Back in Palestine
The scent of jasmine fills the September air. Fruits are ripening on the trees--figs, pomegranates, almonds, apples, pears, and olives grow on rock ledges in the deep valley behind the six-story apartment building.
Life Lessons
Summer seems to be winding to an early the end. Brown and yellow leaves are already falling due to the drought that has taken its toll here in Rhode Island. While the drought is much worse in other parts of the US, not to mention Africa and South Sudan, even here in Rhode Island where there are 400 miles of coastline, crops are lost.
Seeding Hope
“Give them hope.” That was my charge from the course directors in Gateways, a pipeline masters in science program at Brown University created to increase the diversity of the physician workforce. Started by Dr. Gowri Anandarajah six years ago, the first two weeks of the program this summer have focused on various aspects of the US health…
Preaching about Roe
Many sound frequencies and words in ink have been spilled on SCOTUS's action last week. I grit my teeth--today, what can I say that has not been said. As a physician I have seen the pain and anguish that comes with abortion decisions. I have seen the lack of support our society provides for mothers going it alone, trying to extricate themselves from an abusive relationship…
Mental health stigma (and more)
. . . is still present. A 9th grade student I am caring for in the school clinic was clearly depressed. Her PHQ-9 scored in the teens. She is sleeping on her aunt's couch as she attends a new school this year, having switched every year or two. Her mom who is homeless sees her routinely, but told her not to take the anti-depressant medication I prescribed…
Change is a given
Growth is optional . . . But how do we help those we care about grow?
Stories: stories about what changes, what stays the same, and how to navigate it all. I received a blog post from Michael McRay whom I know of through his Dad, a Tennessee family physician. His post inspired me. So here are my stories:
Memories and Prayers for the Ukraine
In June 1999, I had the privilege of visiting the Ukraine as part of a community collaborative training exchange. Watching the horrifying images on the news sent me to the back of my closet to search through my journals, trying to remember where I was. (I've kept them since Mr. Hemmert's creative writing class, sophomore year of high school.) We visited Lviv…
Hope
Beneath the 6 inches of new snow in the Northeast, there is evidence of spring. The skunk cabbage spears could be seen at the edge of the steams, and small carpets of moss appeared greener. Birds are beginning to show their breeding colors and behaviors. The Omicron variant is receding and the CDC is altering guidelines. You can now search…
Dog Poop, the Social Contract, and Pandemic Behaviors
Dogs have been part of my extended family for most of my sixty-plus years. With a dog comes poop, even with the angelic 4-pawed fellow to the right.
On a farm it doesn't really matter, but in the city there is an expectation, a social contract of sorts. In the public parks and boulevards the dog owner is expected to scoop the poop.
While some dog walkers dutifully pick up their dog's poop, others don't bother, and before I know it I've stepped in it. Squish! Yuk! Stink!
Holiday and Christmas greetings
. . . as we celebrate the return of the light during the pandemic.
Reed and I escaped to the Southwest to watch the Sandhill cranes and Snow Geese in their winter homes along the Rio Grande in and around Bosque del Apache. We made our plans 6 months ago and vaccinated and boosted we thought being outside was a safe way to spend the holidays. Then came Omicron…
Celebrating Gratitude
Tough times continue. Another variant of COVID19 has appeared in Africa. The pandemic marches on and on. The political divisions feel sharper with narrowing options for middle ground.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, a traditional celebration of colonialism coming to this continent. The alternative names are Indigenous Peoples day or Native American Heritage day. Will there always be the victors and the…
School-Based Clinics in 2021
I first provided care in school-based clinics in the 1990s. My most memorable crisis was an early morning page from the clinic nurse who had a flare for the dramatic. We didn't have cell phones back then, so I found the coins to call her from a pay phone at the cafe where I was having breakfast with a colleague.
"I think I have a student in labor. Can you get in here fast?" Stacy's voice…
We muddle on . . .
Is it the 4th COVID surge? I am losing count. I walked up the stairs in the medical school this week with a physician I didn't know. He complained about his exhaustion from COVID. "It's the unvaccinated we are caring for in the hospital. Such a waste of resources. Nurses are quitting." I empathized and agreed, "These are hard times."
I went to the barn where I lease a horse and the owner…
Play it again
Twenty years ago, I was sitting on the concrete stairs outside the Shoulder to Shoulder apartments in Santa Lucia, Honduras, when I heard the announcer on a colleague’s short wave radio say that US troops were moving into Afghanistan. My compatriots (physicians, nurses, residents and medical students) on the medical mission out of the University of Cincinnati…
Let in the light
The challenges of our times are hard to escape. Here in the US: collapsing buildings likely related to climate change with encroaching oceans and poorly maintained infrastructure, sweltering temperatures in the Northwest, and reportedly appalling conditions in the detention centers where asylum seekers are housed on our southern border. Elsewhere the horrors of COVID and the delta variant continue as wealthy nations' slowly respond to…
The Art of Improvisation
We are watching Ken Burn's Jazz Series on PBS. I enjoy music, but am not a musician and don't have much of an ear. My singing should be only in the shower. What has struck me about the series is the ongoing improvisation that is Jazz. It started with Louie Armstrong in New Orleans, Duke Ellington in NYC, and Count Basie and eventually Charlie Parker in Kansas City. It is a story of race--the creative and improvising black musicians inspiring the whites and then the black artists…
Palestine and more . . .
And then there is Palestine and Israel. As I watch the news I struggle with how to respond. What could I do or say? A year and a half ago, I had met Izeldine on the steps of the Damascus gate in Jerusalem to start our food tour in the Old City. Sacred Cuisine --a sampling of local foods with stories about Palestinian heritage. A few years earlier I'd walked through the gate at dusk…
Remembering Dr. Patrick Chege--Family Medicine Kenya
Dr. Patrick Chege, age 63 years, died from COVID this past week. He was one of the first Family Medicine trained physicians in Kenya, finishing in 2008. He founded the Family Kenya Association of Family Physicians (KAFP) and began serving as the Head of the Family Medicine Department at Moi University…
Ugliness begets beauty
Skunk cabbage smells like its name, but has a deep purple spotted leaf-like flower and gives rise to something that looks like Romaine lettuce--some of the first greens of the spring in damp areas. Spring is here.
Seeking hope
You can’t miss the anniversary discussions about a year of COVID: the lockdown, the losses, the old life still yearned for, but the new routines becoming more familiar.
This week, both COVID immunized, Reed and I took a trip to watch an ancient spring event in northern Indiana: the migration of the Sandhill cranes toward their nesting sites in Wisconsin, Minnesota and further north. We were seeking a change of pace and the magic of taping into nature’s majesty…