I'm Here Somewhere

Shop windows in New York are an embarrassment of riches for the reflection artiste but fumbling the camera out from the case which was tucked in the overcoat on my belt was sometimes too much trouble.

Returning from a trip gives me a barely there feeling just like this shot.

Especially when sleep gets thrown off. We arrived home in the wee hours of Wednesday. Didn't help that I had a Wednesday night meeting to attend which took me away from poking around the house putting things right. Didn't help that FFP suggested going to Fonda San Miguel restaurant after my meeting. The one beer I drank was very sleep-making. I might have had a glass of Pinot in my meeting, too.

Thursday I had a tennis game and, while getting to the club by nine and doing a couple of sets of singles and a workout in the gym went a long way to revitalizing me and grounding me in my real life, it didn't help me catch up on sleep or chores.

On Wednesday my dad stopped by and I examined his eye and took pictures to send to my sister and nieces. He was complaining that he was going to need another blethoplasty. (He had a plastic surgery to remove sagging skin on his eyelid so that he could see better. I think it made him look like an old man doing an imitation of a surprised monkey. But it did keep his aging eyelids from poking his lashes into his eyes.) I told him this seemed to be caused by a small amount of swelling, closing the eye down a bit. So on Thursday (after my conventional Thursday dilettante start of a few minutes at the computer followed by tennis and gym) I decided to go over to Dad's after my shower and look at his eye. It seemed more closed to me than Wednesday. I did a couple of errands for him and I took another picture. When I came home I compared the pictures and still it seemed more closed. FFP and I had two different downtown events. But before we rushed off for that I called the doctor's office and they said someone would look at him on Friday morning.

All of that is to say that on Friday I had to get up earlier than usual and go pick him up and have him there by 8:30. The eye seemed more open than the day before and if it had been steadily opening I would have not bothered with the visit since we have an appointment with the surgeon on Monday. But we were there so they checked for infection, proper pressure. The ophthalmologist couldn't see his retina because the gas they injected is still in the way, but things seemed to be going OK. (He says he can see a 'water line' in his eye. That's the gas which his tissue will eventually absorb.) So, I was a worry wart but I felt better. I went home and tried to catch up on financial stuff and getting things orderly around here and then we went to see a couple of short operas at the UT Butler Opera Center. They were good, but I was tired. (Possibly that was exacerbated by stopping at Fino on the way for some food and a bottle of wine.)

So today it's time to find myself and find my routine. Although routine seems to be flying out the window as we prepare for this move. Our trip to New York was the only trip we've allowed ourselves until the real estate vortex is only a memory. (Although a couple of nights in Austin hotels purchased at charity auctions and maybe a trip to Dallas and/or Houston could happen.)

Meanwhile, I'm be here somewhere, online and off.