To Friends of Scotty Hard from Leif

I was with Scott this morning. We heartily drank fresh squeezed smoothies from Liquiteria. He's doing good, freshly shaved and a new haircut. I thought the Marines were going to knock on the door any minute to take him off. The ladies got him dressed in his brace, ready for his daily battle. Scott lead the way with good humor. The ultra-competent Mrs Johnson expertly loaded him into a wheelchair with a special steel 6 cylinder engine-like hoist contraption, cranked him skyward, swung him from the peak in a perfect arc, and plopped him in on both cheeks...bullseye! Scotty sits very straight these days! As I left him he was being wheeled by a lovely young therapist. He was going off to occupational therapy to speed up his fridge opening and pasta cooking skills. He's trying to shave off 5 hours from his best time, which currently is 6 hours. I said Scott, when we come over for dinner, we'll have to get there before breakfast.On another note, the ever burning question continues to be how long Bellevue Hospital will continue to care for Scott. We all hope for as long as possible, but the more Scott stabilizes, the more time shortens to when he must transition to a nursing home for long term rehabilitation, and give up the nest for "incoming". We're all nervous about the change of scenery, and working to understand the best choices possible versus what his condition qualifies for. With no insurance, beggars cannot be choosers so to speak, but Scott seems to be afforded some level of control, and through his network of friends and sympathetic health care professionals that have entered his orbit, the general feeling is that good care giving will continue no matter what. No facility has been decided yet, but it's coming down to 4 or 5 possibilities. As Scott nears the end of his stay at Bellevue, in spite of the ups and downs of his treatment and an uncertain future, it's impossible to have anything by gratitude for the overall great care he has received since that fateful night in February. Through each care decision crisis Scott seems to have been able to get the answers when they are needed most, and so far so good on all fronts. We trust that the continued close attention by friends and family will help him navigate the next phase of his recovery.In the meantime, by the looks of it, the HardStock concert April 25th being planned in Vancouver has all the appearances of rivaling or possibly surpassing the blowout at Highline Ballroom last month. Being a native of Vancouver myself, and having cut my chops as a wee lad on many occasions on the dear flagship Commodore Ballroom, I have no fear. Those incredible old maple wooden floors, bound together by all the nails and souls they've had to bear, including Mr Hard, are in for a mighty beatin'. The list of musicians is a crazy history of Canada. If you're not set to go yet, you betta gitcha tickeehhh!

Beautiful.

Leif.