AK

dear alaska,

please come soon. feeding infants their mother's pumped breast milk every three hours because they aren't here overnight, so they can get some sleep, is getting really old. yes, it's too bad they have six inch incisions in their sternum because they were born with more heart chambers than a vulcan cow has stomachs, but really...the crying, the monitors alarming, the spit-up, the horrible IV access...it's gotta stop.
tonight i have a little patient that actually has two feet growing out of one ankle. now, while seeing a baby with fifteen toes is different and exotic, having to listen to her 35 year old grandmother call her "her special little mermaid" wasn't even cute once or the next ten times and is now just plain gross.
we're down to almost one month before i get to suckle from breast of the only mother that matters right now to me, mother nature.
i daydream all night of those moments when i can look for as far as the eye can see and only see trees, mountains, and salmon carcasses. i look forward to not having to eat hospital cafeteria food at 3am, although the chicken curry and rice here is quite tasty. and changing my diet to fresh coho and pasta, tang, beef jerky, the occasional freeze-dried entree. there won't be any showering. or shaving. and the beer will always be same temperature as whichever stream i'm camping next to.
may my waders not leak. may my arms get sore. may the float planes land safely. and may all the hospital supplies i've stolen provide whatever first aid kit materials i should need.

sincerely,
bobby savoy