This morning, I awoke around 7. Doug is usually awake by 7. But he was perfectly quiet. In fact, I had slept thought the entire night and had not heard him get up. At first, I was alarmed and concerned. It was a feeling similar to when you have a baby and they have slept through the night for the first time. Checking on him, he was still sleeping and he did not wake until 8:30. Thankfully, he did not wake-up coughing. That was a big step in recovery. Thank heavens!
A little more good news, yesterday when he was opening and closing his hand he said I think I can make a fist and squeeze tighter than I could before. And today I could not get the lid off the milk. When I gave it to Doug to try, he was able to open it easily. Little things, yes, but important little improvements, that show signs we are heading in the right direction.
In this season of Advent, we are reminded that it is a time of watching and waiting with hope and expectation. We are doing this in watching for changes in Doug. Additionally each morning and each evening and often several times a day, I go out on our balcony to look at at our Popocatepetl volcano to watch with expectation.
Looking at the volcano, each day Popcatepetl looks different. Puebla is at an altitude of more than 7000 feet and Popocatepetl is over 17,000 feet. It is really breath-taking. Popocatepetl gets it's name from the Aztec people. It means smoking mountain. Everyday we watch to see how much it is smoking. Last April, it covered all of Puebla with ash. I have learned that we are currently on an orange alert. Apparently though, the area surrounding the volcano has been on an orange alert for a long time. Even though Popocatepetl smokes it is not the most dangerous volcano in the Americas. From my research, I understand that Mount Rainer is more dangerous because it is not continuously venting like Popocatepetl. That said, in the last week Popocatepetl has been putting on a real show. On Friday, the day Doug was in the hospital it started smoking. We could not even see the mountain. On Sunday, there were huge plumes and we understand there was a small earthquake at 2.0, that we did not feel. Then Wednesday, our American friends were planning on flying out of Puebla to come home and the airport was closed. Popocatepetl was spewing ash and the planes could not take off or land. And so we are watching this spectacular volcano with much interest. We are hoping that it will be calm on Saturday when it is time for us to leave!
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| The view from our balcony tonight. |
Having an active volcano outside of our window reminds us of the power and strength of God's creation. We understand that there are things that we cannot control, we can only bare witness to. And so it is with Doug's healing. We have done what we can for now. And for now he must rest and recover. We can only bare witness and be reminded by this volcano of the power of the Omnipotent God
(News Release from Washington State Volcano Watch:
An unusually long and strong explosion occurred on 25 Nov 2016 starting from 10:47 local time. A continuous jet of steam, gas, and fragmented volcanic material which lasted about 20 minutes generated a billowing plume that rose approx. 5 km.)
And so we pray:
Omniscient and Omnipotent, we give you thanks and praise as we watch in wonder at the beauty and power of creation. May Doug and all patients who came to Puebla, experience the wonder and power of you. Continue to fill us with wonder in the small changes that we witness and give us continued hope as we watch for your trans-formative power. In your name we ask it. Amen
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| The "stemmies" (patients) in Group 1 |
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