Back home!

Or as Nancy just put it, "Back home with these wretched people." Well, in fact that aren't so bad. Not actually wretched.

Wendy brought me back, leaving the AMC at 2. The social worker in the kidney transplant unit, Jacintha, had earlier in the day arranged for a taxi so we returned to Alkmaar in comfort, arriving at 2:40. She had also gotten approval from our health insurance provider to cover all my travel costs to the AMC for at least the coming year. Not normally by taxi -- it's an easy trip to make by train from Alkmaar.

Another kidney echo scan this morning (the new kidney is thriving) and more blood tests, then a visit from Michael Jacobs, a photographer whose work I much admire and a deeply thoughtful person, dare I say a mystic. You might take a look at his Flickr site.

The northwesterly storm that battered the Dutch coast during the early hours today caused the sea level to rise nearly four meters but no dikes were broken and the wind did little serious damage -- just fallen tree limbs and roof tiles blown away. Near the Fresian town of Fryske thousands of mice drowned because they were nesting on land outside the dykes.

The heavy weather continued till the late morning -- massive clouds but also islands of blue sky alternating showers and sunlight. Watching from my AMC room, I counted five rainbows appearing in about a three hour period. Never had a day of five rainbows.

(The photo: Before discharging me, the doctors wanted to take one last look at Nancy's kidney at its new address. It looks a bit like a donut. They were pleased that there was no indication of swelling.)