Monday. Yesterday certainly ended with a bang. Or a whimper, depending on how you judge such things. About halfway through the game I was feeling tired, wondering if an ocular migraine might be waiting somewhere in the wings - it was late afternoon, after all, its preferred time of arrival - so I lay down and went to sleep at around four, waking up at four in the morning. Yes, an ocular migraine, I can remember coming to consciousness and noticing, after wresting with it for a bit, that reality had flattened itself out like a pancake and self now included the bed, the covers and sundry other aspects of the bedroom. Confusing, let me tell you.

Still, awake at four, dozing off for say twenty minutes and then awakening, another twenty minutes and then saying the hell with it and taking a bath. Haven't been taking baths first thing in the mornings as it means I have to then get up even earlier. Better in the afternoons. Still, an odd ending to a day with a workout, the head as cocktail shaker, but another new day now ahead.

Some thoughts on art, life and photography, though. Interesting thoughts, put some things into place I've been struggling with, maybe I'm adjusting to this business of being retired. Coming to some conclusions about, well, a bunch of stuff. Most people reach these realizations much earlier in their lives. Either that or none of us really reach them at all and when we do they pay no attention and move the goal posts. But we're rapidly descending into gibberish here.

Later. The morning has taken it's time to pull the various components of the head together, but we seem to now be online. Some time on the guitar, not nearly enough, but there's still the day ahead. A walk down to the usual place for lunch, I'm thinking, the sinus-palate thing easing back a bit. Something out on the patio under the sun. Under an umbrella under the sun. It's warm this morning, I'm thinking we may well see another record temperature.

I'm noticing more comment on the climate lately, last year tied with 2005 as the hottest year on record. It's been yesterday's news for a while now, but maybe we'll start seeing weather changes around here, catch up with Pakistan, Russia, New York and Australia. Odd to think of catching up with Pakistan or Russia in anything. New York? Well, New York. The Aussies, though, have those cute kangaroos. Wouldn't say anything negative about kangaroos. Not here in the U.S. certainly.

Later still. A walk down to the morning restaurant. An amble, anyway. Double vision all the way. Not sure if it's getting worse, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Doesn't seem to affect me inside as much so maybe it's kicked off by brightness. I do have an appointment with an ocular neurologist, but she isn't available until the second week of March. Bring the various MRI's and other tests the package they sent said, the appointment/examination would take two hours. An ocular neurologist. Two hours. You're never too old to learn.

Later later. Got the PocketWizards and lights up and working. Shot this as a test, not the way I'd necessarily want to light a portrait, but we'll play with that during the rest of this week. Or life. The day seems to be winding up as a regular old day, no sign of an ocular whatever. One of the warnings is to avoid eating a large quantity of carbohydrates at any single sitting. I ate a fair amount of cereal yesterday afternoon, I think I'll try something else for a while. Hope rings eternal.