Navigating new territory
Yesterday was a full and good day. Amy and I went to the gym and got in a good workout. I always feel better after exercise. We followed that up with brunch at Perla's on South Congress, sitting on their outdoor patio. It's a great fish forward seafood restaurant, on trendy South Congress, with generally good vibes, and great people watching. We then did some shopping, where I bought two new swimsuits. I've dropped a couple of sizes (not cancer related!) and needed something that wouldn't fall off. I also expect to be spending more time relaxing next to our pool.
From there, we went over to Laith and Paige's to watch Norway beat Brazil. We made a lot of Haaland jokes. After the game we went home and cooked up one of our go-to meals that had sort of fallen out of the rotation.
How I’m feeling
Mostly healthy. I'm noticing some little things that I didn't notice before, and have some symptoms that I recognize as common with people with RCC. Night sweats, tenderness/discomfort in my lower left back near the kidney, general fatigue, and a mild persistent cough that's worse at night. All very mild and manageable. Going forward, I'll likely only reference these items if they get better or worse. Otherwise, physically, I'm good.
Mentally, I'm a bit more anxious today. Big appointment with a consultation with the pulmonologist tomorrow at 8 AM. It's our first appointment since getting the initial news, and we have a lot of questions. I have hopes for positive news on the treatability of it all, and am bracing for the potential for it to be the worst news. I'm expecting it to be somewhere in between, and also that there's a likelihood for some more tests (a lung biopsy) before any definitive assessment.
It can't get here soon enough.
What I'm thankful for
Today I'll go with our dog, Cleopatra. In addition to being the baby mama to Julius Caesar and the last of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, Cleo is my best friend. She always brightens my mood and is easy to please (food). She has 7 beds across the house, and spends a good chunk of time on the one in my office when I work from home. She's there now.
She is also the best frisbee receiver in the entire 78704 zip code. We'll go to the dog park and she'll catch deep routes, short outs, curls, direct passes. While she's lost a step with age, and her endurance isn't what it once was, she makes up for it with understanding how the frisbee will break, how to account for the wind, when to turn on the jets, and how to box out the other dogs at the park. She's not super great at bringing the frisbee back, but that's because she's earned the right to keep it.
Anyway, the love of a dog – simple, easy, always – is something special. The differences in the excitement she shows when I come home from a trip to the grocery or a long business trip is genuine. In both instances, she'll have a wagging tail, want to come greet me at the car, go back inside and bring something to show me (a toy or a Kong), and lick my face if I get to ground level…But when it's a longer trip, she squeals, showing the recognition of time, and everyone is happy.
Amy got the squeal when she got home from Iceland. It instantly lightened the mood.
A Memory
In September of 2024, Amy and I did our third trip to Europe together, and our second trip to Spain. Each of the three trips was centered around some other reason we needed to go to Europe. The first two were because Amy was talented and valued enough to be sent by two separate Ad Agencies she'd worked for to attend the Lions conference and awards ceremony in Cannes, France. The third trip was because our niece Sophie was getting married to her fiancé, Danny, in the South of France (as one does…). They'd ask me to officiate the wedding, which was humbling, and an honor, and something I sure didn't want to f**k up.
The wedding warrants its own space for a future memory, but this one is about Spain. We had plenty of options on what else to schedule around a trip to the South of France, and decided that we wanted to go back to northern Spain. We fell in love with San Sebastian and the Basque country there on a prior trip in 2017. It was one of those trips where you say that you really want to get back there, but you never do because there are so many other places that you really want to go to for the first time.
We decided to go back. We even setup a Rioja wine tour with the same guide who took us in 2017, and she gave us an entirely different experience, including dinner with her husband at their home, drinking their homemade wine, using those ridiculous carafes where you drink it from a foot above your head and try to stay dry. We went to a festival in Logroño and found this amazing street to bounce from pintxo place to pintxo place. We ate croquettes and jamón every chance we could get, as well as a mushroom and shrimp tapa that I've come close to recreating here at home (local friends will attest).
We had the best meal of our lives at a restaurant called Elkano, located in the fishing village of Getaria. It's a Michelin starred place, but it's roots are based on how the bars served the fishermen in the centuries before. Bars would set up outdoor grills for the fishermen to cook the day's catch, usually the amazing turbot, in order to get them to drink their wine there. It's the sort of place where time just sort of stops.
