Bill and Wendy's ickcillint adventures

Debris of war that goes on and on bombed houses in ithe vanni region lagoon Sea of bikes that go on and on I am too disturbed. Images and words filter through my brain. Words like: 300,000. People. Dutch ship. Prabhakaran. Images of bicycles piled high. Marshy dead terrain. Stacks of rusted vehicles. Bombed houses. Tent city. People running. So, to purge the images, I am up at the computer, trying to work out some of the tensions. In the book, the Cage, by Gordon Weiss, the author paradoxically begins the book at the end of the story of the Sri Lankan war; the killing of Prabhakaran, the LTTE leader. It is here, on the Nandikadal Lagoon, in the northeast of Sri Lanka where my mind is wrestling with these words and images. On the weekend, we made arrangements with a young Sinhala man who took us into the Vanni region, as it is known. The Vanni is basically a triangular region between Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi and the region most severely affected ...

I often head home for lunch. So, on Tuesday, June 5 th about 12:30 pm, I cycled my bicycle home for lunch when my chain broke (a chronic problem), forcing me to push my bike the rest of the way home.  As I entered our lane (Vidhans Lane, off Columbothurai), a man was leaning up against his bicycle.  He immediately began squeezing his breast and pointing at my breast in a lewd manner.  sign at police station Three story police station Quickly, it became clear that he was inappropriate and so, I swore loudly at him in English (F.. off) and kept walking.  He hopped back on his bike and cycled ahead of me into my side lane. At that point, I stopped walking and attempted to make a phone call to Bill, who I knew was likely at home at the end of the lane. However, the direct sunlight on the phone display prevented me from reading the numbers programmed into the phone. Then, the man cycled back out of the side lane and so, as I thought he was leaving,...

 Moments before Ph.D Defence in New Zealand This week, I penned my termination notice of employment to Interior Health! I had worked there full time since 1996 until 2007 when I opened my private practice. When we first considered leaving for VSO work, I had this private practice and remained as casual status at IHA. I enjoyed filling in for the odd sick leave or vacation shift in the hospital, especially in psychiatry, but in all hospital wards: cancer clinic, children's health clinic, rehab and medical floors. In June 2010, just prior to leaving for Sri Lanka, and in preparation for my eventual return to work at the hospital, I applied and was granted a one year leave of absence, with the proviso that in one year, if I wished to extend, that a further extension had to be negotiated at that time. I did extend the leave of absence in June 2011 to accommodate the final year of our placement as VSO in Sri Lanka. It is now June 2012 and the hospital was expecting a ...

On May 27th, our newest grandson arrived, pulled by forceps from the snug and cozy womb of his mother, Tanya. After more than 30 hours of labour, he was finally delivered; 7 lbs, 14 ounces of perfection. Mom, Dad and baby are doing very well; all just very tired. Despite the distance between Nelson, British Colombia and Jaffna, Sri Lanka, I was present at the birth thanks to Skype, my sister, Teresa and Tanya and Brent's good pre-planning for the event.     First, communication to me arrived by I- Phone texts: "I think I am in labour" "Contractions coming 7-10 minutes apart" "At hospital, 2 cm dilated, baby fully effaced. Still a while to go. Baby doing great." Then, nothing for 12 hours. Phone by my bed, fitful sleep. At about 1:30 our pm, I telephoned my sister, 1:00 her a.m. Due to the slow progression of the labour, the nursery staff shooshed everyone home, except Tanya and Brent. They firmly instructed Tanya to turn off her...