentary from passers by and so I guess I might get around to learning to speak at least!

"Well, meanwhile, I'll be spending a large part of my days helping Nick at the clinic, and I hope to get out and make some drawings of this place while there is such nice weather. These two weeks are going to zoom by."

Liz