On The Road Again - Dexter, MI

Jan 31, 2011

3:45 PM

University of Michigan Cardiovascular Medicine

Domino's Farms

Ann Arbor, MI

My cardiologist is anxious to see me. I'm already running a half hour ahead of schedule and he's just walked into the echocardiogram lab to see if I was done yet. The appointment for results isn't for another 45 minutes. I'm feeling anxious. My blood pressure is up 20 points. It's been less than three months since my heart attack. I'm feeling great, better than I have in 20 years. But just sitting in that tiny examining room waiting for the white-coat's pronouncement ... I am meditating on the rug design as Peter M. Farrehi MD enters the room. I am seated. He is standing immediately in front of me, his white coat ablaze in its starchy authority, his head tilted downward, peering along the length of his nose. His expression is serious, but relaxed. "You just made my day," he states, matter-of-factly. "Your echo is normal. The previous abnormalities have fully corrected themselves. You are now off all restrictions. Congratulations. I'll see you in a year."  

Great news. No unwelcome surprises. Just what I was feeling. Just what I was expecting. I tell a seated Peter Farrehi I'm setting off on another cross country journey. He smiles broadly. He tells me that Susan will be going along with me just like the last trip. It strikes me that during those four hospital days in November, I made a friend. And as I drive out of Domino's Farms, past the buffalo herd frolicking in the fresh white snow, past the stoney whiteness of the Thomas Monaghan Cathedral, I am bathed in a divine white light, and I am filled with the awareness of just how blessed I am.

So here I am, bathed in the cold phosphorescent white light of my mac screen, visualizing and mapping and scheduling and collecting and buying the days and elements of my future, at least the next three months of it. And if my current state of grace should continue, then I shall be privileged to travel another 6000 miles in the company of Orion and Rosie visiting family and friends and camping and painting my way through the beauty that is this country. What a thrill. 

And, of course, I intend to blog all the way so I can share the magic, majesty, mystery tour with everyone. I'm going to try to stay more current this trip. I've even posted a map and calendar so you can visualize my itinerary. Of course everything is very preliminary, the whole idea of a journey like this is to go with the flow. So I'll attempt to keep the itinerary updated as I go along. You can find this info in the sidebar to the right along with my contact info. Also check out the reader comments gadget below.

Wishing you and yours satisfaction and peace this gorgeous snowy winter day. I look forward to writing again from sunshine and warmth.

Stan