From there we made it to San Sebastian, and immediately escaped the dungeon of an Airbnb we booked and decided to 'butter and eggs' it with move to a hotel with a view over their famous La Concha beach. Days were filled with hiking, the ocean, and exploring town. Nights were filled with their famous pintxos bars. After that we went hiking in the Pyrenees and then drove to the south of France with cases of wine, local meats, and cheeses. We invented the term CARchuterie as we helped Martha and Jim and others get things unpacked at the wedding venue.
We romanticized about retiring in Spain.
What I'm looking forward to
Retiring in Spain.
More immediately, I'm looking forward to a big trip we've got planned for the fall. My care will take priority, but really hoping we can still do our few days eating across Bologna, five days of burning it off by hiking from town-to-town in the Dolomites, followed by a week of sight seeing and island hopping in Croatia. The trip is in September – hopefully my treatment schedule allows for it, and my body can handle all of it, but we'll adjust as needed.
Something I recommend
"Over the Edge of the World" by Laurence Bergreen. It's a gripping account of Magellan's expedition around the globe. It gets into the political rivalry with Spain and Portugal (relevant to today's World Cup Match). It's a story of exploration with mutiny, starvation, and engagement with indigenous populations. Real page turner.
What I ate
At Perla's I had their lobster omelet which comes with this great bibb lettuce and fennel salad. The salad helped offset their amazing biscuits and the side of bacon. For dinner I cooked up an old favorite, Goan Shrimp Curry over mustard seed potatoes. I won't always do a recipe here, but this one's a banger and relatively simple as long as you practice Mise En Place.
Equipment: A wok or any deep saute pan / Dutch oven will do for the curry; a large saute pan for the potatoes.
Ingredients:
Spice mixture: Paprika (I TBSP), Turmeric (1 TSP), and Cayenne (1/2 TSP or too taste), Salt (1 TSP).
Vegetables: 1 red bell pepper (sliced into strips, then cut into thirds); 2 small shallots diced); large handful of greens like baby spinach. 5 large Yukon gold potatoes, skinned and cut in half.
Fats: Olive oil (2 TBSP) for curry; Grapeseed or other neutral oil (2 TBSP) for potatoes
Protein: 1 lb of decent sized shrimp (~12/lb is good here)
Other: 2 cans of coconut milk. I prefer one can of regular and 1 can of light. 1 tablespoon of mustard seeds. Red pepper flakes to taste
Step 1:
Boil the skinned and halved potatoes for 18 minutes. You want them cooked through, but still firm, so shorter than you'd boil for mashed potatoes.
Step 2:
Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, dice into 1 cm (ish) cubes. They don’t need to be perfect. Set aside.
Step 3:
Heat the olive oil in the wok. Once hot, sauté the red peppers and shallots. Once they start to brown, add the spice mixture, let it get aromatic and then add two cans of coconut milk. Let gently simmer for 10 minutes so that the flavors meld.
Step 4:
Right when you start step 4, start step 4a.
Add the shrimp, and then a minute or two later add the greens. Watch the shrimp so they don't overcook. I like to stop the heat a minute or two before they're clearly done as they'll keep cooking.
Step 4a:
What really makes this dish pop is serving it over diced potatoes sautéed with mustard seeds and red pepper flakes. It’s best to have the exhaust fan on for this. It all moves quickly.
Get your pan super hot.
Add the neutral oil.
Add the mustard seeds and red pepper flakes and wait for the mustard seeds to start to pop a little bit (they may literally jump out of the pan - an apron is recommended. Perhaps some protective eyewear).
Add the potatoes as soon as the mustard seeds start to pop. Turn them regularly, getting the potatoes coated with the mustard seeds. Cook until crispy, but not burnt.
Step 5:
Fill a shallow wide bowl with a good scoop of the potatoes. Spoon the curry over top. Serve with a half of lime and a crisp white wine.
Random thought
We need to stop lying to ourselves about the circumnavigation of the globe. Magellan was killed in the Philippines. Elkano led the rest of the mission and was the first to get all of the way around. He demands respect.
