Windy Boys

Clancy made a trip to East Glacier today and met up with his son, Henry, for a little fishing.  There was only a light wind (10mph) when they started, but it cranked up to about 25mph by mid-morning. They battled it for a couple hours, then headed for shore.  They managed to land three nice rainbows and sacrificed one pole and reel. That's right.  Henry was netting a fish for Clancy when Henry had a strike on his line.  He let go of his pole momentarily to hand the net to Clancy and his pole & reel flew out of the boat.  Not long before that Henry had been commenting on how smoothly the reel cast.  It's only a memory now. They aren't Alaskan halibut by any means, but 16-18 inch rainbow trout always welcome.  

Henry and his girlfriend, Falina, are working at Brownie's in East Glacier for the summer. They'll be there three more weeks before they make a brief trip to Seattle, then return to Missoula for their last year of college.  Stop in and enjoy some of Falina's baking (Sat-Tue).  You won't be disappointed.  Henry will be behind the counter mornings and afternoons taking orders, making change and giving tips on hiking in the park.  He's accepting donations for a new pole, too.  The boys had a great day topped off with sandwiches and beer from the deck above Brownie's. 

Bring on the huckleberries and Flathead cherries!

Two Steps Forward and One Step Back

After several weeks of steady progress, the weekend of the 9th & 10th was one of misery for Clancy.  It's now been determined he had an allergic reaction to one of the chemo meds he was taking as part of the maintenance program.  He spent the weekend in delirium and asleep.  He finally started feeling better the following Wednesday and just had a good weekend.

The doctors now have to prescribe something different and see how that works.  He'd had this drug many times before without any adverse side effects let alone a reaction.  His hair is growing back and he has to shave again.  Being "normal" isn't all it's cracked up to be.

A Milestone

Today was Clancy's first day back in full uniform.  It's been over 9 months and he said it felt great to be officially back with the troops.  He still has some weight to take off - those dang steroids and inactivity over the winter packed it on.  He had to order "fat pants" since he'd exceeded the capacity of his old trousers' waistband. 

The "269" pin you see below the badge honors Trooper David DeLaittre who was fatally shot on duty last December by a deranged man.  Every MHP trooper will wear the pin for one year in David's honor.  The pin will be worn for one week each year thereafter commemorating the anniversary of this incident.  Pins are also worn on anniversaries in honor of the three troopers killed in the line of duty over the past few years in the Flathead Valley:  David Graham, Evan Schneider and Mike Haynes.

Clancy is back umpiring a few baseball tournaments.  He worked 7 games over Father's Day weekend and that was too much.  He did three last Saturday and is signed up for two this Friday and two Sunday.  That's about the right pace for where his endurance is at this point.  He still has no tolerance for uneducated and pugilistic coaches.  That was something he hoped chemo would cure - no such luck.  However, he is a man of conviction and still has yet to eject a coach from a game.  He believes it just gives them too much satisfaction and they are trying to get on SportsCenter anyway.

Thanks to all of you who keep checking the site.  Sorry we've been bad about updates.  Fortunately the maintenance treatment is going well and there hasn't been much to report. Clancy's first quarterly checkup in Salt Lake is mid-August.  Hope you are enjoying your summer.  It's arrived in the Flathead Valley.  Our summer is usually July-September anyway, but the long winter made it seem later this year.