the
year began with stormy winds and rain and flooding in sonoma county. a
foreboding beginning to some of the
changes in our lives. the biggest change being bim’s decision to hang up his
wings and retire from flying his ultralight. after twelve wonderful years
flying above the rolling hills and pacific coastline, filming short videos and
documenting the ever-unfolding landscape and colors of the seasons, he parked
the “flying lawnmower” in the hanger, not realizing it was the last time.
following
a month of january rain, patti was finally able to get outside and start
pruning trees,
beginning with the flowering plum trees in the driveway, which
were quite anxious to begin showing off the pink clouds of blossoms which
herald spring in northern california. the ten foot fall with the orchard ladder
that slipped, opened up and collapsed, leaving me suspended in the air for one
memorable micro-moment, before i landed in the driveway, unable to move, but
knowing i needed help before i passed out or went into shock. bim arrived home,
as i was being loaded into the ambulance, and a friend drove him to the ER at
memorial hospital, where i spent three long days and nights getting patched
back together.
the initial stabilization allowed me to go to a rehab facility
for ten days, which prepared me for a major six hour surgery at kaiser
hospital, where i spent two nights recovering, alone in my hospital room.
my 94
year old roommate was waiting for me at the rehab facility, where i spent
another two weeks before i could return to home sweet home. i left home january
31 in an ambulance, had many experiences, most of which i don’t remember, and
returned home one month later; truly one of the most surreal ordeals i’ve ever
endured.
bim
observed how much damage a body can suffer from a fall of 10 feet, and didn’t
want to try that stunt while soaring in his ultralight at 400 feet. he has
always enjoyed aerial photography, so he traded his wings for a drone (DJI
mavic) with a good camera, and is now happily exploring the views from a lower
flying altitude, his feet firmly on the ground!
the
pilon fracture in my lower right leg, with both the tibia and fibula shattered
into many pieces, required three stainless steel plates and twenty three screws
to stabilize the bone fragments.
to insure that the bones would heal with good
alignment, i was not allowed to put any weight on that leg for three months, in
addition to elevating the ankle above my heart for 23 hours per day!
needless
to say, i was spending no time at my usual level of physical activity!
wheelchairs and modified walkers were the method to allow minimal movement. the
fracture in my lower left arm only required one titanium plate and 12 screws to
stabilize the bone fragments and allow healing, also with no weight bearing for
three months. for the mild compression fracture in my spine at lumbar 4, i was
allowed to wear a removable brace! ahhh, freedom! bim was the 24-hour per day
caregiver, doing everything for those first ninety days, slowly tapering off during
the next few months. without the delicious fully cooked meals generously
provided by friends, neither one of us would have survived those weeks of
exhaustion and overwhelming trauma.
the
adaptability of a human being is truly remarkable.
my
wonderful foot and ankle surgeon is kind, compassionate and a good listener.
since i had some complications with incisions healing, i visited with him
often, every time begging him for the permission to start driving. he is about
40 years old, and i am old enough to be his mother, the irony of the role
reversal not lost on any of us! he would listen and smile, and answer, not yet.
bim was my chauffeur for six long months. and then, permission was granted,
but, i had to relearn how to drive…
in
spite of all the sleepless nights, and worry, and responsibility, and having to
learn how patti pays the monthly bills, bim soundly believes that he would
rather be a caregiver than the patient. a testament to his incredible
generosity of spirit.
friends
would ask where we were traveling this year, and we would answer (not so
jokingly) that kaiser hospital and clinic was the destination of necessity for
2017!
our
first short venture was driving to oregon in august to watch the total solar
eclipse. as all the hoopla about crowds and traffic increased in the days
before the eclipse, we questioned if we really wanted to participate. but, the
plans and reservations were all made, so we hopped in the car and drove north
into the thick smoke of the southern oregon wildfires. the morning of the
eclipse dawned with clear skies, and from the middle of the path of totality,
we were able to see the entire eclipse.
including feeling the cold as the
temperature dropped, and the darkened sky and the stars at ten in the morning.
it was magical to see such an unusual natural phenomena, and we are so happy
that we were able to enjoy this once in a lifetime experience.
life
has slowly evolved into a new normal, and continues to change as each week goes
by.
the
fires that blew through santa rosa (about 10 miles from sebastopol) in early
october were horrific. having never been this close to a major natural
disaster, we shared the shock and disbelief that settled over the entire area.
we know many people who were evacuated from their homes, a few people who lost
homes, and everybody was affected by the smoke and ash. the impact on our
community will be huge, in many ways, some predictable, with many unknowable
consequences for the future.
as i
laid flat on my back in my hospital bed for three long months, i would
visualize walking gracefully on a golden, sandy hawaiian beach.
bim visualized
being warm and not having to take care of anybody! these thoughts kept our
spirits up, until we boarded the airplane for our annual trip to maui. the
sounds of the pacific ocean lulled us to sleep, rainbows greeted us almost
every morning,
the turtles floated by, the whales sang and jumped for joy.
we
have just returned from one month on the island, the healing warmth of the sun
and ocean waters slowly removing the worry lines from our foreheads, and
warming our bodies, souls and bones.
we’re
looking forward to celebrating the joys of the holiday season with friends,
before patti visits the operating room on december 27th to have the
steel plates and screws removed from her lower leg. we are deeply grateful for
this modern medical miracle that has enabled me to walk again.
it
has been a year of tremendous loss, not only for us, and among our neighbors,
family and friends, our community, and
the planet earth. our world has become lonelier with the passing of so many
friends during the last few months, and has deeply saddened our hearts. we are
comforted by our memories of those no longer with us, and grateful for the
love, compassion, kindness, and the sharing of laughter and stories, and
special times together with those who remain.
