Kayaking!

Well, this summer I've certainly gotten out there to see everything I can WHILE I can. And it seems this summer kayaking has even overtaken biking....hard to believe!

In early summer I joined this MeetUp.com club, the Fox Valley Yakkers. It's a site where kayakers can post kayaking ideas and then host a paddle, and everybody in the club is invited to join. I started out slow, but eventually, met more and more people. It's a great bunch of folks....I mean, we're Kayakers....what else would you expect? I've learned of some new great places to go: The Wolf River, WI River, Caldron Falls Flowage, Oconto River....all beautiful places, and this fall, to see the colors of the trees from the perspective of a river...soooo pretty!

I still want to get out when there's snow on the banks. I want to have a picture of that. There's a little place in Waupaca that I go to and have pictures of the same spot in Spring, Summer and Fall.....I really want that Winter picture!

Kayak season is coming to an end, and I guess that's good in a way. I haven't gotten ANY art work done this summer at all....every nice day off was spent out on the water or on my bike. Or catching up on sleep and housework. Hopefully, I'll get some art work done now that it's getting colder outside! I actually made a Tiki head for a necklace last night.....first one in a long, LONG time! The Flying Pig is running low on them so I've got to get in production mode. Now's the time. Maybe some sewing, too, since that'll be something I won't be able to do at all when/if my vision goes.

yak yak here and a yak yak there

I've not updated this for such a long time. I've been out kayaking. A LOT! 14 times this year, which is more than I've kayaked in probably 3 years put together in the past. I joined this Meetup club....Fox Valley Yakkers, and have met lots of new people to go kayaking with, AND now know of lots of new lakes and rivers to kayak on that I might never have tried on my own. It's hard to find someone who is a kayaker that isn't a good person, and is out there for the same reasons I am. My last kayaking trips have been on the Wolf River. Beautiful river!

As for my eyes, I JUST went in for my first checkup after my series of three injections. They put antibiotics in my eye (JUST IN CASE I would hafta get another injection), dialated my eyes and checked 'em out. NO INJECTION!!!!! YAY! Looks like the leak has gone down enough or has disappeared (you know....I didn't even ask!), but if there would've been some leak left underneath my retina I would've had to have another one, so it must be gone. Now I hafta go in in 5 weeks and see how it is. If there's no leak, I can start to stretch my appointments out to maybe 3 months apart, and then at the next appointment, if there's STILL no leak, can stretch them out even further, 6 months, then a year apart.

They still had to dialate that eye though, so in the picture, the eye with the HUGE pupil is my "bad" eye, the other one is my good eye. I sorta like the looks of my BAD eye with the big pupil better.

So, today I got my third injection! Last time it was too painful to even talk about. This time, not so bad. I had them put EXTRA numbing drops in my eye 'cause the last time HURT LIKE A MOTHER! I told the doctor that I almost cancelled; I couldn't go through that again... Anyway, they put extra "candycaine" in my eye, and when he injected it, I DIDN'T EVEN FEEL IT!!! Right now, 5 hrs later, it stings everytime I blink....that's because of the betadyne....so I think I'll lay down and close my eyes.

Blind artist, Allan Eddy....

So much for the "pic o' the Day", eh? That's the way I am....I have some ideas, but never really put them to use.

So, last night I was sitting around, feeling sorry for myself, and decided to check the internet for other blind artists. I KNOW I read somewhere about some famous (dead) artist who went blind before he died, and still painted, but all his paintings in that era were dark brown/blue....(if anyone knows who this was, please tell me! It's driving me nuts!)

Anyway, I searched for blind artists, and found an amazing artist...Allan Eddy. Here's his link. http://www.allaneddy.com/index.html I LOVE his paintings....especially the pointillism! There's even a video where it shows what exactly he can see out of his eye....sort of an upside down "U" shape of vision....when he paints, he can't even see his hand. Amazing! And what's even more amazing is his attitude. No pity-parties for him!

This gives me some hope although it doesn't totally clear up my fear of what's to come. Next week I will get my second injection, but this time with a different doctor....one with an EXCELLENT bedside manner. I'm looking forward to meeting him and asking questions. (I felt uncomfortable asking the first doctor anything after a few questions....he was very short with me...never smiled...never even introduced himself or shook my hand)

More to come...

the Amsler Grid

This is a pretty LAME pic o' the day. It's the Amsler Grid....something I'm supposed to look at every day, with one eye covered, from a distance of about 14 inches away. I'm supposed to stare at the dot in the middle, and peripherally, the lines should be straight up and down, and horizontal. If they look all bent, like a fun-house mirror might make them look, I'm supposed to call the retinologist immediately. If they're all curvy looking, it would most likely mean that I "sprung a leak"....and those abnormal blood vessels under my retina are leaking, causing the retina to bulge....causing the vision distortion. EVERYTHING you always wanted to know....

Pic o' the day.....

So.....I'm not too good at keeping up with this blog thang, am I?

To "fix" this problem, I've decided to post a "pic-o'-the-day"....just some random picture I hafta take every day (for a month). This'll 1.) make me use my camera more and 2.) make me post stuff on my blog more.....or at least, for a month.

It's WAY easier than, say, making a piece of art every day, like I've heard some artists do... and since I'm pretty much LAZY, this is the route I'm going to take for now. Maybe someday, someone will challenge me to do the ART thang.....

What does this hafta do with my vision? Nothing and everything, I guess. I mean, I can only take pictures if I can see....same for the art. Gotta do it while I can! And even when/if I should lose my central vision, who says I can't still make some sort of art???? I might not get to do little, detailed stuff (that I LOVE), but who's to say I can't still paint? I can't draw worth a damn, so my paintings have always been sorta abstract blobs of color anyway....I certainly should be able to still do that......and I'm guessing, if I'm losing my vision, the price of my artwork could triple!!!!!!! Ha ha. I could finally be a mil....uh, a THOUSANDAIRRE!!! Why wait till I'm dead for my artwork to become priceless, like all those other artists???

Ok, so I'm a little full of myself. But I'm in a positive mood.....a little too positive maybe, but positive nonetheless.....

Sometimes I wonder if I might not be a little bi-polar, too. Hmmmm....

So far.....so good.

So....I've had no problems with my eye/eyes since my injection. So far, so good.

My CAR, on the other hand, is having its OWN medical problems....mostly in the brakes. The mechanic said that something (can't remember....brakeline hose?) was so cracked and corroded that all four of my brakes could've failed at the same time. There were some other things, too, but I forget....when mechanics start spewing car talk, my eyes sorta glaze over. The tone sounded serious and important, though. I'm waiting for the call with the ball park figure.

The GOOD news is that yesterday, while cleaning out a closet, I found $130 in a purse! Yay! I must've switched purses, and forgot to take the envelope of money out of the old purse? (Ay caramba! Might need to add another medical condition to the growing list! Ha ha.)

All in all, things are good.