We are back in St. John’s for doctors appointments (again) for both Rich and Anouk. We’ve been in a bit of a communications blackout so here is the update and hopefully we’ll be back in internet writing mode for awhile!
Let’s start with health…. Anouk is a happy camper. Her burn site is stable, a fully closed wound. Not so pretty to look at and still very itchy at night, but otherwise, doesn’t limit her in any way (unless you consider waking up every couple hours to scratch limiting…perhaps more for her parents, sigh). She’s been wearing the pressure garment for a couple weeks now and seems to have gotten used to it. I am resigned to the fact she probably has permanent scars…she seems un-phased by the whole thing. She knows when we are talking about her arm, her burn, her scar, any of it (in either language, English or French) because she promptly points to it with a very serious look on her face.
She is a comprehension sponge right now! I tell her a word once and then she seems to know it and can point to that thing immediately (this morning it was etoiles, or stars, in a book, which she then recognized in another book). These last couple weeks, she is all about tickling, she especially LOVES to tickle her daddy’s belly when he changes into his pj’s at night! Big teeth are coming in. Hair is covering her head (curly in back, straight on top, white-blond all over). And she only has a couple inches left before she won't be able to stand in the camper’s bed anymore! She loves looking at the pictures of our friends and family back home. (Those of you involved in making that awesome photo book for us, she loves it!! Lately it is the picture of herself in Joel Avila’s backhoe that has her attention. She points to it, then herself, then it, then herself, and on and on, and gets awfully excited whenever she sees anything resembling a tractor or backhoe now….) Dogs continue to elicit the highest pitched squeal, with motorcycles a close second. Any words you ask? She’s got "Non" down pretty well, with the correct French accent and everything. Ma and Da are new discoveries too, which make her really smile big when she sees that she got it right. And the best of all, she loves to give us hugs, real honest to goodness I love you hugs. Last year when we came up to Newfoundland for the course I co-taught, Sean (one of my co-teachers) was once holding her as a baby and sighed peacefully saying, “Ahh, better than valium.” I think toddler hugs may be even better!
Speaking of Sean, I think Rich had mentioned earlier that we had a wonderful time in Bonavista with Sean, his wife Carolyn, daughter Sarah, and his in-laws Minnie and Lyndsey. We’ve had the good fortune of seeing Minnie and Lyndsey a couple times since then. And in fact, they are babysitting the boat for us. Yes, you read that right. We have left the Sea Grant 18-foot Lund in their driveway. Yes, I know, I was so so so excited to spend lots of time on the water this summer, so what gives??? Well, health and safety prevailed. Given Anouk’s burn, and Rich’s limited motion (he is ok, don’t get me wrong, but he IS slowed down a bit, though he would probably rather I keep my trap shut about it), it felt unsafe to head out to sea…. I wasn’t sure I felt confident enough to be skipper with a limited co-skipper and a very-eager-to-move toddler in a very small boat in unknown waters. Call us wimps. We’d rather think of us as safe and alive! Yet, I must admit, it was pretty sad driving away from the Russel’s waving goodbye to Minnie and Lindsey and the boat for a few months. The boat has never touched Newfoundland waters (though it was getting pathetically familiar with Newfoundland roads, another reason we left it behind). Sigh....
As a result, we are taking every opportunity we can get to get on the water other ways. The most recent foray was a ferry ride out to Francois, a tiny outport accessible only by boat tucked among the fjords of the South Coast. This was SO cool! Before I get to the cool part, I might as well admit before Rich gives it away, that I did indeed get sick as a moaning dog on the ferry out. Big seas, according to my belly; not so big according to the engineer. Anouk, too, revisited her goldfish snack…. Daddy alone kept his lunch, and managed to take care of Anouk while I took care of myself. So much for priding myself on being a seagoing chick (reminded me of another time I got sick on my sister’s boat about ten years ago, but that’s another story). Anyways, it was a four-hour ferry ride to a community that never has seen a car. Concrete and wooden boardwalks spider their way throughout the community of 130 year-round residents, houses nestled at the base of huge cliffs. Had the community not been there, already settled into a vertical stacking of homes, I don’t think I would have imagined this landscape ever could have been settled. I went for a short evening walk and, though Francois is literally in the middle of the Newfoundland coastal wilderness, the community is so compact and boxed in by the cliffs that as I was walking along a path right by windows and doors, I felt like I was in a fish bowl. By the end of two days, I beleive we had seen nearly every resident, and were certainly on friendly chatting terms with several.
Boomerang to the other landcape extreme…. Now, it is city-living for a week. We are back in our oh-so-familiar campsite at Pippy Park and taking advantage of the University Library and the internet connection at the bookstore. A veritable cornucopia of communications options! We are hoping this is our last city visit for the rest of the sabbatical, but who knows what the doctors have in store for us this week. We’ll keep you posted! Cheers to all.
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