Damp today

Cellar Door

The weather is rather unpleasant today.  It's very overcast and has been raining off and on since mid-day yesterday.  The forecast calls for heavy rains later this afternoon.   But the temperature is warm for this time of year - mid-50's.  That's probably not going to last much longer.  I may need to get out one more time with the leaf blower to deal with a few leaves that have blown around since my last time.  

The holiday season is upon us.  Linda has started writing Christmas cards, and has most of the gifts wrapped.  I've finished most of my shopping but need to do one more thing for Jeff.  We have our Christmas letter ready to go - will probably print it at home this year rather than go to Staples.

Thanksgiving was quiet.  Jeff and Mariah celebrated with friends, so Linda and I had dinner at Longfellows.  That's OK - but it's still a buffet, which means that there is a temptation to try everything, which means that one eats too much.   When I called they had a limited selection of seatings - basically, 11:30am or 6:00pm.  We took the later seating, and I think that was actually the end of their day - the place was pretty much empty when we left.

I've been doing quite a bit of turning - and have lots of wood shavings and chips to show for it.  Have made a number of Christmas gifts this year.  Yesterday, I tried working with a piece of wood that Linda bought as firewood.  I'm not sure what it is - other than it's very hard!  It's a closed-grain wood - clearly not oak, but far harder (and darker) than maple.  My suspicion is that its hickory.

We've starting looking for condos for next year, but so far RCI doesn't have anything for us.  That's not unusual - we typically don't find anything until at least Christmas or early January.  Linda is talking about doing some other things next year - it's hard to plan when she's unable to decide between options.

This picture is from the Testarossa Winery in Los Gatos, CA.  We were there with Dave a couple of years ago for a tasting, and bought a couple of bottles of Novitiate Pinot Noir to take to a Fourth of July party.

Post-Surgery Recovery

Doorways

The last couple of months have been pretty busy. The highlight for September was that I bought a new car. I knew that I wanted to shop for a car this Fall, and that October would be pretty much disrupted between travel and eye surgery. And I wanted to get rid of the old car before the inspection came due in November. So we had a day in early September when Linda had the day off, and we had nothing planned, so we bought a car.

I knew what I wanted - another Subaru Forester - but Linda bought one earlier this year in the color that I had picked out. So I told the dealer what I wanted, and specified that either the red or blue would be fine. That was a Thursday - we picked up the blue car on Saturday. Mine is essentially the same as Linda's except that I wanted a few additional features (such as the six-CD changer) that pushed me into a leather interior. Very luxurious! Drives very nicely (as I would expect for a Subaru).

Houston turned out to be OK - for Houston. I mean, really, that town is such a miserable place. But I arrived on Saturday night, and left Wednesday morning, and never left the hotel, so I really didn't notice. The portion of the conference that I was involved in went well. I especially enjoyed transitioning the Magazine to Lanny - and I think he got a kick out of the 'red pen'. And the ExBoard asked me to continue on as Administrator of the ScholarOne Manuscripts site and will fund my participation in both the S1M user group meeting at POE and the annual meeting.

Linda and I had a really nice day in New York the weekend after Houston. We walked around in SoHo, did some photography, had lunch at Spring Street Natural, saw a couple of gallery shows, and then went uptown to a fabulous FREE chamber music concert at Lincoln Center, followed by dinner at Osteria al Doge.

But then there was the downside. I had an appointment with Dr. Schiff in New York on 10/19, and then the oil removal surgery at the Harkness Eye Center on 10/20. This operation only lasted about 90 minutes, and wasn't nearly as bad as the operation last December. Had a followup the next morning - Dr. Schiff reported that the eye looked good, the retina was flat, but obviously the outcome remains to be determined. An additional followup with Dr. Mayron on Monday reported about the same observations.

So it's now been a week, and I'm starting to be up and about a bit. Probably try to get out shopping this weekend, perhaps some driving.

I will be so glad when this election is over. Those who are crying that "Washington in broken" or "Albany is broken" are only partly right - the entire political system is broken. Politicians don't want to do anything - they only want to win. Our society is facing enormous problems that politicians don't want to solve - because solving them would require that they first admit that they exist, and they can't acknowledge that problems exist since that would be an admission that they have done nothing to prevent those problems from developing. And the idea that all our problems will go away overnight simply because one party gets into power rather than the other is ludicrous - problems are complicated, and it takes time, effort, and yes, money, to solve them. So the result is that the electorate is inundated with a constant barrage of obnoxious TV adds in which contenders lie about their opponents, harassing telephone calls, and all those ugly signs.

