January 13, 2007
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Winds of
ChangeOn a slow day in clinic, my attending
mentioned that there are no places to sail here. I told him
he was wrong, and listed lakes. He said, “Well, you have to
tack back and forth. The sailing is better the bigger the
water.” I disagree, but hey, I have my opinion and he has
his.When I went sailing a few weeks ago, I did a
lot of tacking. It’s true. But, somehow it doesn’t
bother me if I’m approaching the shoreline, and I have to
tack. Plus, the wind is shifty near the lakebank, and so one
is always having to adjust the sails as one approaches shore
anyway. The more the apparent wind, the more I enjoy sailing,
even if it means I have to keep tacking to appreciate it.
Seriously, when we were in Galveston sailing in the bay, we stayed on
the same tack forever, and the winds were so constant that it was
actually. . . almost boring.Not so in my work
life. In the hospital, I hate change. I hate having to
adjust my sails, if the wind changes. I hate having to tack,
if I’m approaching rocks. But I do it. It’s funny
how in my job, I hate apparent wind. I hate the
struggle. When I get to be as old as my attending (not that
he’s *that* old), I’ll appreciate being able to stay on the same tack
for longer.As for now, I prefer sailing little
lakes, the challenge of tacking back and forth to reach the dam, and
the relatively relaxing downwind trip back to the
dock.
