20 years ago I lost my eldest son, Scott during this week. A year earlier my wife (Scott’s mother) and I divorced. Since then, the Thanksgiving holiday has not been a time to smile and enjoy a feast with loved ones for me.
It is however, a time in which I do reflect.
So, here’s to the past.
Cheers!

So . . . .
We went to Florida. Few months ago and bought a motor home. I’m planning a road trip through North America to see places I’ve never been and shoot some photographs of whatever catches my eye.
You can keep posted and even follow along at www.ArtOnTheRun.info .
Autumn is waning which will leave me the winter months to plan the journey. Dog and I will most likely cruise down to Florida for some of the winter just as a final check of the systems on the RV.
By the way, I’ve named the RV TOAD. That’s T.O.A.D. Transient Operational Auxiliary Dwelling
Cheers

I did make another quick trip south to buy a motorhome. After spending a day and a half poking around the motorhome the seller decided he wanted to keep it. He bought it at an estate auction and I don’t think he knew how to operate it. Apparently I educated him. Oh well.
I guess that unnatural winter is finally over. Although my heater came on several times over the past week. Since I used up nearly all my firewood in just this one long, cold winter, I’ve been busy replenishing my supply. Whew! I have nearly 7 cords split and stacked.
That’s is from Outpost Zulu Zebra for now. Peace out Y’all.

Dog and I just returned home from a month long road tour. Ahhhh there’s no place like home.
We traveled back roads through Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. We spent time in Lawrenceville, Fort White (Ichetucknee Springs), Ocala, several places in the Tampa Bay area, Jacksonville and Savannah.
I think we’ll buy a R.V. and plan a longer trip through the heartland.
All is well here in the mountains.

This winter has been much longer and much colder than I expected! I should have closed up the house and done the snowbird thing and visited friends in Florida. Maybe next year.
Instead I burned through my supply of firewood which I had anticipated would last me several winters.
You can guess how I’ll be occupying some of my time this spring and summer. . . . cutting and splitting firewood.
A day late and dollar short, I’m planning a road tour through Georgia and Florida. Stops along the way will include Lawrenceville GA, Ichetuknee Springs, Ocala, Brandon Valrico, Tampa, Pinecrest, Jacksonville and Savannah. I should have done it at the height of winter.
I’ll spend a week in Savannah and hope to capture some nice photographs. I’ll also try to shoot some sailboat races at Davis Islands.

I recall one particular New Year’s Eve, back in the late 70s I think. I worked in the automotive field for a good friend at that time. My wife went to work for half a day that day so she took the car and dropped me off. My friend Jackie Minton was to give me a ride home that afternoon.
Well, things were slow so Jack and I decided to close shop early and hit a watering hole on the way home for a celebratory drink or two. A few hours later, Jack dropped me off at home. Let’s just say I was feeling no pain by that time. I think that was the only I ever came home in that condition.
Remember, I worked in the automotive field. The greasy, grimy automotive field. I was apparently in no condition to be standing up in the shower so my wife Debra, filled the bathtub and told me to get in. Actually, that is pretty much the last thing I recall that New Year’s Eve.
When I awoke the next morning I felt fine, no hangover what so ever so I guess I wasn’t that far gone. Nature was calling so I headed into the bathroom where I passed a mirror along the way. HOLY CRAP! I think that was what I blurted out. I could hear my wife giggling in the bedroom.
My entire body (those parts normally hidden by clothing) was covered in bright orange circles and polka dots. HOLY CRAP!
It seems that my wife thought it would be funny (and it was) to paint me with Mercurochrome before she put me to bed.

Be safe this New Year’s Eve. Have fun and if you think of it, hide the Mercurochrome.
Cheers and Happy New Year.

