Christmas at Camp Grayloft

For the last few years Zexiv and Puff have been spending Christmas either in the home country or in Washington, DC, where Zexiv's father used to be assigned. Both places were always very busy during this particular time of year - Manila with its exciting nightlife, get-togethers with family and friends, and shopping, and Washington, DC with all the non-stop family activities that would be planned around Zexiv's little nephews and nieces. This Christmas, Zexiv and Puff decided to slow down and have a quiet celebration for a change here in BC. We decorated the camp, setting up Zexiv and Puff's collection of miniature Christmas houses and had hot chocolate and Christmas cookies while watching holiday classics like "A Christmas Carol", "A Charlie Brown Christmas", and a "Muppet Christmas", and more contemporary films like "Love Actually", "The Holiday", and "Home Alone". We also attended a very beautiful midnight Christmas service (following a delicious dinner of rack of lamb and onion soup prepared by Puff), at the Cathedral in downtown Vancouver, probably the best of its kind we have experienced so far.

Christmas also found Zexiv in much brighter spirits, having finally gotten to hit the weights at last a few days ago, after about a 6 week layoff, following his recent back injury. He has resolved to take it easy in the gym from now on and to stop working out like he is still in high school . Puff decided to help him lighten his gym bag by replacing his old and trusty but heavy discman with an Ipod, for Christmas, a very welcome gift. He has been quite occupied the last few days downloading Christmas songs from his childhood and says he has more than a hundred so far ... (I wonder if he plans to take this to the gym with him; somehow I find it hard to imagine him bench pressing to the tune of "Mele Kalikimaka") ...

Christmas is also very meaningful when spent with good friends and I received an unexpected and pleasant suprise very early in the morning when I was visited by secret agent Mademoiselle Marie, shortly after Zexiv and Puff had retired. She shared a bottle of wine with me and some stories and posed for a photo around the tree before disappearing again mysteriously into the rainy night, probably on another of her secret missions. More about her in my future posts ...

Good friends, good health, and a meaningful Christmas in a beautiful and peaceful place - indeed we have a lot to be thankful for this year.

To friends and family, especially those thousands of miles away, A Holly Jolly Christmas (to borrow the words of Burl Ives) to you all! ...

Stones, Snow, and Needles - Part 1

These 3 words – not necessarily in that order - pretty much sum up what has been happening in our side of the world the past month, since my last post. Of course much more has happened since then especially as we are now in the final days until Christmas, and I have dozens of things to write about, but I feel I must start with the old before I get on with the new things …

A day before we were to depart on a short but much awaited trip to New York, (where Zexiv was to attend the induction of his father on his high school’s Hall of Fame), Zexiv decided to go to the gym to squeeze in a light leg workout. Relatively speaking, it was a light workout – Zexiv had after all been plagued on and off with lower back pain the past few months and was not exactly in the best shape of his life – and so he had resolved to take it easy that day, and not go up to the usual 4 big plates. He had just finished repping out a second set of low bar powerlifting style squats when something gave in his lower back. Zexiv being Zexiv thought he could work though the pain and thought he might as well finish the workout since he was already there. So he hung on to a bar to stretch himself out and added leg curls and leg raises until he realized he could barely walk and had to hang on to the wall to support himself, at which point he wisely decided to call it a night and take a cab home.

Upon reaching the camp the pain had gotten so bad that Puff and the crew (basically myself) had to help him walk to his quarters. The first thing he did was lie on the ground with a pack of ice on his back. The trip now looked very doubtful; after all, if the captain couldn’t take a single step, how in the world was he going to get around New York, much less lug around his gear? We decided however to defer the decision and any packing until the next morning, in the unlikely event that he would improve over the next few hours. Surprisingly the next day he was able to walk although very, very slowly, and in considerably improved spirits, decided to push through with the trip, albeit with some adjustments. For one, our long planned photo expedition of Central Park was definitely off and we were forced to cut down our photo gear to the bare minimum - a digital camera and 2 lightweight lenses for snapshots. Also, Puff and I had to do all the packing, which the captain appreciated greatly, since it involved a lot of bending.

The trip New York was a blur and seemed to end quickly almost as quickly as it began. Although we hardly took any pictures, it was nice to walk along Fifth Avenue and Union Square (the walking apparently seemed to be good for Zexiv’s back) again. That, together with the induction of his father and meeting up with the rest of Zexiv’s family and other relatives was pretty much the highlight of the trip. Unfortunately there was no time to explore our usual haunts like Central Park, FAO Schwarz, B&H, La Caridad, and American Museum of Natural History, or for Zexiv to have his usual beers with Walrus, although his sister did have beer in her fridge for him every night. But Zexiv’s siblings were very helpful with his injury, with Inverbras carrying his shopping bags for him, Crazy Lady in the Apple heating up a hot compress for him every night and helping get his medicines and snacks, and Middle Sister helping load his luggage in the taxi.

Since our return it has been a slow recovery for Zexiv. Although he is able to walk normally again (and run a few steps if the situation requires it), sitting for extended periods (such as in a bus or at a movie house) is extremely uncomfortable, and Zexiv has been resigned to sleeping on his back with a pillow or two under his knees. He has not been able to go back to the gym since, a source of immense frustration for someone who has been lifting since his high school days. Medical care here has also been a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps as a result of this locale’s largely government subsidized health care program, it takes ages to get an appointment with a specialist or for tests such as an MRI. As a result Zexiv has been experimenting with non-traditional treatment such as Alternative Chinese Medicine, specifically acupuncture and massage therapy. Both have been very useful in helping manage pain and relaxing tight muscles although it is still premature to see if there are any lasting beneficial effects.

Zexiv was quite impressed with the gear of the licensed TCM practitioner, who came with his own lightweight and portable massage table, pillows and needles. A typical acupuncture session comes after about 30 minutes of intensive massage therapy. A series of needles is inserted one by one, starting from lower neck down to the lower back, and on certain areas of the back of the legs and feet. The acupuncturist gives each needle a single firm tap, and the needle is in. Zexiv had imagined at first that it would be like literally being punctured in different parts of the body by darts (a feeling Zexiv is well acquainted with, having punctured his own thumb with a dart many years ago trying to aim at a business card of a certain fat and obnoxious banker), or by being attacked by an army of fire ants, but it wasn’t anything like that at all. There is the feeling of the needle going in, which can be more or less sensitive depending on the area where it is inserted, and also according to the TCM, to the make of the needle. When all the needles have been inserted, the acupuncturist manipulates all the needles by gently pulling and pushing them, which also creates various degrees of nerve sensations. When it is all over the needles are removed one by one.

On a recent session, Zexiv had more than 30 needles inserted in him. He reminded me a bit of that chap from Hellraiser, a very interesting sight indeed ...

The whole camp is hopeful he will be able to make a full recovery and go back to the gym again soon as this lack of physical activity is making him quite antsy.

On my next post, I will tell you about the night Mick, Keith, Ron, and Charlie came to Vancouver to play. Till then …