PEEK A BOO I SEE YOU MEDIAN NERVE

I'm quite sure the surgeon had a different view when he looked for my median nerve in each hand and cut the transverse carpal ligament to release pressure on the median nerve.  Last Thursday I had the follow-up visit and I have a thumb's up to get on with it.  I asked if physical therapy was necessary and got a negative response.  Hmmm. 

So, I'm googling and reading with the intent of doing my own PT.  I found this website. http://www.methodistorthopedics.com/Endoscopic-Carpa-Tunnel-Release
They don't recommend heavy grasping or pinching for 6 weeks.  I must begin with active hand movements and range of motion exercises.  All righty then.

As for my photograph...It's almost a silhouette.  I only appreciate bird silhouettes if you can identify the bird.  That's a teardrop-shaped plume to me and according to my bird book only the Gambel's Quail has that.

Who will argue with me?  Please send emails to StoryPage1@Gmail.com

NEWS FLASH! NEWS FLASH!

I was waddling along,
in the blue green water I loved,
thinking of days gone by.


Fiery orange brown colors began swirling around,
raising a need to go high.


Oh? Considering chance again, I guess?

Anxious to push buttons some more?
Ready to lose and cry?

This isn't right, I thought in my head,
look up and around you,
see true.

Oh, there's a fire across my view,
the colors reflecting here.
What was there before?

I imagined a casino was in that spot.
Ready for me step into, explore.
My brain's trigger for sure.


.

CHECK OUT THAT COUNTER

Marine Monument in Washington, D. C.

WOW! 200 days.  The other achievement is I am driving again.  We had a super weekend and we celebrate all those past and present who work and fight to keep our country safe.  My husband took this photo of the Marine Monument in 1969. 

SURGERY WAS A SUCCESS

This morning I met my painting friend.  For 2 hours I painted and not once did I have pins and needles in my hand, nor did the hand become numb.  I am so relieved and excited.  I finished this painting and started a new one.  Not once did I think of heading out to the casino.  Yes, yes, yes!

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

I'm wearing wrist splints and I can't lift anything heavy nor can I play in water.  So, it's the computer, walking around the house and putting small objects in their place, movies, TV, eating, being a passenger in the car, talking and sleeping.  Tomorrow morning I'm going to try water color painting.
I'll experiment with driving today.

I've been sleeping a lot but I attribute that to changing my meds for neuropathy.  I'm wondering how to make an adjustment for less daytime sleeping.

Before I took those meds today, I worked on photos again.  We were on a hike and I found a hummingbird resting. Where would he be today? At Nerdbirder.com they state a hummer could live 3-8 years with an average of 5 years.  My photo was taken this month 2010.

This close-up with more color is my favorite!

Original

Crop

Adding a little color

A BLOSSOM EXPLODES WITH COLOR

No, I don't have time-lapse equipment and just what does this have to do with my gambling?  Well, it's keeping me busy, I'm not spending money, and I love colors. 

original photo

When I was little I had a wonderful book "The Color Kittens" by Margaret Wise Brown and the kittens couldn't make green paint.  Ha, they should have had a computer back in 1949.

2 Cropped photos changed with Adobe Photoshop

Or how about this version?

 

I'M IN RECOVERY!

Well, every day I'm in recovery from something.  Compulsive gambling, the sniffles, a cough and cold, an operation, and my finances are a few examples.

The operations went smoothly.  Tomorrow I get to remove the wrappings and just use bandages          and splints.  I'll ask the doctor next Thursday, how long recovery will take.   There is no paid leave with my job so the financial recovery could be hurting soon.                                                                                                                                                                                                     
In the meantime I can use my fingers all I want and I'm still looking at 2011 photos.

You know, a bird is the often the thing that makes a tree beautiful.  I've admired the European Starling the second I viewed him and then I discovered he's a quick change artist.  Breeding adults are iridescent black  with yellow bills and the base of the male bill is a delicate blue while the female's is pink.

In fall the birds are speckled with white.   This Eurasian species spread across the continent after being introduced in New York 1890-91.  Every state has them so I can't figure out how I never noticed them before in our wanderings.        

   This picture has a few things wrong with it but I still like it as a silhouette.                                                                                                                                                                        

It's hard to believe this is the same bird as below.  This is their fall attire.

breeding male iridescent in spring

No doubt a woodpecker made this house

.

they like to be groupies

I'VE BEEN HOOKED

Today I changed the counter to 194 days,which is more than 6 months.  As time passes I think less and less of driving to the casino to play the slots.  But I do think of it and I always will.  I will never change back to a person who can gamble responsibly, and become a recreational gambler again.

As I compared my original photo of a Fishhook Barrel Cactus and today's computer changed version I realized how much it represents my disease.

The hooks are still very much there in the changed 2nd photo but they seem relaxed and softer I guess.  I must be ever vigilant of triggers which could make those hooks snap to attention and snare me again.

original photo

computer enhanced photo

BIG DAY TOMORROW

Tomorrow I'll have boxing gloves on very early in the morning.  It's my carpal tunnel surgery day and I'm trying my best to dwell on other things.

