By Way of Explanation

I am destined to grow old poor and terrified.  My nightmares are terrible.  I work at the factory, then I work at home trying to put things together.  I am trying to do much on my own, but I can't do everything, so I hire people.  This year I had to have my house re-plumbed.  That was thousands.  I had to completely replace the wall and tile and part of the floor in the bathroom.  That was thousands.  I had the trees trimmed.  That was thousands.  I replaced the deck.  That was thousands.  Yesterday, I hired a fellow and his wife to paint my house and apartment.  That is many thousands.

Now the a.c. is pooping out.  It is not keeping the house cool in the afternoon as temperatures reach the mid-90s.  It runs and runs and never turns off, but the temperature inside goes up steadily.  Yesterday, it reached 77.  It didn't turn off until sometime after midnight.  I am looking at buying another a.c. unit.  That is multiple thousands.

Yesterday, though, I saved $75 by fixing a broken irrigation pipe myself.  I have another to fix today.  Ili and I weeded for a couple hours in the morning.  Not just weeding, but planting and fertilizing, etc.  For all the money I am spending, I am still a busy, busy boy.

This is all by way of explaining to you who wonder, "Where are the new photographs?  Why no new stories?"

I am cancelling all vacation plans again this summer.  I have spent enough on the house this year to have gone around the globe several times.  I could have bought such lovely camera.

I guess I am lucky that I closed up the studio.  That is a hell of a kind of luck.

You might think I'm done, but I am not.  I still need a roof, and it will be very expensive as I have a tall, A-frame roof on which you cannot stand.  Cha-Ching!  And I had planned on trading in my 2005 Xterra for a newer one.  I will have to limp along with this one for a couple more years, but that won't be free.  It is making some expensive noises now.

So I am psychologically frazzled.  My nerve ends are frayed and raw.  The heat here is ruthless now and there is no escape.  I am sitting on gunpowder and lighting matches.  It is hard to relax.

Of course, that is just the tip of the volcano, so to speak.  I still face all the traumas that each of you faces on a daily basis as well.

Anyway. . . have I explained?  Today's picture is one I took when I first gave up the studio when I was running the streets with film cameras.

"Hey. . . can I take your picture?"

How did I ever do it?  Where did I find the time?