In January I stopped logging because of something called Cancer Fatigue, which is just extreme exhaustion where a person cannot even function. I might do something today for instance, a 30 minute activity and it will take 2 days to recover.
So in Febuary I sold my bulldozer, and had a logger come in and cut some of my woodlot off to help pay my property taxes. He cut 72 tractor trailer loads of wood, paid me $1100, of the $11,000 he owes me...and is now gone. By law he has 45 days to pay me after each truck load, but he is well over that. That issue is now in the hands of attorneys, the Maine Forest Service and the Attorney General's Office. I will get my money, but it will be years before that happens.
So in order to pay for our property taxes, Katie and I then sold off our flock of sheep. We kept two, but only because we had to have something for our Live Guard Dog to watch. When you are a farmer and watch all your sheep leave on trailer, it is a very sad day all because a logger thought his bills were more important than yours.
Then Katie found out she was pregnant, only to lose the baby in a miscarriage two months later. We have four daughters, so we have been blessed by children for sure, but still, would have loved to had another.
Then the next day after finding out we lost our baby (gender unknown), we found out my cancer is spreading to my Lymph Nodes. If you know anything about cancer, that is NOT good. So while I am not going to undergo emergency surgery, they are setting me up for immediate surgery soon. I guess the only good thing about that is, with all these offending body parts removed , I'll be losing weight!
![Smile :-)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
I guess it was nice to retire at age 42, but as good as my career was at welding/machining; I kind of regret it now. It is nice to be able to repair and fabricate just about anything, but years of being around x-ray have also really taken their toll. Even if I live through this, it has taken 15 months out of my life.