Notes 5/17/12
Photos this week are from our trip to visit our youngest son when he was in the Peace Corp in Kyrgystan... The photos are a mismatch to the content of my blog this week - but I chose them because they reminding me of great travel experiences shared with my wife Judy.
A. Judy's operation
and recovery
1. MONDAY 1:25 pm: I
have been sitting in the hospital waiting room while my wife Judy had now been in
surgery for over 4 hours now. There is a TV screen in one corner with patient
information showing in three colors ...pre-surgery, in surgery, and in recovery room. Judy should be coming out of surgery any time now. It is an anxious time to sit and wait...According to the monitor there are 16 other surgeries going on at the same time and the families and friends of the patients are all waiting with me
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| Samarkand |
2. 1:40 The surgeon came out and told me that she was pleased with the surgery and Judy was doing fine! What a relief. While the procedure was not for a serious life-threatening
situation, the quality of Judy's daily life will be improved. It was done using remote monitoring, two small incisions in her abdomen, miniature camera
and remote controlled arthroscopic surgical tools! Amazing!
I went in to sit with Judy while she came out of her anesthetic -
another hour. Each sleeping patient has an RN sitting with them observing the data as it appears on a TV monitor. - She will spend this first night in the hospital.
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| Judy in Gazebo |
3. TUESDAY: The
hospital released Judy at 1 pm today and she is now resting at home under my
watchful care and three somewhat subdued dogs that seem to realize that
"their Judy" is not able to be as playful as usual. Friends have brought over tasty good food,
and I have done my best to prepare delicious food too. Neither Judy nor I like to take any more pain
med than necessary and so she is attempting to go "cold turkey"
today. She is in surprisingly good humor
considering all that she has been through.
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| Market Bazaar |
4. THURSDAY:
Now the challenge is not to return to normal activity too quickly. Judy is by nature an active person and I keep
telling her to be a little patient with herself - go slow... not easy for her...
In this situation she is however quite attentive to the needs of her body ...most
of the time...there are things she wants to do...
We are so thankful that the procedure went well, and that
her recovery seems to be progressing on cue.
5. FRIDAY - Judy made her first outing on her own today - she had a hair appointment and then went to visit a favorite gelato shop that had closed for remodeling and was now holding a grand reopening. She still gets very tired at times but is showing steady improvement.
5. FRIDAY - Judy made her first outing on her own today - she had a hair appointment and then went to visit a favorite gelato shop that had closed for remodeling and was now holding a grand reopening. She still gets very tired at times but is showing steady improvement.
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| When you travel, you must hire a car and driver... here he buys gasoline |
B. Solar Eclipse:
Check this map ( link below ) to see if you live anywhere along the path of the solar eclipse on Sunday May 20th - we won't have a total eclipse here in Fremont, but
quite a good partial eclipse. There is
something very primal about seeing the sun lose its light in mid day -
Eclipses have long been seen as sinister or a "sign" of something
usually bad that is impending.
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| A wooden mosque - this is a Muslim land |
Look at the facts
1. The eclipse is caused by the moon passing between the sun and earth, casting its shadow onto the earth.
1. The eclipse is caused by the moon passing between the sun and earth, casting its shadow onto the earth.
2. The shadow covers
only a narrow strip as it works its way across the surface of the earth.
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| Traditional summer yert - used by nomadic herdsmen - still in frequent use |
3. Eclipses have
occurred somewhere on earth at predictable intervals for as long as the moon
has travelled around the earth. The human response to eclipses is fascinating!
In pre-modern Asia - it was said that a dragon was eating the sun...
In pre-modern Asia - it was said that a dragon was eating the sun...
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| "Fast food" market - BBQ grills kebobs |
Judy and I last experienced an eclipse when we were in
Samarkand... people there crashed metal pans together to end the magic of
the eclipse. Judy and I went around like two teachers telling everyone not to look at the sun ( which many were doing ).
Even today, there are regular predictions that an eclipse is an
indicator for the approach "end times" -
Blocks of animal dung to be burnedin kitchen heating and cooking
Something to do during our eclipse: Do you recall how a pinhole camera works? Light enters a small hole and forms an image on
the screen ( like a camera ) . The same thing happens normally
when sunlight passes between small holes between the leaves of a tree. Round
images of the sun are shown on the ground underneath a tree. They are called "sun circles". Notice them now before the eclipse. During the eclipse the images formed under
the tree will not be round but crescent - each on an image of the eclipsed sun! Look during this eclipse - it will amaze you!
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| Rice merchants |
I"m sure you remember not to look at an eclipse directly with your eyes - don't try to use smoked glass, photographic film, or dark sun glasses... None of these can protect you from permanent eye damage. It only takes a moment to scar your retina! There are special solar viewing filters that you can buy or welders glasses for safe viewing. Go to a shop that sells welders supplies and ask for #14 welder's glasses - they cost about 5-6 $.
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| Kyrgystan has 4 major ethnic groups: Kyrgyz, Usbek, Chinese muslims, and Russians - ... this man is Russian |
Eclipse links:
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| We spent a few hours collecting wild mushrooms - good for a mushroom and meat stew! |
