Leaving San Diego XIV

Our tent is set up near a small lake, or large pond...take your pick. A sign said there were less than 500 "Least Tines Quavers" (or something like that) who nested near swamps such as this one. It all sounded like a stretch to me. I suspected the birds were never actually here. The authorities probably just wanted us to stay out of the brush. I helped myself to the shower and felt much better after getting camp dirt off my body. I had forgotten my hair shampoo, so I used my off-white, half-moon slice of Dove soap. It's soap...right? I pulled on my burgundy scrubs as I prepared for my usual volunteer, Saturday night stint in the hospital ER. Our fellow campers must think us odd campers...which we are. We are here mainly to save a few bucks. In the ER, I am training Donja, from Holland, to replace me. Cute, and at 5' 4", I was concerned she would be able to handle the drunks and recalcitrants who often found their way to the ER on Saturday nights. But after hearing she had worked as a bartender, I was feeling better. She was almost finished with her schooling to become a nurse. She said she had ten years experience working on a surgical team for a prominent veterinarian...lions, tigers and all those big animals. She would need to call upon that experience when some of the human animals were rolled into the ER. I gave her all the door codes so she could make her way around. She was catching on quickly and would make a good replacement. She took me to a repeat patient who was asking for me...a male who I had spent time with last Saturday. He was despondent, and made a half-hearted attempt to take his life with a dull butcherknife. When we reached his room, people from County Mental Health were whisking him off. I felt sad for him. His life was a mess and my help, such as it was, would only be temporary. But I was still impressed he had asked for me. As a volunteer, I don't get that often. Midnight was soon upon us, and it was time to go. Back at the tent, I crawled in and struggled with the zipper...getting tent material caught in the zipper only three times. Sleep came easily.