Sylvia's Journal

It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission. We went flying and decided not to tell the parentals until afterwards. It was the first time since July that I took non-pilots up. I stayed in familiar airspace. We flew over Essex County and ‘visited’ Manchester, circling a few times over the house, then Gloucester, Annisquam, Ipswich, Plum Island, Newburyport, Essex and then back to Beverly airport. It was a glorious winter day, clear as far as the eye could see with great views of Boston. Yesterday’s storms had blown all the wind out of the area, although there was some unsettled air, causing a little turbulence. The boys took many pictures and videos of take-off and landing.

They took turns sitting in front and holding the controls. There was a lot of going up and down, leaning left and right, not all that much fun for the one sitting in back but exciting nevertheless. They discovered that it takes very little movement to change the altitude and attitude of the plane.

Back home Pieter and Huib continued their frustrating search for cheap lodging in New York (it is Spring Break!) and networked their way into the Dutch Harvard Med School community in the hope of attending a class or, at a minimum, getting a tour of this hallowed place. For me it was a workday with a flying break: finishing reports, updating my address book and putting all my receipts in order. It was also time to catch up on emails and the business that went on while I was away. Later this week I will focus on the next assignment: Afghanistan (Kabul) in just over two weeks.

Axel went to see his physiatrist who interpreted his latest MRI. As it turns out one vertebra, L5, has not healed yet, which explains the pains he is still having in his lower back and possibly the funny click that you can hear when he makes a particular movement. It was a little bit discouraging to get this news, now nearly 8 months after the accident, but he took it in stride. His physical therapy is continuing once a week and his therapist is working on the right things, according to the new doctor. The next doctor’s appointment is for the hand, still swollen, which needs some professional attention.

After a dinner of roasted chicken and winter vegetables the young people went out bowling while we old folks watched part of a movie until it was bedtime; an early bedtime, for it was a school night again.