Well, I snuck home to beautiful and scenic Monrovia, California, for about ten days, where I reveled in the record high (80+ Fahrenheit) temperatures and thought, “Oh, this brutal Los Angeles winter, will it never end?” I played ultimate three times in seven days and learned the nature of tradeoffs – once again. In the space of that week, I managed to tweak my left thigh muscle, left knee and left Achilles tendon, but on the other hand all the running made my right (replaced) hip feel better than it’s felt since June. So there you go: my left leg must be sacrificed on the altar of my right.
Picked up another cold – my third of the winter, which I ascribe to living in Moscow, even though I suffered this one in LA. All the weird sleep schedules (jet lag induced), low temperatures, lack of sunlight, exposure to others in close quarters… it’s definitely taking a toll on me. Most winters I skate through with nary a sniffle. But then again, most winters I’m working at home… sleeping in my own bed… soaking up that good California sunshine. So, I go back to Moscow poised to set a personal best (worst) number of colds in a season. That’s what I call a record low.
I broke up the trip back with a couple of days in Boston, visiting with my charming granddaughter, for whom I cannot seem to stop buying stuffed things. I had hoped that Boston would ease my transition back to winter weather – it can be fairly mild there this time of year – sort of like going through a decompression chamber so that I could return to Moscow without getting the bends. Alas, Old Man Winter had other ideas, and I found myself in Boston during their coldest days so far this winter. Brrrr…. I note with interest that it’s been much warmer (relatively speaking) in Moscow. Ah, well. I don’t recall seeing the words “life is fair” printed on the contract.
I’m excited to be going back to Moscow for another one or possibly two months. There’s still a lot of interesting, challenging work to be finished there, and still some room on my learning curve. I’m not psyched to be facing another stretch of winter, especially when, in some existential sense, I don’t “have” to. But then again, maybe in some existential sense I do “have” to. I’ve been making jokes in recent weeks about how, “In these troubled economic times, you don’t leave money lying on the table, even if you have to go 6,000 miles to collect it.” But behind the joke lies the reality that, economic times (and winter) notwithstanding, I wouldn’t turn my back on this challenge anyhow. I told myself going into this thing that I didn’t want to see myself (even at grandfather age) as someone who has stopped embracing a challenge. Now, returning to the worst of Russian winter, I have to say I still feel that way.
A little insane, too, yeah, but what’re you gonna do?
I soaked up as much California sunshine and vitamin D as my bald head could absorb. I coughed up half a lung over the north Atlantic. I’m in Frankfurt now, awaiting the flight back to Moscow. The adventure continues. Really, you can’t ask more from an adventure than that.
More later, -jv
Oh yes!, life is adventure or nothing
Posted by: cromoniquel | January 19, 2009 at 01:14 AM