The rain stopped

Auckland has a climate which (mostly) suits me. It can be too hot in the summer for my liking, but that is mainly a result of the high humidity. Spring and Autumn are blissful. This year's autumn temperatures have been such that we have had the door onto the deck open all night long. When it rains, as it tends to (heavily, with large raindrops coming almost vertically) around the equinox, it leaves the air clean and fresh, and rare is the day when it rains all day long. 

Such was today. The winds this morning whipped the rain below my umbrella to saturate my trouser legs as I walked from the car park to the hospital. In typical Auckland style, the rain ceased when I was less than 50 m from the entrance. Not that I left the building after starting work, until I went home, but had I done so, I would most likely have been doused as the showers came and went. Until I was on my way home. 

Work today was pleasantly busy. Complex clinical problems to work through. Having to make decisions about continuation, or not, of compulsory admission. And then writing the reports to clarify the clinical reasons for asking the legal profession to endorse (or not) our actions.

While some dislike this aspect of our work, this is the part of what we do with seriously unwell patients where one has to think most clearly about both the clinical needs, and the ethical and legal questions raised by making a decision to limit someone's autonomous decision making; or alternatively leaving someone whose ability to act autonomously is briefly (usually) impaired by illness with the responsibility to make important decisions. 

I left work feeling that I had achieved the correct balance, and perhaps the weather gods agreed, when they gave me this sunset to photograph just before S and I sat down for our evening meal; beautifully prepared and cooked by her.