Aging, but young in spirit (and hand)

Dear L,

 Remember this?

And besides, growing old isn't all bad:

As we grow old…the beauty steals inward.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hmm...  that's hard for one to believe when she's anchored to the toilet by an intestinal infection.  Maybe Emerson meant a different kind of "inward".


Love,
D

We Must Be Aging

Dear D,
So excited you guys got in the top 10 in the wholllle world! Not so excited about you being hurt... you look so ambivalent with your shoulder like that (the half shrug). I hope the person who drew those scribbles won't also be in charge of your actual surgery. And I hope you can still visit!

All I have to say is: we aren't getting any younger.

I was struck down by an infection in my intestines last week and didn't leave my bungalow for five days straight. L checked on me once a day at least, but other than that I saw not a soul... everyone else left to explore Bangkok and left me to explore the different insects finding refuge in my bed and my bathroom. I had an epic battle with some teenaged cockroaches. Thai cockroaches look like the American kind, but are loads dumber and a lot easier to kill.

There was also the episode with the "German herbal immune system booster pills" that left me hallucinating at 2 AM.

In other news I finished The Bonfire of the Vanities, read half of Emma and all of Committed. I also watched Amelie every night since I didn't have access to other DVDs.

As if this picture wasn't bleak enough, it also rained daily with one day of strong wind that brought down a tree in front of the bungalows.

I'm ready for some sunshine and it looks like you are too!
Love,
L

Home, proud and broken

Dear L,

Ten days of bland fried food and several rain squalls a day were quite enough for me, glad to be out of Manchester and back in Stockholm.  After important wins against the Czech Republic and Wales and a loss to Ireland, we were awarded 10th place in the world.

Doing my best to keep this Czech defender at bay as I run the ball downfield.

Observing the Swedish national anthem before playing Wales, which includes belting out "Yes, I want to live I want to die in the North!"  Would be a lot more intimidating if the Welsh could understand Swedish.

Final results:

1. USA
2. Canada
3. Australia
4. Japan - they're tiny but as this play shows they are tricky
5. England
6. Germany
7. Scotland
8. Netherlands
9. Ireland
10. Sweden - woohoo!
11. Wales
12. Finland
13. Czech Republic
14. Poland
15. New Zealand - the haka, their pregame ritual
16. Spain
17. Slovakia
18. Bermuda
19. Italy
20. Latvia
21. Austria
22. Hong Kong
23. Switzerland
24. Norway
25. South Korea
26. Denmark
27. France
28. Argentina
29. Mexico
30. Iroquois - sorry, guys (the passport controversy)

Then comes the unfortunate story of my shoulder, which kept me from playing in all but two of our games in Manchester and far from my best in those.  I thought it was just sore but apparently I had lost one or two ligaments in Back from the hospital.  By the time we played the Czech Republic on the 21st, I was tired of and embarrassed by sitting on the bench the whole time so I played through some slight discomfort.  No problem.  But it only took a small hit from a Welsh defenseman the day after to tear the only remaining ligament holding my collarbone down to my shoulder.

Not in lot of pain, but with an ugly bump on my shoulder.

The x-ray shows that the problem is worse than the pain suggests. The scribbles are a repulsively crude representation of what the surgery will entail.  It'll be a two-part surgery (once to insert the screw and once a few months later to remove it) and will happen once the internal bleeding is under control.

Time to shift from physical goals to mental ones for a while!

Love,

D

Swimming in the jungle

Dear D,

I went to a waterfall a couple of weeks ago with K and M. All the rain made the stream swell so it was almost bursting from the banks. The current was a little too strong to go wading, but it was nice to sit under the vines, palms and ferns with our feet in the cool water and little fish nipping at our heels.
I tried to capture it all with the trusty custom timer...

 




Love,
L

Transformation

Dear L,

Change can be a good thing!

L: Oooo what if I had short hair?  Wouldn't that be soooooo glamorous?
Risky: Party all the time woo I'll cut mine too!
Meal: Just smile and walk away, Meal, smile vacantly and walk away.


THE NEXT DAY, AT THE BARBERSHOP...

Not as fun as I expected.

Law: Lot of armpit hair on the floor here, when are you going to start cutting the hair on your head?
L: Ew that's gross Mom tell him no boys allowed.
Mom: Heeheehee.

