Convalescing

Lounging in bed with a good book.

Or sitting out on the deck, watching the sunbeams dazzle.

I'm lucky to have an attentive nurse.

Too much too soon

I admit it, I over-reached.

I went to work today. I lasted about 5 hours.

My surgical incision is still tender. I think maybe sitting at a desk for hours, hands poised over a keyboard, puts some kind of strain on your "core" muscles - which is right where my incision is located.

In any case, I began to feel very tired after a few hours. It also didn't help that there was nothing going on at work - it was all routine boring stuff - reading and sending emails, answering phone calls - nothing urgent, no real WORK to get immersed in. Perhaps convalescence gives you a low tolerance for nonsense.

Thankfully, my boss, who is both compassionate and intuitive, called me out when I didn't want to admit how I felt. "You look tired," she said. "Why don't you go home?"

I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow. There is an all-staff monthly meeting I should attend....but then on the other hand, nothing ever happens at those. There are some business things I have to take care of this week, but nothing is urgent. I have sick leave hours in the bank, so I can easily take the time off.

I think I'm talking myself into staying home tomorrow.

Photos are from the Farmers' Market in Pacific Palisades on Sunday. Why is it that a one hour visit enjoying these sights give me strength, but a couple of hours of regular work exhaust me?

Weighing In

"Delusions of Grandeur" - Rene Magritte, 1967, bronze

Do these pants make my butt look big?

It's Monday, my regular "weigh-in day" for Weight Watchers. When I was discharged from the hospital, my instructions were pretty simple. I had some pain medication, but no further antibiotic treatment. My incision, I was told, would dissolve. It was closed off with some fabric tape, but it was OK for me to shower, although immersing the would in water, as in a bath, was forbidden.

I was encouraged to exercise. Walk, they said. That was perfect for me, because I love to walk and our neighborhood is a perfect place to walk. I indulged in a couple of excursions where I might have overextended myself - a trip to the Getty Museum, another trip to downtown LA. They were fun, but after these, I was very tired, and spent the next day relaxing.

My biggest incision hurts a little. It itches, as I think is normal for healing flesh to feel as it knits back together. It sometimes feels warm to the touch, and sometimes feels swollen or hard. The skin in the area is irritated where they shaved me and the hair is growing back in. The small incisions feel nothing, no more than a pinprick.

Eat a normal diet, the doctors said. They gave me very little in the way of diet counseling, although I'd been told in a broad general sense to follow a high fiber diet.

My own appetite told me to keep portion sizes low, but I enjoyed being able to eat vegetables, whole grains, and fruits - all of which had been forbidden under the "low residue" diet of my earlier convalescence. And oh, it was good! I had sweet strawberries from the Farmers' Market. Brussels sprouts roasted with balsamic vinegar. I made a sandwich with dark, sprouted wheat bread and fresh tomatoes. I also allowed myself to enjoy wine at meals, and an occasional cocktail - not clinically bad, but calorie-wise, overloaded.

So - after a week of home-based recovery, how did my Monday weigh-in go?

I gained a pound. 

Oh well. Better get serious about counting points again.

Sculpture in the Fran and Ray Stark Sculpture Terrace, Getty Museum Los Angeles

Arco Iris

This morning at 6:00 am,  [The Man I Love] woke me up and called me to come outside and see something. This is unusual for him - I'm usually awake at six, while he is in bed.

But it was too good to miss. A full-bow rainbow arched across the sky above the western mountains. The arc was too wide to capture in one camera image.

As we watched, and I tried my best to capture its image, the sun rose, painting the face of the mountains rich gold.

After a while, the colors brightened, and then, gradually, they faded in the morning light. We both went back to bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

I think this is going to be a pretty good day, don't you?

Click all photos to "embiggen."

The butter-and-egg man

Our next door neighbors raise chickens. They don't have a rooster, so we aren't awakened by crowing. The chickens wander their fenced yard, and sometimes when they wander over our way, Jack looks pretty interested in them. I'm not sure what breeds they all are, but one breed they have, Araucana, seem adverturous enough to perch on the top of the fence at times.

Our neighbor's son, five years old, is the egg entrepreneur. He delivers. He collects his payments in a little red cowboy-style wallet. Sometimes you need to remind him about the change. He also recycles egg-cartons, which are decorated with a cartoon pictures of his family. On it, the chickens go "Bok!" into little word balloons.

We always get a nice assortment of eggs, tan, speckled brown and pretty pale green-blue.

These eggs are so tasty and fresh, it's hard to go back to supermarket eggs.

