Phutu...springing into leaf...

7/20/2006 It's been a while and a lot has happened since I wrote last. Bryce had cochlear implant surgery, waited a month to be activated and has now been wearing his implant for three weeks. I have to say that especially when he was first activated that I felt a bit of a sense of loss because he couldn't understand when I called his name or when I said no. All the months of effort to learn a few words are gone...at least until he starts wearing his hearing aid again in a couple weeks. But the implant, now three weeks later, is giving him much better hearing than the hearing aids did. My neighbor Shane called his name from 50 yards away over freeway noise and Bryce immediately turned to look where it was coming from. He still doesn't understand some of the things that he did before, but his vocabulary is building up through the use of sign language and lots of speech therapy from me.

The surgery was a nerve-racking three hours for Dory and I. We were quite unhappy to have Bryce under the knife...and although the recovery was quick, we had to shove antibiotics and pain medication in the form of liquid down his throught multiple times a day. I took to putting the medication in his milk instead of wrestling with him, which made his milk pink and strawberry flavored.

The real bad news in all of this is that I am in for a fight to get Bryce the schooling and professional speech therapy that he needs from people that are qualified and competent. The SFUSD is trying to set up a program for him and other children like him; they have traditionally been sent to non-public schools which specialize in children with hearing problems. The new program will be staffed by teachers who have much less experience than the teachers who are at the NPS's, which makes me quite nervous.

Dory, Bryce and I once again spent the 4th of July, about 6 days in all, at our family's cabin in Pinecrest. I had quite a few relatives there. I spent the majority of the time hiking, Romi was lucky enough to get to go and to go hiking, I think about 30 miles total over the 6 days. Dory and Bryce had fun swimming and hiking a little with me. I had to modify the backpack that I carry Bryce in so that it won't knock off the headpiece of his implant which is held in place by a tiny magnet under his skin. The magnet makes it quite easy to take the headpiece on and off, but that means that any time his head rubs against something that it usually falls off. We all hiked around the lake together, and I went on one 12-mile hike the last day up to a section of the Pacific Crest Trail (which runs from the Canadian border to Mexico.) I also hiked to the top of Sonora peak and along a couple other trails. I took lots of tree photos and had a great time. I was so tired after the last day of hiking that I could barely walk the next day.

My bonsai are doing quite well, I don't know if it's because of my new fertilizing regimine or the hotter than normal weather we're having in SF, but they're growing like crazy. I took one to workshop at the beginning of this month and spent 8 hours working on carving the deadwood of the tree. This transformation is actually quite amazing and dramatic because removal of the bark and the carving take the tree from looking like a stump to looking like a bonsai. This one still has some work to be done, but it is quite a bit better looking already. In the fall I'll wire the branches and shape the crown to complement the great base and deadwood.

5/30/2006
5/20/2006
4/25/2006
3/22/2006
2/22/2006
1/25/2006
12/20/2005
11/17/2005
10/27/2005
10/8/2005
9/11/2005
8/26/2005
8/9/2005
8/1/2005
7/20/2005
7/5/2005
6/17/2005
5/27/2005
5/1/2005
4/15/2005
4/5/2005
3/24/2005
3/13/2005
2/5/2005
12/28/2004
11/29/2004
11/3/2004
10/2/2004
9/10/2004
8/23/2004
8/8/2004
7/21/2004
7/2/2004
6/8/2004
5/4/2004
4/20/2004
3/28/2004
3/10/2004
2/10/2004
1/15/2004

To reach entries prior to January 2004 click on one of the older entries on this list and scroll down to the bottom of that entry.

e-mail Eric