Resolutions revisited

Now seems like a good time to go back and revisit my New Year's resolutions, to see how I am doing. I did visit two old friend whom I had not seen from more than one year. I have completed both the speech and physical therapy programs. I'm trying to eat more chocolate and drink more wine. But I have utterly failed to write in my blog once a week. But all starts anew from today.

In April I spent three weeks working at Shiprock IHS Hospital. On the weekends I visited friends in Gallup, went to our cabin in Chama, and stayed with friends in Pagosa. I had a great time and after that trip I missed the Southwest more than ever.

Recently I read three good books; Americanah by Chimamanda Adiche, Tenth of December by George Saunders, and The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson. It's been a long time since I read so much great writing in such a short time.

I've gone camping. Colin and I went to Grand Coulee for an overnight trip with Oran and his dog, Ono. We had our hands full, and I can't say it was a relaxing trip. However the scenery was beautiful, much like the Southwest, quite different from Western Washington.

We have been busy looking for a new house for Colin and Sarah. They will have to move out of their house in Discovery Park, since those houses have been sold to a developer who is kicking all of the tenants out. Too bad, as it was very nice for them to live in the middle of the park; too good to be true or to last. Houses in Seattle are expensive, and many people are buying with cash. I don't know where they get that much cash but they have it.  I guess they work for Microsoft.

It is been more than one year now since he moved into our house. It seems the times gone by so quickly. We will stay here another year and probably longer after that. The house is nice and the location is excellent. The owner is putting on a new roof this summer, and is replacing the furnace. That should help us through the next winter.

We have made several short ships to Oregon.  The last one was on Memorial Day weekend. The traffic was horrible, so the trip was less enjoyable and it should have been. Still, I always enjoy visiting my family and friends.  We did put flowers on the graves of our family members on Saturday, starting with Derek’s.  That was painful

Yesterday I spoke on Skype with Dhondhup, a Tibetan doctor whom I worked with at the Delek hospital in Dharamsalah, India.  He is now working in southern India in a large Tibetan resettlement area. He is the only doctor at his hospital and invited me to come and help him for a while. It is very tempting; the hospital looks modern; I’m sure the people are nice, and it would be a meaningful experience. Maybe sometime – I hope so.

The editor of the  ACP Internist called and interviewed me for her magazine. She sent me a draft of her article which seen well-written. I sent her some pictures but she said they probably can't use them because I don't have a release from the people in the pictures. It's nice to be recognized, and I'm looking forward to seeing the article. Maybe it will create more support for TBBHI.  I don't feel that I'm very good at beating our donation drum

Well it's getting late, and if I'm going to drink more wine I had better get started.