Oh, My ...

What can the matter be?  Not only is processing photos slowing my writing down, now I have a new camera to learn.  It is lighter, a marshmallow of a camera with interchangeable ping-pong-ball lenses.  What it doesn’t have is a mirror to lock up to prevent it from messing up a shot.  That function is handled somehow by the computer inside the marshmallow.  

Why do I need a lighter camera?  Because my hands can no longer hold the weight of my old SLR cameras with their heavy lenses.  Why do I want a brand-spanking new camera?  Because Trixsay wants to play photographer in spite of Mystery’s problems.

The Panasonic Lumix is a descendant of the first digital cameras I used, the ones that lured me into nature photography which in turn fed my wanderlust.  I just hope this new version produces a quality comparable to the SLRs.  For that to happen, I need to figure out how to play ping-pong with a marshmallow.

This is an example of one of those early Panasonic shots:

Watching the Watcher
by Jeter Skeet

I'm Back

I’m back, but I’m not as organized as Humdrum was.  When Trixsay takes over, things scatter—and she always takes over when we travel.  For example, the neat narrow-ruled notebook was to be used exclusively for my travel journal.  But the information about most of the animals we saw is in my messy writing journal where any topic goes.

Worse than that, photography has begun to compete with my novel’s snowflake for my heart and soul—again.  I know I’m going to have to give up wildlife photography eventually for health reasons.  I was assuming that this Brazil trip would be my last one.  How wrong I was.

In the last three weeks, we’ve had one photographer invite us to join him and other amateurs on a new India trip next year.  In Brazil, our photographer-leader asked if we would be interested in a South Africa trip she’s thinking about for 2017.  So my brow raises, my heart pounds, and I begin to taste dust and smell curry.

I love wildlife photography.  That’s a given.  But can I physically endure these trips?  I decided that it was time to talk with my rheumatologist about prednisone.

Withdrawing from prednisone is a distracting process. My head spins like I’m riding a tilt-a-whirl.  I can’t walk a straight line, yet I don’t drink gin.  I’m just dizzy, ditsy me.

Monday at my rheumatologist’s office I received my overdue shots of the biological I take—one of those miracle treatments for RA.  It was time to withdraw from my self-administered flare treatment.  Or was it?

I confessed to the doctor that I started taking prednisone in Brazil.  She sees to it that I have a supply of prednisone on hand for flares.  I really didn’t want to come back from Brazil because without the steroid my corporal tunnel problem is worse, my feet hurt, my knees hurt worse, and my fatigue problems are downright depressing.

We talked about my feet.  My big toes tingle most.  It’s more annoying than actually painful.  She said I probably have the equivalent of corporal tunnel in my ankles.  The prednisone was treating all three problems.  She suggested that I could maintain treatment with a low dose as long as I get enough calcium and continue my Prolia shots.

I accused her of blessing me.

Trixsay was sticking her tongue out at Mysery.

I now know when I’ll get back to my novel (which already had been postponed at least five times for various reasons.)  When I break a hip or a leg, then I’ll give up wildlife photography and work on it (but I may be turning my photos into art by then).

In the meantime, I’ll write my blog (irregularly), process photos, and smile.  Trixsay is taking over my life.

Stained Glass Window at Chicago Museum of Art

Blog Hiatus

This is my last post for about six or eight weeks.  July and August are going to be busy months for us. You may know by the time you receive this that I've left for Brazil.  I'm guilty of writing these posts ahead of time, then scheduling them to actually appear by magic later.

My niece is going to visit with us for one week in July.  She seems to remember some adventuresome places around here that they don’t have in Spokane, WA.  She would like to visit childhood memories shared with her cousins and lit by fireflies.

After that we are going to pack for a photography trip to Brazil.  We’ll leave on the last day of July for a two week excursion into wildlife refuges in search of maned wolves, anteaters, and jaguars.  Then there are various monkeys and birds that will pose for our cameras—we hope.

I’m planning to keep a journal of our experiences as well as take photos that will take some time to process. So it will be awhile before I get back to my blog and my novel.  Expect me online when you see me.

Spectacled Caiman frrom Brazil
by Jeter Skeet