Germany

This has been a hard post to write. At the end of September, Elisabeth Kalko, my mentor and close friend, died suddenly and unexpectedly in her sleep. I'd known Eli since I started working with bats. Every March and August she would visit Panama and stay with us in Gamboa. Her death was a horrible shock, we're still reeling from it, and we miss her dearly.

Here are some shots from the Aug before (2010) - she was happy, vibrant, and full of life.

Just after her death, Simon and I flew to Germany for the memorial service, leaving David and Gwendolyn in Panama. It was so strange to visit Ulm without Eli present, having visited her there so many times in the past. Simon was both a good travel companion and a good antidote to the somberness of the visit. 

  

We stayed in Mirjam's lovely, sunny apartment. Mirjam was wonderful to us, charming smiles out of Simon despite his jetlag, taking us on long river walks, helping me try to make sense of the terrible news.

Here is a photo of Eli at the end of March, two weeks after Simon was born. It's still hard to find words for this. Eli, we miss you.