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| Christmas Day Trail Run |
I had intended to spend some time during my Wellington Christmas writing Christmas letter, blog entry, and describing some of the Wellington scene, with a New Year’s blog entry from Kaikoura, on the South Island. Life does not always go according to plan. Thursday the 23rd of December (which was 22nd in Salt Lake City), while I chatted with patients, checked labs, and wrote discharge summaries, Morgan was skiing down a chute and triggered a 15 ft. slide. He skied safely out of the slide, but his hip clipped a rock buried in the snow, fracturing his femur. It was late on Thursday that I checked my email before starting the last discharge summary. In those moments, reading the email from Bill, I felt the most vulnerable and far from home since my arrival in Auckland. Morgan was fortunately not injured more seriously. Help came quickly and the ski patrol loaded him onto a back board and into a litter, escorting him down the mountain, crashing the litter only once in the steep Utah terrain. Transported by 4x4, to the clinic, and subsequently by ambulance to a level I trauma center, Morgan was put in traction and scheduled for urgent surgery.
Thankful for the advent of technology, I was able to call first Bill, then Morgan, and lastly, his nurse. I called for updates several times through the early morning hours and spoke with a spunky, if slightly drugged, son following his surgery. Later, I would watch video of another intermedullary rod insertion on youtube. My desire to be at his bedside altered my holiday plans. I canceled both my trip to Wellington and Kaikoura, trading those for a visit to Morgan to aid in his initial recovery. As I look out the window of the small plane at these western US mountains covered in snow, the sun blazing down, I am reminded that Morgan loves this life of activity in the quiet nooks and crannies of the natural world. The fractured femur is a cost of that lifestyle.
2010, a year that began with missing the polar bear swim, will end with missing the swim with the seals and dolphins. A year that began with a remote possibility of travel, later yielded this work year in Auckland. As 2010 initially unfolded, I pursued my usual triathlon activities, and continued to work in the small internal medicine clinic on Whidbey Island. It was in June, at dinner following my first ½ ironman, that I found out I had a good chance of going to New Zealand some time in 2010. Three weeks later, I would learn that I was due to start work in one month and the flurry of preparations began.
Caleb was headed for Japan for a year, and Morgan was planning on staying in Salt Lake City for one more year of skiing and working in the outdoor recreation industry. Lee Roof, the physician who owns and runs Whidbey Island Internal Medicine, kindly offered me a year’s leave. The time was ripe for travel. The rest, the chronicle of these past few months, can be found on my blog. http://ayearinauckland.blogspot.com/
This Christmas, it is Caleb whose absence I feel most acutely. This, his first Christmas away from home, finds him in Ichinomiya, Japan, working. Christmas in a new culture, first postgraduate job, new friends, adds up to a tall order, but a challenge to which he has risen. He teaches English to Japanese adults in a town near Nagoya and Kyoto. There, his work day begins around noon and continues until 9pm, Tuesday through Saturday. He will get a week’s holiday while the school closes for the New Year, and five additional vacation days during his year in Japan. Skype made it possible to watch him open his presents, but did nothing for the lack of the hug that usually follows. I hope to visit him in Spring, during the cherry blossom festival, if I can time it correctly.
Morgan lives in Salt Lake City in a house full of like-minded adventurers. It is a delightful group of eight talented friends who pursue an active lifestyle and work to sustain that life. This Christmas was an impromptu, quiet celebration. I had mailed presents to Morgan from NZ, and when I found I was coming to the US, made a quick dash to the local Katmandhu store (kiwi outing store) for warm socks, per Morgan’s request. One of Morgan’s housemates is due for surgery the first week in January. Thus, there will be two non-weight bearing, rehabilitating fellows at the house. Companionship will be helpful.
As the year comes to a close, I have been contemplating the events of the year and decade, my strengths and weaknesses. Communication has been both strength and weakness. I remark, with heartfelt thanks, on the communication from family and friends, the love and support I glean through facebook, emails, and blog replies. I have kept more appraised of the lives of those I love, despite the distance. I have succeeded in some small measure to keep the ties I have made with folks through this communication. However, my habit has been one of reticence to share more intimate thoughts and feelings. I have found that in my blog I have shared thoughts I have usually kept to myself. Even so, the entries only suggest the iceburg that lies beneath. Blogs are oddly one sided, not a conversational sharing. It interests me to consider how electronic communication has changed our community. How we can post minutiae, accomplishments, the peaks and valleys of our days. Seeing a video of folks while I skype brings me closer than the miles might otherwise allow. The distance is measured by time differentials rather than miles(or kms).
Christmas is a time to reach out to all those who I value, love, and respect. A time to let each of you know that I appreciate you. If I could, I would bring by my usual round of Christmas cookies so that you would know that you are remembered and cherished. Instead this letter will have to suffice. I hope you will consider a visit, return an email, and keep in touch in the next decade.
I hope your Christmas was merry and that the New Year will bring you joy and well-being.
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