Hey Dr C,
Good to hear from you. Yep, winter arrived, Sunday October 12th to be exact. We had been having some frosts and even a snap about two weeks ago where some water started to freeze. It warmed back up and stayed above freezing with rain every day. Sunday we awoke to white world outside. It snowed off and on for two days then the temps dropped below freezing where they have stayed since. The highest it has been since Tuesday is 31. It is staying between 21 and 30. It is amazing to me. The Back Bay was water one day and ice the next. The northern lights have been out every night since it cleared up with the night we took those pictures being the brightest and most active. I walk to work in the morning as the hospital is closer to where we live than the parking garage used to be. It is dark now from about 7pm until around 10 am and on the walk to work the stars, moon, and northern lights are usually visible. Yes it is cold but we just get dressed before going out.
Today at work we had a pregnant female who just would not deliver so we had a plane coming in from Anchorage with an OB crew to pick her up. Our medevac picked up a one month old from a village for a septic workup. We dc'd a cellulitis pt, a suicidal pt, and two babies one with bronchiolitis and the other a well kid with recurrent OM since seven weeks in from a village for a septic workup. We admit a lot of pt's due to their inability to get proper follow up in the villages. It is challenging here as all but two of the docs are here solely to pay off loans and are somewhat new. Some are very good and will be excellent and some are-well........... We are having trouble getting nurses here too. A number of the ones we do have are new grads who have not worked anywhere else. Still I am glad we did this. Again you were right. I had to get out to see I really did have some ability and I do not regret the move.
After getting off tonight we went to the elementary school gym and watched the Artic Lights Dancers. This is a group of about 30-40 natives who do the drumming, singing, and dancing of the Inupiat Eskimo culture. They range in age from the 50's and 60's to kids as young as 7 or 8. Riding back on the 4 wheelers under the stars with the northern lights above----well let's just say I still find it hard to believe we are here experiencing this. Sometimes it seems unreal. There are bad times don't get me wrong. The other morning the sunrise was beautiful and I was trying to get dressed in time to ride out and photograph it but missed it. Just after, the ems radio in the apartment (we all volunteer with the fire department and ems) went off for a female who had taken an overdose of pills. As I wrote to some one else-beauty and the beast is the best way I can describe it. Right now however I would not trade it.
Again thanks for writing; it is always a treat to get an email from someone down there. Hope things are well in your apartment ventures and all your endeavors. Tell the wife and kids and the folks in the ER hello from way up here. Come up and visit-all you need is airline tickets.
By the way, the new web address is www.samsicles.net
Carlo
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Last updated:
08/29/05