And at the end of the day, the candidates who are most outspoken, and getting the most attention, are coming at the election from a perspective of anger. They are agenda-driven, which means that in their mind the political process an all-or-nothing game - 'winners and losers'. They don't understand the need for compromise, they believe that they are absolutely 'right' and therefore its OK for them to dictate how everyone else lives, and their opponents are absolutely 'wrong' and don't deserve to have their own choices, and the bottom line is that they are simply incapable of actually governing. The fact that they also tend to be religious nuts and hate-mongers only adds to their 'charm'.

The image this time is from our morning at Fort Point in July 2009. I really liked this scene, and took a long time to make the negative. Of course, this was one of those situations where people kept wandering through the scene, so I had to stop and restart the exposure several times. In retrospect, I wish I had used my 210mm lens instead of the 90mm - it works as an 8x10, but the the image portion of the negative is too small to make a larger print.

Labor Day Weekend

Arches

One of the things we did when Laney was here was to drive over to Manchester for the day - light shopping, lunch at the Spiral Press Cafe (in the Northshire Bookstore), and then home by way of Dorset and Pawlet. We stopped at JK Adams along the way where I discovered that they sell wood scraps as "kindling". I suppose you could start fires with this wood, but it's high quality maple, with a few sticks of oak thrown in, and some of it is pretty sizable. In fact, it's great turning stock! I've found that I can make a nice celtic knot pattern in maple turnings using thin walnut inlays. Now I just need to find a reasonable source of walnut and other interesting woods. Curtis is well stocked but pricey.

Our trip to California was fabulous. We had no significant flight problems - the flight out of Midway was delayed due to a boarding problem, but everything else was right on time. Had a great time with Dave - we were in Saratoga in Saturday, first at a winery, and then at Hakone Gardens. Stopped at Barefoot Coffee before heading back to his apartment. On Sunday, Linda and I started the day at the Mountain View Farmers' Market, and then picked up Dave for an afternoon at Stanford University's Cantor Gallery and a walkthrough at Keeble & Schuchat. On Monday we drove to Napa for the Wine Train - it was great four years ago, but this time the meal was even more fabulous. We toured wineries on Tuesday - starting with Hop Kiln at the northern end of Sonoma County, and ending at Gundlach Bundschu. We had a light lunch at Guy Fierri's Johnny Garlics, and then dinner at The Fig in Glen Ellen. On Wednesday, we drove to Tiburon to catch the ferry to Angel Island. We had taken along our hiking sticks, but found that the 'short' walk from the ferry slip at Ayala Cove to the Immigration Station was really strenuous - and opted to take the jitney back. We then stopped in Sausalito to walk around and watch people before heading back to our hotel in Santa Clara. Thursday was in downtown San Francisco - we went to Alcatraz in the morning, and after lunch we drove through the Mission District before meeting Dave for dinner.

We also had a quick day trip to NYC for a checkup with Dr. Schiff. I have a tentative date for followup surgery in late October - to remove the silicone oil.

The big even this week was lunch on Thursday with Jim and Cynthia Ponder. Jim and I were roommates at Georgia Tech many years ago. The last time I saw him was about 20 years ago. We need to get together more often.

Linda's frantically getting ready to go back to school.

The picture this time is from our visit to Fort Point in July of last year.

Mid-Summer

Arkell Show, June-July, 2010

I took a selection of prints (both silver and Pt/Pd) to the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie in late May. The show officially opened with a reception on June 4. Really nice! The space they gave me (the stone wall) was absolutely perfect for my images. It was especially nice that Dave Coolman made the trip out to Canajoharie for the opening.

Laney was here for a few days last month - the first time in many years. It was really nice to have her visit. She was late getting in (the airlines at their usual high level of efficiency), so that upset the plans we had for dinner that night with Jeff and Mariah. We went to Manchester the first day - shopping in Manchester Village and Orvis, and lunch at the Northshire Bookstore. Stopped at JK Adams on the way home. Dinner that night at Harvest and Hearth. On Friday, we drove out to Canajoharie so that she could see the show, and then went down to Sharon Springs to walk around and have lunch. Jeff and Mariah came for dinner than night. On the third day we did some sightseeing in downtown Saratoga Springs, shopping on Beekman Street, and lunch at The Local, before taking her to the airport.

