You keep me searching for....

A heart of gold.

Restrung on a new gold chain.

My next door neighbor gave it to me when I was three years old, I think she was 4.

A worthy interruption from studying, there were (too) many today. Bicycling 2x to class, trying on the white coat, making food, giving an impromptu demonstration on stonecarving tools.

Hot time in the old town

The white lights above a fountain and pond, St. Francis presiding, at old town artisans last night. Live music, friends and the air cooled by raindrops now and then.

Adrenal hormone synthesis flow diagrams can stop dancing in my head after the med school social and the sounds of a desert evening.

The power of orange adobe

On my ride to class this morning, these shadows on the orange adobe made me stop.

The colors of the sunset tonight look this orange as well.

In-between these two oranges was another day of learning - this time the library! (so many resources) and adrenal hormones (so many enzymes..) and team learning on liver disorders...whew!

Night Fishing deserves a quiet night

Sushi bar at night because I am too tired to drive to grocery store, come home and cook. Met more faculty today, ordered labs on our 'patient in a coma', talked at lunch about the risks/benefits of being married in med school...agreed that someone cooking for you was one of the main benefits...(if you can get the kind of deal). No storm, yet, today.

Little House in the Monsoon

Every afternoon this week, the sky clouds up and, after sunset, we have a torrential downpour, thuner and lightning. It is a fittingly dramatic backdrop for the otherwise sedate opening to medical school, which is, after all, life-changing. We began with proteins and nitrogen, ipads and small groups and the case of an unconscious 20-year old woman.

Michelangelo said that a figure was already inside the stone, waiting to be released. I can't say that it felt that way often for me, carving this statue.... But there were moments when I could 'feel' the figure, waiting there for me. I liked these rough stages, with all the evidence of careful checking against the model, the claw marks, the drill divets, mystery and geometry still clinging to the figure.

Sunday at Vincent's

Sunday morning at Vincent's cafe
we are cozily lingering over our coffe
tea, chocolate souffle' as perspective
diners peer in the glass, craning their birdlike
necks, noses as food disappears (too slowly)
from each plate. They are waiting for a seat
at the birdfeeder.