Hey tweets, I know many of you will be glad to hear that one of our own has
come back. Alex is home! After much thrashing around during a really
grueling day, Alex arrived in Seattle yesterday, banged up by the flight but
happy to be back where the weather is cool and the rain is beautiful. He
faces more surgery this coming week, but we think the worst is over. Thanks
so much to all of you who helped us so much this past week. I truly do not
know what I would have done without your sustaining support. The words
"birding community" will forever have a deeper meaning to me after this.

FYI, Alex was sent to Camp Pendleton in CA for reasons unknown. While in the
hospital in Pendleton, he had the happiness of being in a room with three
really big windows, where he could watch hummingbirds, swifts, ravens and
vultures swoop by. The hummingbirds in particular always brought a smile to
his face. Mine, too. He and I talked for hours about birds. I tried to paint
for him the sights I had seen on my Bering Sea trip. Alex has been to Alaska
many times, so he could picture the terrain of the Aleutians and "see" the
birds there. In return, he told me a little bit about the birds he
encountered in Iraq.

Talking about these things took us far, far away from pain and suffering. We
were glad to go. - Connie, Seattle

csidles at isomedia.com