The first half of the week was pretty rough. I’m not sure if it started with a hangover (great evening with friends) or not. At first I thought it was but when by the end of the day on Monday I still couldn’t keep a glass of water down I began to wonder. Aches, pains, upset stomach. Maybe it was the flu. It wouldn’t be the first time I had the flu for Christmas. Funny though, I was weak and tired. By Tuesday night I was able to eat a little bit. I took it easy and went to bed early. Heck I probably didn’t need the sleep. I’d slept quite a bit over the previous 2 days. But then….
I awoke around midnight which isn’t uncommon. This time of the year I get up at least once in the middle of the night and toss a log in the furnace. I couldn’t get back to sleep. I also couldn’t catch my breath. Mind you, I experienced absolutely no chest congestion during this ailment. Each time I tried to go to sleep and my breathing became shallow, I felt as if I was suffocating. I was very weak and shaky too. I went from the bedroom to the deck outside (20 degree weather) to the living room and back to bed again. Over and over I did this. Outside in the cold air, I felt some relief. Probably because the oxygen was more dense out there. If I yawned deeply, I also felt relief. However the relief did not last but a minute or two. Finally I sat in the living room and checked my blood pressure. Wow. It was very high (for me). 179/79. Just the week before it was 123/60. My pulse wasn’t to high given the circumstance. I had also become anxious which probably aggravated things. I took a baby aspirin and finally dozed off while sitting up in the living room. The next morning I was very weak and shaky. This lasted until late Christmas afternoon.
I was a little nervous about doing it all over again Christmas night. So, before bedtime I took a baby aspirin and a Benadryl. The Benadryl pretty much knocked me out. I awoke around midnight and checked the furnace as usual. Again, trying to get back to sleep was difficult. I had pretty much the same symptoms as the previous night only not as severe. I immediately took a baby aspirin and another Benadryl. Before long I went back to sleep and slept through the rest do the night.
Today (December 26th) I went out to split some logs. Man, I am weary. I’ve no energy. Hmmmm. I had a serious bout with mono 10 years ago or so. I wonder if part of this is a reoccurrence of that?
I also wonder if I may have experienced a heart attack of sorts?
Oh well. I thought I’d write this down just in case I have the big one!
Here’s to 2014.
Cheers.

Update:
I’ve done better the last couple days. I think part of my problem was that I had mucus draining in the back of my throat which made it difficult to breath. I know, ewwwww! This is a chronic thing with me due to allergies I suppose. Doctors have never come up with relief. Last night I took an over the counter mucus medicine before bed and I slept much better.
This morning the dog and I took a 2 mile stroll in the mountains and all was good. Who knows?

I’ve reached that place in life where I spend my time doing as I wish. In my case, it is a fairly solitary life. I often head into the forest with camera in hand and dog at my side to commune with nature and perhaps find an interesting subject or scene to photograph. On days where inclement weather dictates I stay indoors and I read or work in my studio.
Life is good.
Of course with so much leisure time on my hands my mind is free to travel, to wander the hallways of my memory or to explore new ideas, however abstract they may be. I find myself reflecting upon people I know or have known. And I worry about those who are friends that have challenges in their lives. I suppose that in my relatively stress free life, this is a large source of stress for me. You see, I value friendships very highly. I’ve been in those places where the support and actions of friends made all the difference.
Now, I understand that circumstances and sometimes life in general puts the regular interaction of friends on hiatus. Believe me, I do understand. Sometimes it’s being involved to capacity with things going on in life. Sometimes it is embarrassment that curtails communication among friends. Again, I understand this. I’ve been there and done that. It’s entirely too easy. I know, I know.
Perhaps I’m a bit too “high-maintenance”. I find that when so-called friends cease to communicate, my initial reaction is concern. Concern for them or concern for what I may have done to offend them. Usually this apparent break-down in communication is solidified after I’ve tried to call or otherwise contact them with no response. Like I said, maybe I’m high-maintenance.
My rationale is this: in this day and age it is simple to communicate in a detached, if not entirely one way fashion. While a phone call is nice, a quick and simple text message will certainly confirm existence. For more complex situations, and email is adequate.
So here is my point. If you are a friend and you go for an extended period of time without any communication, especially if the last couple communications were from me without response, I remove you from my friend list. This relieves me from worrying about you. This puts our relationship into perspective. I no longer wonder what went wrong and I don’t waste any emotion on you.
I prefer to focus on friends. So if you are one of these “used to be” friends and you decide to contact me some day and I don’t reply, I’ve simply closed the book on our friendship. No big deal!