Chris Harrison - Alive and Kicking, er, Rowing

Many of you who read this blog either know Chris Harrison or know of him.
He is my Senior Gondolier in Irving, Texas.
He is a dear friend and a great guy.
Chris has also done some expedition rowing, serving as one of the six rowers in the Hudson River Expedition of 2007 and rowing with me last April down the Buffalo Bayou and back up again in the Houston Gondola Expedition.
Going down the bayou was easy, heading back up- not so much. We had heavy rain the night before which turned a slow-moving bayou into a real-live river.
Rowing up that river was even more challenging when the wind, which we'd always expected to blow up-river, decided to switch on us.
We ended up rowing against both wind and current.

All this was difficult, but nothing compared to what Chris has gone through lately.
In March of this year, Chris was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma (cancer), and shortly after that he began chemotherapy treatment to defeat it.
Yesterday, Chris underwent his twelfth and final treatment.
It was a hard road, and at least one of the twelve landed him in the hospital.
But now it's over.
I spoke with Chris this evening and he sounded really positive.
He feels good and actually looks forward to the radiation that will follow.
You may have read my post from May 9th titled "Chris Harrison takes matters into his own hands". In that post, Chris shaved his mane (stopping first, of course, to briefly sport a Mohawk).
Well, his hair is back - it's only about an inch long, but it's hair!

this September 12th, Chris and I will take part in another one-day expedition, this time in Oklahoma City. A separate blog has been set up for the event: http://gondolaexpeditions.blogspot.com/

Chris is doing well, and he is looking forward to the row.

Welcome back Chris.
Welcome back to the land of the living!