The ENT (Ears, Nose and Throat) doctor put me on an antibiotic for the left sinus and I started them a week ago Monday. I recall it takes time for antibiotics to work, if they're going to work, and I've been avoiding examining too closely any changes I might feel in the sinus area so as not to fall into the trap of inventing changes that don't exist. Well, I haven't noticed any changes until this morning when there was some drainage, now gone, while I was at breakfast. They (the sinuses) have been absolutely dry and maybe a bit of drainage is a sign the antibiotics are making progress loosening them up.

You blew your nose in the morning and that suddenly means success?

As I said, a hint of change and immediately it's a sign the mountains have begun to move. A confirmation I'd deep down like to see sinus mountains move. Still, up or down, the sun is out, it's summer, the day is ahead and starting tomorrow the days become rife with opportunities for pictures.

A battle of the bands (Mr. S's band enters round two) tomorrow night, an APL party Friday evening and three major festivals over the weekend. Maybe four, but four is too many to think about. We'll just wing it, see if we can't get through it all and come out with images. As you might guess, I'm short of journal pictures and need to resupply. We are always in need of a resupply, not unlike some drug addicted, babbling, estranged from polite society idiot we've all become too familiar with here in Oakland.

Later. Late morning, a short warm up session on guitar, the temperature here inside not feeling it's any cooler out there than it was yesterday. I need to go out and find out and I would already have done it if I weren't so successfully sitting here.

Later still. Wrong about it being overly warm outside, nothing like yesterday, I'm assuming they were right and it's in the seventies with a nice little breeze cropping up often as not. You don't want to sit out in the sun, but the shade is pretty nice.

Not much of a walk. An amble along the lake, a picture or two on the fly, not sure why I took them, not sure they didn't turn out. Still, the attitude good, a quick look inside Walden Pond Books. I do look through their books a lot, but I don't buy as often as I'm sure they'd like. I have too many photography books as it is, too many in the sense I rarely go back and look through them. There were some nice collections on sale, but do I need them up neglected on a shelf?

And iced tea at the morning café, watching the people pass on the sidewalk. A photograph of a flower growing in one of the large pots supporting the low fence that separates their patio from the sidewalk, remembering I had a macro lens on the camera, and I could get close. I'm not sure that's the best reason to take a photograph, but then again, when you're dry, why not?

Similarly, sitting at the table, waiting on the iced tea to arrive, I took this one of a shadow. Just, you know, sitting there, not bothering to move, taking the picture. I rather like it. One of those might be terrible (worse yet, banal), might be good kind of photographs. Might work better in a framed collection, the relationship between the individual images in the collection giving it context. Doesn't matter of course, but it makes you think. Makes you stretch. Gets you ready for the rest of your life.