We 'discovered' Sharon Springs back in May. Linda stumbled across the Beekman Boys web site, and wanted to see what it was like. They had a 'garden party' on a Saturday, so we drove out to see what it was like. Really neat! Met both Josh and Dr. Brent, bought Josh's book (a signed copy), lunch at the Black Cat, etc. Ever since, Linda has been hooked on the 'goat cam'.

After thinking about it for quite a while, I broke down and bought a mini-lathe a couple of months ago. I've been having fun ever since making pens, bottle stoppers, tool handles, etc. It's a very creative activity, and the products make nice gifts. I have a number of pens ready as Christmas gifts, and also a couple of bottle stoppers if we are invited to parties.

We talked to Dave last night - he's been in Hong Kong on vacation for a week, and we weren't sure that he was back. The plan is for us to travel out to San Jose at the end of next week, spend the weekend with Dave, and then drive up to Napa/Sonoma for a couple of days before heading back by way of Tiburon (Angel Island) and Sausalito. One last day in San Francisco before coming home. We have reservations for the Wine Train and for an early-morning trip to Alcatraz. Should be fun!

This image is of the show at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie.

April 2010

Angles and Lines

The saga of the eye continues. No further setbacks, but progress in the forward directions is very slow. At the last checkup, Dr. Mayron said that he wanted me to go back to Dr. Schiff in NYC for a consult before deciding to go ahead with the 'oil change'. That will probably happen in May/June. No perceptible change in vision.

Linda and I went to the Cape two weeks ago. Had a great week - very warm weather, very sunny. Did our usual things - P'Town, Sandwich, Chatham, etc. The most unique experience was a cooking demonstration/luncheon at the Cape Cod Art Association in Dennis with Paul Split. Fun program, and nice (light) lunch.

I broke down and bought a DSLR - the Nikon D5000. I like it. I still enjoy film photography, especially of the large format variety. The process is fun, and the results are very satisfying.

Am getting ready for a show in June and July at the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie. I have the images selected and the display designed - just need to get them matted and framed. The theme will be "Spaces" and the images will all be photographs that depict vacant interior spaces.

We have a tentative plan to go to California in August, but we haven't made any definite plans yet. Need to make sure that we understand what other things will be on the agenda for the summer before we lock into plane tickets.

I'm also thinking about a workshop at Peters Valley in July. It's been two years since I was last there. Tillman is doing a workshop on "Spirit of Structure" that should be fun.

Tried to mow the lawn today, but the lawn mower wouldn't start. Arghh! After spending most of the afternoon trying to get it going, we took it to Emerich's for service. They said that it could take a week. Linda wanted the lawn mowed last week but I didn't think it was needed. But now it's starting to look a little ragged. If I don't hear from Emerich's in the morning, I will have to look for someone to do it.

POE is this weekend in New Brunswick, NJ. I've started the process of transitioning to Lanny, and I've also started preparing to hand over the S1M stuff to Lynda Bernstein. I've enjoyed the experience of being EiC, but the time has come for someone else to step in. And while I enjoy the S1M stuff, I think the Society would be best served by someone else taking on that responsibility also.

This image is from a day trip that Linda and I did in February 2009 to Williamstown, MA. I finally got into the darkroom this past weekend to do some printing - not an awful lot to show for the morning, and two of the images were flawed because I had loaded the film backwards in the holder - the images were exposed through the film base and therefore aren't as sharp as they should be. This is an alleyway off the main commercial street in Williamstown, but the buildings are actually part of Williams College.

February 2010

The Back Door

The saga of the eye got more interesting.

I went back to the doctor the week after the YAG capsulotomy only to be diagnosed with another tear in the retina, and scheduled another surgery for a couple of days later. He started that surgery, but then called it off when he recognized that there was too much scar tissue in the retina. At that point he referred me to a specialist in "difficult reattachments" at the Edward Harkness Eye Institute at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York.

We drove down to NYC on a Sunday afternoon for a Monday morning appointment with Dr. Schiff - in the middle of a snowstorm, of course. The exam was very thorough, and while Dr. Schiff was careful to not promise too much, he did schedule surgery for that Wednesday. We returned to Saratoga Springs that afternoon, and then used Amtrak to go back to New York on Wednesday morning. The surgery was very long - nearly 5 hours - and when we went in for the followup the next morning, Dr. Schiff was much more upbeat about the prospects. He arranged with Dr. Mayron to do the regular post-surgical followup in Latham. And so far, the repair seems to be holding. I don't have full, regular vision, but I can detect some improvement in the eye. Eventually, I will need to have the oil tampanade removed, and also have a new interocular implant put in.