I dropped one on the floor the other day.

I scooped up what I could and put it in Jack's bowl. He's a lucky dog!



Whenever we're out of eggs, we call next door and say,  "I want my big butter and egg man!"

Pink Saturday - A visit to the Getty Museum

Pink Saturday - Beverly at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you!

Pink bougainvillea along a terrace

Would you believe I live only a few miles away from one of the most heavily visited art museums in the world? And would you believe I hardly ever go there? Well, this week I decided I had no more excuses - I would visit the J. Paul Getty Museum.

A current exhibit is called Paris: Life and Luxury. It shows what life was like for elite society in 18th century Paris.

The Getty Museum sits high on a hill above the Sepulveda Pass in Los Angeles. The huge compound includes assembly halls, galleries, cafes and restaurants, open plazas, gardens, and separate research facilities that are closed to the public. When you ride the small white tram up from the parking lot, you truly feel you are rising up and away from Los Angeles, that you are entering another world.

The entrance plaza

Owl Falls

I had no idea this was here.

For all the time we've lived in Topanga, we've driven past the property where Amerigas, a bottled propane vendor, had an office building. It's right across the street from the lumber yard. The stone cliffs rise behind it and shelter the place where it's flat enough to store some tanks and trucks beyond a chain link fence.

Sure, in spring I'd notice that a stream of run-off water poured down the cliffs into a culvert below, but I never thought anything of it.

When Amerigas closed down, the property was bought by Jalan Jalan Imports, a business that imports decorative art from Indonesia and the South Pacific. They clearly had plans to improve the property - over the last month or so we've watched the chain link come down and a decorative iron fence go up; we've watched huge sandstone Buddha heads off-loaded on pallets, and a redwood gazebo go up.

This weekend, the place opened for business. The store and outdoor displays of statuary and fountains were open, and a musician played from the gazebo. A food stand sold vegan Indonesian treats.

But what was a huge surprise to me was the back of the property, where the water ran off the cliffs. I had no idea it was even here.

This is Topanga's Owl Falls. The water is the right height for wading. There are stones to sit on. You can climb around the side and walk beneath the falls themselves.

What's even more amazing is what you see when you step back a bit. This native California sycamore tree curves over, like an archway that opens onto a cool oasis.

The proprietors plan to offer the site as an event space, as well as a beautiful location to shop for imported garden artifacts.

Aren't we Topangans lucky to have this given back to us, after all those years hiding away behind Amerigas?

Thematic Photographic - Well Aged

Carmi at Written, Inc., posts a photographic challenge each week called Thematic Photographic - this week's theme is "Well-aged." What is it? It can be a structure that's seen better days, a person who's got more years behind than ahead, or anything that evokes thoughts of age and time.

Los Angeles Theatre - click to "embiggen"

 Well, today I am posting some shots of a well-aged treasure indeed.

This is the Los Angeles Theatre. Built in 1931, this is the last of Broadway's movie picture palaces to be built. Last night, June 1, 2011, the Los Angeles Conservancy's "Last Remaining Seats" film series presented Meredith Wilson's "The Music Man" in this beautiful historic theatre.

The theatre closed in 1994, but remains available for rental, location filming, and special events. Although well-preserved, it has not been restored, and its age shows with worn carpets, dusty woodwork, and peeling paint. 

Here are some highlights of this beautiful theatre.

A closer view of the painted scene on the stage's asbestos curtain.

Downstairs off the ladies' room, a paneled childrens' nursery is decorated with circus-painted themes. The room above, with the broken-legged couch, was in darkness - the shot was taken with a flash.

This is a detail from the nursery paneling. Click to "embiggen"

 The incredible French baroque lobby, with its Corinthian-topped columns, chandeliers, and a grand staircase to the balcony level.

In the upper balcony, you can see how dirt and soot over the ages has built up on the coffered ceiling.

Carvings, napped with dust.

Carvings in the ceiling near the projection booth - is it dirt, or soot?

For more information, and a discussion about the Los Angeles Theatre, visit its listing at Cinema Treasures.

The film series runs through June 29th. The Los Angeles Theatre is open again on June 15 for a showing of "King Kong." Other venues in the series include the Orpheum Theatre, the Palace Theatre, and the Million Dollar Theatre.

Los Angeles's Historic Broadway Theatre District is well-aged, indeed.

That beach, this music, this road

A perfect day at the beach.

UPDATE: For anyone who wonders - yes, that's me and [The Man I Love] enjoying the ride.