MAY-C-11
I FORWARD THE PHOTOS FROM MALAWI
ALONG WITH THE RAPID PACE OF EVENTS AND
CHANGES
IN DERWOOD AND DC,
AS PLANS TELESCOPE FOR THE COMING YEAR
From: Glenn Geelhoed
To: Donald Geelhoed; Martheen Griffioen; Michael Geelhoed; Milly L. Holtvluwer; Virginia Croskery
Date: 5/27/03 11:30AM
Subject: Fwd: You have photos from PhotoWorks
Now, you too can go "on safari" without taking anti- malarials or risking elephant charges!
I attach the access to the on- line photos of the Malawi experience, with the first two rolls being the medical mission in Embangweni Hospital and the second two being the pictures from the brief safari into South Luwangwe in Zambia. The last roll concludes with my GWU graduation (an M. Phil in Human Sciences for me- - a FOURTH Masters degree!) and the GWUMC graduation (with the "hooding" of my three senior students,) and conversations with commencement speaker, fellow runner and fellow surgeon Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
In addition, I have appended the notes regarding my rainy Memorial Day weekend celebration in a housewarming for the Schaefers in their new home in Trappe MD in Talbot County, Eastern Shore. It was the last of the Spring Turkey Hunting season in MD, so we went out before dawn in the sodden downpours and clucked like hens to the amusement of no birds except a bluebird and Oriole that stopped by- - until for one brief milli- second on the second morning when only a head peeked out form the edge of the wheat field at the mosquito- clouded swamp. A reflex arc patterned that head in the center of a load of number fours, so we had a celebration dinner in the damp Memorial Day, even if many a cookout may have been rained out.
When it rains, it pours. A sudden rush of activity came about as the "Out of Africa" pictures returned and are sorted into albums, and the new horse trailer has been delivered- - and, as if by some kind of magic, a Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel Quad Cab Laramie package SLT 4WD truck materialized to hitch it to, so at least Porter is well- fixed for passive transport.
Abruptly, while planing the next trips to Haiti and to India, culminating in the Lingshed Trek, Virginia is offered the Carlotta role in the Road Company of Phantom of the Opera, so that she will be leaving for the summer in performance. I will be performing also in the massive packing of all Derwood's warehousing, just after a visit long- awaited of the Griffioen clan, after which the "walls will come atumblin' down." For most of the "Demo" phase, I will be out of country, after Ladakh and Lingshed, going on to Alaskan big game and then on to Sikkim. By late fall, I should be looking for a place to lay my head as the renovation begins in earnest in Derwood. But, by that time, the road trips will be strung together again for the visits to Chicago and Michigan at Christmas time, San Antonio and Gainesville for NewYear's, and Cumberland Island for a final round- up- - just before the Mindanao Mission and the return to Malawi are planned.
So, this is an active period in the "turning of the wheel" as the cycles of the season are well- watered by the record May showers which have knocked down the azalea blooms and popped open the mountain laurel and rhododendrons of Derwood. The deer which were sheltering from the showers under these trees were "equal opportunity browsers" and were happy to see the recycling of the spring season to find a soft spot in the fallen leaves to drop fawns next week, while the paired geese are shepherding fluffy goslings around from last week's hatching. I may have a re- feathered nest of my own by this same spring time come the next turning of the seasonal wheel, so we will watch these changes with interest.
So, we will watch- - from a safe distance- - as these plans and prospects take wing.
Since Memorial Day is traditionally celebrated as the start of summer, I wish you cool "season's greetings!"
Cheers!
GWG