we hope that your holidays are filled with joy and
love,
shared with family and friends.
and that 2018 brings peace and health for us all.
december 2016
in
the never ending effort to simplify our lives, we decided to cancel bim’s
german credit card. the one that had lufthansa air miles attached to it.
actually, enough air miles so that two people could fly business class to
europe, from san francisco. since patti had never in her life flown business
class, she was more than grateful to get the chance – thanks to bim! we arrived
in rome (relaxed and refreshed) at the beginning of may, planning to spend six
weeks in northern italy.
in small hill towns, or on farms in places that nobody
has ever heard of!
our most enduring memory is of the people that we shared
time with and who shared a part of their lives with us. friendly, helpful,
generous, and passionate about growing olives, or making cheese, or making and
collecting art, or distilling grappa,
or growing grapes and making wine. not to
mention the fabulous food that our hosts cooked for us; and i won’t mention it,
otherwise this short letter would be pages long!
from
the northwestern corner of italy, home of monte bianco, at over 15,000 feet the
highest mountain in the alps,
to the lost wallet at the gas station in croatia
on the northeastern border, we drove around the scenic backroads of northern
italy, up and over every mountain pass in the dolomites that we could find. we
just couldn’t get enough of the intense beauty of vertical peaks and sheer
cliffs in pale colors with clouds forming and dispersing, and the dramatic
views down the long deep valleys.
this northern mountain region of italy was a
part of austria until 1914 when italy ‘liberated’ the area. the history,
culture and language is as dramatic as the landscape and could be a lifetime of
study. alta badia was our favorite valley (at 4500 feet!) in the region,
and
could lure us to return for another visit!
our
six week visit was over far too soon, our last evening spent in the airport
town of fiumicino, close to rome. we enjoyed our evening aperol spritz at a bar
near the harbor, and walked along the tyrrhenian sea before getting some sleep
for an early departure the next morning. an uneventful and comfortable flight
to san francisco was followed by a couple of days of unpacking. until, on the
third day, bim had had enough; and on his walk back from retrieving the morning
paper, he collapsed in pain at the bottom of our driveway. with help from a
couple of neighbors, we managed to get him up to the house and onto the bed.
after a couple of hours of the pain getting worse, i decided it was time to
call 9-1-1. within minutes, the ambulance and the local fire department
arrived. some of the nicest, most helpful and comforting people i have ever
met, they loaded bim into the ambulance and whisked him away to the hospital,
dripping pain meds into him on the way. he was almost smiling again by the time
i arrived at the ER. as we were attempting to leave the ER to return home, bim
collapsed again. a diagnosis of a herniated disc at L4-L5, and some nerve
damage, have initiated some life style changes. although, it is hard to slow a
german scorpio boy down. bim was very fortunate to receive expert advice from
a friend (a physical therapist) of ours,
that completely alleviated his pain, which has never returned. he doesn’t have
much feeling in his lower right leg. the hope is that the nerve will regenerate
and the feeling will return. he is almost back to his normal self, other than
using the old age, low back disc problem as an excuse not to lift heavy
objects.
we
have fallen into an annual pattern of spending a few weeks in hawaii during the
months of november and december. it might be a familiar place, however, every
visit has its own character and surprises… after the november chill that had
descended on sonoma county, it took us a couple of days to adjust to 90 degree
weather in maui. we managed to cope with the first few days of heat by rising
at dawn for a long walk on the beach while watching the color of sky and water
change as the god-maui dragged the sun up from behind haleakala, the 10,000
foot shield volcano of maui, otherwise known as the ‘house of the sun’.
snorkeling
in the 80 degree tropical waters cooled us off mid-morning. we were overjoyed
to see turtles every day,
either swimming in the turquoise water, eating
seaweed from the reefs, or crawling out of the water and resting on the beach.
we humans also found the habit of resting during the heat of the day to be
quite relaxing, especially after consuming a beer for lunch! dramatic evening sky
on fire,
with red and golden sunsets, slowly turning into warm tropical
evenings with millions of stars glowing behind the swaying palms –
the perfect
ending to another perfect day in paradise.
some
days, we experienced all four seasons in one day. we watched big black clouds
pouring rain into the ocean, and the storm disappearing, until the next one
rolled through. we heard about flooding on the other side of the island, but we
were staying on the dry, desert side of the island with only a few drops of
rain here and there. two nights before our scheduled departure, the adventure began. after
having dinner with friends, we were driving back to our apartment in the dark
and pouring rain, and got caught and stranded in a flash flood! the rental car
stalled, and we managed (with help from two strong local guys) to push the car
out of the flood waters up a hill to a drier spot. by this time, we were soaking wet, and freezing
cold, with no place to go, except walk back to our apartment… in the dark of
night, and deluging rain, we slogged through two foot deep flood waters, filled
with runoff dirt, and branches and sewage and who knows what else? hoping we
didn’t fall into a pothole or get hit by a car out of control!!!! the ¾ mile
walk felt like 5 miles, and the hot shower awaiting us felt heavenly. the next
morning dawned sunny and warm, with a rainbow to greet us. all the flood waters
drained into the ocean, which was no longer tropical blue, but muddy reddish
brown. maui county recommended boiling tap water or using bottled water. the
local grocery store had a huge section of bottled water on sale, the shelves
empty by mid-morning.
we
arrived home, and the very next day, sonoma county was inundated with water,
from the same storm system!!! flash flood warnings, road closures, and advice
not to drive. easy advice to follow – we stayed home, enjoying a warm fire,
feeling blessed, lucky, and grateful to be alive and healthy.
we
wish you peace and rainbows, laughter and love,
shared with friends and family,
throughout
the upcoming year.
with heartfelt aloha,
patt!+B!M
without the rain
there
would be no rainbow
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