While the recovery has been positive, the overall experience is still not a lot of fun. The basic issue is that I am not allowed to do much of anything (for example, I can't lift my camera bag), and I don't know when or if that will change.

I do have a few things to look forward to - POE (my last) will be in Elizabeth, NJ in late April. I will be going to Tallahassee for I&CPS in May, and to Houston for the IAS Annual Meeting in October. Linda and I have a week set aside at Brewster Green in early April.

Linda made a decision and bought a new car. She chose a Subaru Forrester - sage green. Nice car!

The picture this time was from our day trip to New York last May. We came across this scene while wandering around in SoHo.

Early December 2009

Walpack Bridge

It's been a long time since I updated this blog, but a lot of things have contributed to the delay - mostly falling under the heading of "getting old isn't for sissies".

In August, Linda and I took a three-day trip over to Stowe, Vt. We had a lot of fun taking the gondola to the top of Mount Mansfield, tasting wine, touring the Ben & Jerry factory, photographing the Round Church, visiting the Ethan Allen Homestead and Shelburne Farms. But the highlight had to be sighting a moose as we were driving north on Rt. 100 between Waterbury and Stowe. Linda has some pictures on her Flickr site.

September was devoted to preparing for my trip to Vancouver (for the Fellow Committee) and Houston (for the IAS Annual Meeting). I was invited to join the Fellow staff and Committee leadership for dinner on Thursday evening, so I made my reservations to arrive early in the day. I had a good combination of flights even through I had to leave Albany at 6am. The problem started Friday morning when I noticed that I had lost vision in my right eye. I was able to get an appointment with Dr. Fraterigo for the following Thursday afternoon at which he diagnosed the problem as a detached retina. He got an appointment with Dr. Mayron, the retina specialist, for the following morning. After a thorough examination, Dr. Mayron concluded that the answer was surgery - a scleral buckle vitrectomy - and made arrangements to have that done the following Monday afternoon.

It turned out that the best hypothesis for a cause for the detachment was the cold that I caught in California in July - I was coughing pretty viciously for several weeks, and shortly before our trip to Vermont, I noted an abnormal number of 'floaters' in my eye.

Linda and I had plans to go to New York that Saturday, and since there was nothing that we could do to prepare for the surgery, we went ahead with that trip. It was fun - we did a Chelsea gallery walk and also went shopping.

The surgery took about two hours and was done with minimal sedation. As a result, I was partly aware of what was happening. Not fun! The surgery consists of stitching a plastic band to the outside of the eye, removing the vitreous fluid from the eye and replacing it with a saline solution, using a cryogenic tool to repair the opening in the eye, and then injecting a gas into the eye to form a bubble. Then, I had to remain horizontal and face down for a week while the pneumatic pressure of the bubble forced the retina against the back of the eye. The surgery was very uncomfortable, and the recovery period required a lot of Tylenol to manage the pain.

There were several followup visits during the week, and then the following Tuesday, Dr. Mayron reported that the retina was reattaching and that he could proceed to 'spot weld' it in place using a laser. That was not too bad but there were a few instances where the laser did 'bite' a bit. That process was again repeated the following Tuesday.

Several weeks later, Dr. Mayron concluded that I needed to take the next step, and booked me for another procedure with Dr. Fraterigo - a YAG capsulotomy to address cloudiness in the pouch containing the interocular implant, sometimes called a 'secondary cataract'. That was a five-minute process and was totally painless.

At this point, I am not experiencing any significant discomfort, but I haven't regained much vision. I can see some lights, and can distinguish shapes. Hopefully, according to the material I have found on the internet, vision should gradually come back over several months - perhaps as much as a year - after which I will probably need a corrective lens to compensate for the fact that the plastic band has distorted the shape of the eye.

I am fairly comfortable driving during daylight, but I don't want to try at night - my vision just isn't clear enough. I can use the computer, watch TV, and can read (although I have to hold the material much closer than before - the cataract in my left eye is getting worse).

[Update: checkup this afternoon with Dr. Mayron concluded that I have a new detachment. More surgery is scheduled for Thursday.]

On the positive side, we were fortunate that a couple of Dave's friends decided to have their wedding in Virginia. That meant that he had a reason to plan a trip to the East Coast and was able to be with us on Labor Day.

The picture this time is from my stay at Peters Valley last year. Walpack Center is one of my favorite place in the Valley, and the bridge is especially nice early in the morning with deep fog. This was about 6:30am. This print is currently on display at the Saratoga County Arts Council as part of the Winter Solstice Show.