Lancinato kale, collard greens, zucchini, gold beets, carrot, apple, and blueberry, lightly chop and toss in the food processor, press puree. Add a dollop of organic whole milk yogurt and crunchy kashi and flax cereal, and voila – breakfast! What? You may cry. What kind of breakfast is that?
Exactly the kind of delicious, fresh food I daily place in Nicholai's breakfast bowl, I would answer, the kind that has helped my canine friend survive and even thrive since his diagnosis with lymphatic cancer. Many a morning, I have looked at my coffee and scone and set them aside, choosing instead to join my dog in the consumption of real food, food to nourish the body and give joy to the soul.
When Portland author and writing teacher, Christina Katz, author of the e-zine, Prosperous Writer, asked local writers to blog about the topic "How You Stay Healthy," I decided it was right up my alley. The last year, and now (I write with a smile) the second year of Nicholai's cancer, staying healthy has garnered a top spot on my daily agenda. I opted out of noxious chemotherapy and radiation for my canine main-man, and find that every life affirming choice made for Nicholai has positive repercussions for me.
Starting with food, I aim for what is simple, local, and whole. Our garden sported more veggies last summer than ever, with broccoli, kale, zucchini, and tomatoes filling the freezer and seeing us through the winter, along with a small garden of hardy greens that toughed out the cold weather allowing the harvesting of fresh salad greens almost daily. Our colorful chickens supply us with freshest eggs, and provide lovely organic fertilizer for the berries, apples and veggies that will grace our table soon, some of which finds its way back to the hens in a circle of giving and receiving that tickles me pink.
Every morning, Nicholai wakes up joyfully enthused about a new day. I may be dragging my butt, I might prefer to make excuses for not getting out, but my good buddy prances around my feet, following everywhere I go, barking, whining, and watching me with bright anticipation. And so, because his days are numbered, I don whatever clothes are necessary to greet the weather of the day and take him for a walk. Perhaps it's he who takes me – in rain, freezing drizzle, gusting wind, proliferating pollen, or perfect pristine sunny day. I tick off the measurable health benefits of brisk walking, with spurts of running or hill climbing thrown in, like a slow steady heartbeat, low blood pressure, solid lean body mass, a moderate weight, good sleep, joint flexibility, and overall strength, but there are other rewards, less tangible though just as real.
A pair of bald eagles high in the branches of a cottonwood tree loudly conversing with each other, a surprise flock of mergansers, a coyote and her pup slipping into the brush as the sun comes up, frost on each blade of golden grass, our breath in white puffs in the bright sun of a chill winter morning, these gifts of daily hikes are for the heart and soul. Though I have a myriad of arguably excellent reasons to be stressed – a family loss of one job and its attendant health insurance, a poor economy, a son's early life traumas haunting his current actions, a beloved family dog with a death sentence diagnosis – by the small graces of each day, I find myself content instead of anxious.
Just to hedge my bets, I swallow anti-oxidant vitamins, calcium, and omega-three fatty acid supplements. I drink plenty of water, stretch, see my body-mind-spirit chiropractor, soak in the hot tub, and enjoy the wonderful company of fellow writers in classes and workshops. I work and parent, walk and write, stir the compost, grow a garden.
I take my cues from Nicholai. Diagnosed with terminal cancer and given three to six months to live, he deigns to greet each day with happy aplomb, and has ignored dismal prognostications for fourteen months and counting (well, I'm counting, he's simply living). So, I willingly follow his lead; greet each day as if it was brand new and exciting, move, eat real food – starting with veggies for breakfast, breathe hard, see, smell, touch, hear, taste nature. Never turn down a chance to snuggle – be it with partner, child, or furry canine. And never, ever, forgo a walk.
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