The 2011 photographs in my files still have my attention.  This morning I found a trio of stilts looking like a chorus line at Radio City Music Hall.  I love that red on their forward legs in my changed photo.

cropped and color curve applied

hum-drum original photo

WHERE DOES INSPIRATION COME FROM?

I read this on my friends Facebook message.  "Go out today and stare at a tree. It's good for you. "Just looking at trees produces “significant recovery from stress” within five minutes, according to a Texas A&M University study."

Here's my inspirational tree for today.

I HAVEN'T MET A TREE I DIDN'T LIKE

Not so long ago I would have been saying I haven't met a slot machine I didn't like.  I've always liked trees, dead or alive, but when I became a compulsive gambler my likes took a back seat to everything.

During these years, being away from the slots for a few days would re-awaken my senses.  Nothing other than a ROAD TRIP kept me away from those slots. 

Several times a year we journeyed to our country's great Grand Canyon.  People would ask if we weren't tired of going there.  The answer was always the same.  The Canyon is always different. 

I'm grateful my husband encouraged me to do my own photography.  I can go back and take a look at my ROAD TRIPS all over again thanks to the digital camera and my computer. 

I think it's important for a compulsive gambler to find something to fill the hours you would have spent gambling.  I googled "list inexpensive hobbies" and hundred's of ideas popped up. 

So, back to trees....before I fiddled with the color curve I didn't even realize the Colorado River was in the photo.  What a beautiful tree!

canyon colors reflect on the bark

original photo

FUN WITH JANE'S PHOTOGRAPHY

I'm looking at old photos and found a tree with wonderful bark. It also has a woodpecker clinging to it's bark.  Here's the original shot but I like the way I can change it to look like a watercolor painting.

FUN WITH JANE AND PHOTOGRAPHY

One hot August a coyote watched me in a parking lot.  For once my subject was still there after picking up my camera.

He looks hungry to me.














I'm going to change the color curve to see what he might have looked like in the evening.  He looks more menacing now under the street light.

Here's the original photo.








Oh, this is much better than being angry or cleaning.

NEGATIVITY LEADS TO RUIN and WE CAN'T HAVE THAT!

There's a lot of work to be done for different reasons.  Yesterday I was so angry and negative because I need to de-clutter and clean my house by tomorrow and my handicaps get in the way.

So, let's list the handicaps.  When I was younger I would clean the whole house in 1 day.  Now, my health, age and negativity toward this situation are a handicap.

I need to stop sticking my head in the sand and ask for the leave of absence  regarding my surgery.

I was angry because I let this disease get a hold in my brain and it did sooo much damage. 

Today I've decided to look at my photographs, create new silhouette pictures whenever I need a break.

Here's a bird that's practically a silhouette to begin with, but I can change it more and then get back to work. 

CATCHING UP

No, I did not find the scorpion. Yet....... The good news is that it did not find my mother yet.

I spent some time fixing the post labels.  Numbering the labels was never a good idea so good riddance.

As for those annoyances.....I fixed the leak on our son's birthday present.  That project only took 5 tries.  I'm taking care of one health problem by scheduling my carpal tunnel surgery.  This will insure my future, doing what I love to do, crafting, water-coloring, computer work on my photographs, driving and that necessity, my job. 

I've been scheduled 4 days off in a row and today is the 3rd one.  That makes it movie day.  Tomorrow will be family day and then back to work Sunday.   It seems days off have wings.

A NARROW ESCAPE

I saw the door to take me into the world of Escape-Land, which at one time I used to frequent almost daily.  In no time at all I was walking through that casino door again.  I was so trans-fixed by the sight inside, I didn't know where to head to first.

Before I could decide I was swept away, dancing with my husband and it was such a pleasurable feeling, one I want to recall over and over.  My arms were wrapped around him, we were floating through the air and I remember thinking I didn't know I could dance like that.  

The truth is that I can't dance too good but I'm going to close my eyes and remember how I could in that dream.  Yup, even in dreamland I know what I want.

POSTS IN REVIEW

Since I'm awake so early it's a good time to review things.  For instance, my labels on these posts.  Why do I have 3 #10's, all with different criteria?

I want to review "things that annoy me" only to discover I have no label like that.  I need to know if I fixed these annoyances.

When I logged in this morning it listed 40 posts published.   Wow!  Time flies.  Those birds are at it again, flying away with time.  I thought if I encouraged them to hang around the house, time would stand still for awhile.  So I bought more feeders and food and plants to blossom.  They are insatiable.  All I have so far is bird poop.

It's time to make some lists and  I started a few yesterday.  Maybe because I've been sick and drifting off to sleep so much, thoughts come and go.  Road Trips, Angels and new cemetery's to explore have been on my mind.  Hmm, it's time for my angel to come home but I can't remember where I sent her.

That's why lists are so important but sometimes if I put things on high alert in my brain and take a nap I wake up with the answer.  Who invented lists anyway?  Was it "Michael"?  Nooo, he invented waiting in line.  I better watch that movie again soon.  Do you see the problem here?  I can't stay focused.  Well, it is the middle of the night.

I've just been informed that a scorpion is in my mother's room so that nap theory is on hold.