My Life for a Month

A ONE MONTH JOURNAL Sept-2004

And now, the journal dedicated to the child singlehandedly responsible for the world's diaper toxicity crisis: Mr. "Where else would you like me to put it?" -Isaiah

Today's Entry: Trike lands in my back yard

2004-11-21 - 12:23 p.m.

Stuck at the hospital on call again. This has been a tough month and a half. Since Becky had her knee surgery in October, the call schedule has had to revert to mostly Matrix and me holding down the call. I no sooner finish one exhausting call day, rest for a while, then here comes another one. It wouldn't be so bad if our practice wasn't so big. Seems most of our patients decide to make emergency calls when they're back from doing whatever they do during the day. The phone rings off the hook after 10pm so I have to ask the operators to just page me so it won't wake up the family. Good work though, so I can't really complain.

I had the thrill of my life yesterday. Our extended family was getting ready to sit down for lunch when Brenda's sister Elsie mentions that there is an ultralight airplane circling low overhead. I ran out and saw the 'trike' circling my back field. I have for years looked forward to flying an ultralight and spent a couple summers tilling up the land in my back 10 acres, then rolling a stretch of it to use as a landing strip someday. This summer I very carefully marked out in huge vertical letters the name "G-A-T-E-S" on the airstrip and gave the area within the letters an extra rich dosing of fertilizer. The grass grew thick where the fertilizer lay and the letters easily stood out.

I gestured to the pilot with both my arms outstretched, pointing towards the field. To my absolute delight, he circled around and landed. He hopped off his trike and I introduced myself. "I couldn't have guessed your last name" he joked. The name was very clear from the air and it intrigued him enough to circle around for a better look. Turns out he's the new chairman for the aviation technologies department of SIU. He had heard of me from several of his friends but had never known where I lived. The boys and Elsie's son Danny got a chance to sit in the pilot's seat and move the control bar around. They were all in hog heaven. Someday, I hope to have all my kids flying with me. But I think Brenda will probably opt out of this particular family hobby! She's not much for being in the air without solid footing underneath.

John said he would take a photo of the strip from the air when he left. I'll come back and post it to this entry when I get it. Next spring, I promise, I WILL land my own aircraft here and store it in my own hangar rather than leave it lonely and unattended at the Pincneyvill airport! Then, as soon as I've earned my instructor's rating, I'll start teaching Kelsey and Nathan, and eventually Elijah.

We'd also like to welcome Brenda's cousin Tina and her husband Chris to our family's diary! Hope everything is going well with your new little one in California. Brenda said to tell you we have a very helpful book on open adoption she'd recommend. It has given us tremendous insights into issues we would otherwise never have even known to look for. We still make a lot of mistakes, but we're learning. It's not as simple as I thought it would be. Anyway, use the email "Contact Me" at the top of the diary for easy contact. Love you all.

Doug

MOST RECENT ENTRIES
- - 2009-02-12
Back in the saddle again - 2008-02-12
Jack makes out like a pirate - 2007-09-29
Cruise control - 2007-02-17
Mexico Orphanage trip - 2006-11-23

Conception<< - >>Birth
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