Out Birding

I was putting on my Haglöfs GRYM at 7.30 AM a Saturday in February. Not since October had I worn my favourite trekking boots. But today was special.

In 2 degrees below 0 we were 15 bird enthusiasts defying the cold windy climate to circumwalk the little peninsula Bognæs deep within the Roskilde Fiord, some 50 odd km from Copenhagen. We were gathered to go “hunting” for Northern Europe’s largest bird of prey; White-tailed Eagle aka “Sea Eagle” (Haliaeetus albicilla). A couple is known to nest on this small Peninsula habited only by few humans and a lot of deer. All of us equipped with a personal binocular dangling from around our neck, 4 ornithologists had furthermore brought their scope on tripods to be able to focus in on our “prey”. FYI a personal binocular enlarges about 8-10 times while the grand tripod monsters enlarge approx 60 times or even beyond. If we are so lucky as to find an Eagle resting these come into play.

I am a recent member of the Danish Ornithologist Society and this was my first outing bird watching in the company of fellow enthusiasts. My knowledge of Scandinavian Birds is short in comparison with my Patagonian and that is something I am set to change. And I was in for a real treat as these guys are extremely capable, inspiring and walking encyclopaedias in birds. We saw several birds and birds of prey (3 species of Buzzards (Buteo)), even a couple of rare ones – in my terminology, but the pair of Sea Eagles proved to be missing in action. You see the fiord surrounding the peninsula was frozen and thus still not apt for the prey of the Sea Eagle.

The day was very grey and moist, even snowy at some point, not favouring for great photos. But none the less we walked for 4 hours through the naked winter forest of pine, beech and lark on trails just as frozen and slippery as the fiord itself. To my delight we also passed an ancient Oak of approx. 600 years. Now unfortunately dead but that didn’t prevent me from playing a short film inside my head of what this giant must have witnessed during his many cycles. I was more happy than a dog with 2 tails, completely ignoring the pain I had felt in my leg since we sat out. It didn’t matter. For a short while I was back in my territory, out and around. Just a little lost in the Danish “wilderness”.

This week I received news from the hospital that confirmed my suspicion: Soon I will be called in to be prepared for yet another knee operation. This will be my fourth in 12 years. Having spent the last 6 months with discomfort, pain and a lot of uncertainty this news was actually quit a relief and the spark of a new light of hope. Mentally I can hope and prepare for recovery which has ignited a newfound awareness of my body. The body I have rejected since that fatal day in October last year when something went completely wrong inside my recovering knee. Since that day I have –yet again - been a prisoner inside my own body not accepting the realities nor taking the responsibility. Proof of that are the 5 very earthly kilos I have gained during these months. Meniscus transplants of both my meniscus has been mentioned which implies a non weight bearing period of 4 weeks and a very slow and long recovery process. It is a complete dejavu situation but still I prefer it over loss of capacity any time. We will just have to wait and see. I am treated by the very best doctors into sports injury and science in Denmark and I would trust them to mend my knee and to support me in my recovery.

A pleasant visit from Chile

Still without any notice from the doctor I saw myself spiraling down towards a deep depression at the end of January and beginning of February. How I would just love to be posting blogs about the adventures and challenges I had planned to encounter at this point, but instead I find myself posting half dairies about how to cope with my loss. However with the arrival of my husband Luis last week the downward spiral immediately turned in a positive direction. At once I was scraping off layers of negativity and freeing myself of unnecessary worrying, getting a glimpse of the happiness I felt in September when I returned to Patagonia.

Slowly meaning is entering my life once again. And so is my awareness of freedom of choice. I am still sick and tired of the f*** knee but I can’t keep wasting my time when the world is still spinning and people around me with it. I have promised my husband to focus on our bright future and sort between the god and the bad for me right now. It may seem logical but beeing to clouded I had lost my way. The knee and entire leg is weakening fast. I am worried I will never recover from 1 1/2 year of inactivity, mutilation and compensation and the endless waiting is still driving me crazy.

This weekend however we went to the country side to visit our friends Line, Nicolai and their 2 boys. Being in their company usually means lots of “hygge” (coziness red.) with good food and home brewed beer. Adding to this hopefully some introductory fly fishing and tips to my website behavior. And so it went and I was able to lay aside my worries and talk about the future.

Nicolai just happens to be a fanatic and excellent fly fisher with the spare equipment and energy to introduce Luis in the world of fly fishing. With him as a mentor and motivator Luis is taking up the challenge of learning the fine art of fly fishing with the objective to go exploring the Southern Patagonia for spots and at the same time evolve to a descent fly fisher. In the near future DEFY Patagonia will  include guided fly fishing trips to the best places in our region. We are both motivated and has, thanks to the borrowed rod from Nicolai, been out everyday – wind or not – to throw the line and watch the birds while freezing our a** off. 

 So from now on challengepatagonia.blogspot.com will also be treating the challenges and advances of my husband Luis in his endeavor of learning how to fly fish.

I leave you today with 2 fotos: one taken exactly 1 year ago (4 weeks after surgery) and the latter taken today. It is still thin and deform.