Was sort of hoping it would look like this...

L: Momwhatareyoudoing...
Mom: Trust me.

Mom: There.
L: I look cool!


WOULD EVERYONE APPROVE OF L'S NEW 'DO?

Everyone: L we approve of your new 'do.  We ruv you.
Girl sulking in the back: Maybe if I cut my hair I'll win friends and influence people too...

Short hair is funRAWR!


I miss you.

Love,
D

Surprises on my doorstep

Dear D,

I found these wings on the path leading to my door.


Love,
L

Switzerland picture countdown! (1-4)

Dear L,

The time has come. After two weeks in the most beautiful country I've ever been to, I collected pictures from Nelly, Bough, Steffi, Dad, and Veeve.  Thousands of pictures.  A lot of them were the same shot of us together smiling stiffly for the camera, sun in our eyes, arm in arm, pasted on top of a Swiss postcard.  Not these, though.  These are action.  These are the best.

4
Location: The hike down to Winkelmatten, near Zermatt.
Photographer: Steffi.
In this photo (from close): me, Nelly, Bough.
Why I like it: The landscape, the geography, and the sky, but most of all Nelly and Bough's eerily synchronized head-cocking.

3
Location: Ticino.
Photographer: Nelly.
Why I like it: The colors.

2
Location: Gornergrat, near Zermatt.
Photographer: Bough.
In this photo: me.
Why I like it: Despite the fact that the wind was terrifyingly strong at the top of the mountain (this picture was taken during our mad dash from the train to the mountaintop restaurant), making it hard to even walk, Bough and I managed to get this photo that almost made it look like we were having fun.  It really felt more like this.  Or this?

1
Location: Pilatus.
Photographer: Steffi.
In this photo: Bough and Nelly.
Why I like it: It doesn't even look real!



Here are pictures 5 through 8 and here are pictures 9 through 12.

Love,
D

From the back of a motorbike

Dear D,

4th of July, etc.

Dear D,

4^th of July

…was GREAT! C and S came up from Phang-Nga and the whole group of us grilled corn with real butter, salt and pepper! We made faux hotdogs too. The sun was finally out after days of rain, so we were all basking in the great weather with our cold beers. A true ex-pat affair :P Afterwards we went to the beach and built a bonfire as the sun set over the ocean.

Back from the hospital

Dear L,

Had a crazy last 25 hours.

I woke up sitting on a bench on the sidelines of a lacrosse game. Sundbyberg (us) vs. Söderköping (them). I asked Andreas what the score was. We were down, 8-6. Which was strange, since the last thing I remember was being up 3-1 at the end of the first quarter. It was the fourth. We got another goal and ended up losing by one. Some of the guys told me that I had been hit, but they seemed really rude/aloof about it. Maybe I had been asking over and over. At the end of the game, two guys from Söderköping came up and apologized to me. I smiled, "It's all part of the game, don't worry about it!" though I had no idea what happened. Still can't figure out how my left shoulder, right cheek, right temple, and back are all bruised from one hit.

Switzerland picture countdown! (5-8)

Dear L,

I miss you.

It's a little colder today in Stockholm, mid-60's and cloudy, after reaching a sunny 77 degrees yesterday!

Here are the next of my favorite pictures from my trip to Switzerland with Dad, Nelly, Bough, and Steffi:

8
Location: Dad's garage in Luzern.
Photographer: Bough.
In this photo: Nelly.
Why I like it: Because I've seen it ten times now and I still can't look at it without chuckling to myself.

First Motorbike Ride--CHECK.

Dear D,
I'm back and, more importantly, in one piece from my first solo motorbike ride! I went to Takuapa (about 20 km away) and it took me an hour because I was going so slow! hahaha
It also happens to be monsooning today so the trip was very exciting! I had my purple poncho on (the one from Ecuador, so glad I packed it) AND my big helmet AND a big back pack under my poncho so I looked like Quasimodo AND a huge plastic basin tied to my handlebars. I looked incredible. The only mishap was that I couldn't start my bike at one point (it's a kick start) because of all the wetness. I kicked and kicked for a couple of minutes until a really nice Thai couple stopped to help and got it on the first try.. -_- embarrassing..
Now I have to get good enough so I can scoot passengers around on the back! (Like you.)
Love,
L