We never did go on a hike Sunday. I was up at sunrise but Kevin lay in bed till 11am. He showed no interest in doing anything, and in fact he didn't do anything all day. I was worried he was suffering from high blood pressure again, something that tires him out in spats. I have been telling him for several years that his diagnosed prediabetes from 2005 probably has evolved into full diabetes now. His father had diabetes, but that man died from a heart attack associated with the chemotherapy he was getting for his late-stage lung cancer.
Was Kevin being passive-aggressive again and not wanting to tell me directly that he wasn't in a mood to hike up a mountain (because he wasn't feeling well)? It was noticeably cooler on Sunday, barely breaking the mid 40s, and taking a break from the mountains was OK with me as I had other things to do: like listen to more history podcasts and get mentally prepared for the new semester.
Kevin's health, however, has me worried. I don't normally see him in bed this long. We both tend to wake up at sunrise even on days off, and the sunrises and sunsets this winter have been spectacular. Was he suffering from low blood sugar, alcohol withdrawals or a hangover? His moods are easily affected by what he eats. He does not concern himself with his health. No, he said later, he's just not feeling good and hasn't had alcohol since Friday. It's Tuesday morning now and he says he hasn't had any beer since our trip to Applebee's Friday afternoon.
He wants to lose weight and I applaud him for that. The kitchen is full of fruits that I haven't seen him eat in years: cantaloupe, honeydew, bananas. Inside the frig is fruit yogurt. The cupboard is full of oat cereals. His diet has gotten me interested in weight loss as well and I'm playing along with this, although I have never seen Kevin stick to a diet longer than two weeks. This fad, I'm sure, will fade as well.
My sister Iris is also on a diet, wanting to lose weight and get back into size 8 jeans. When she's down to my weight I may just join her on her diet. Everyone around me is on a diet except the dogs!
Meanwhile, school is back in session. The campus is abuzz with life. The new student union is now open full-time. The college is starting to look like a respectable college. The new union is a nice place to mingle. The union has become a one-stop shopping place for registration, snacks, (overpriced)books and advising. When the landscaping is done later this spring the area is going to look nice, with the mountains in the distance and the sculptured walk-ways. The union may be my new hang-out if the library is closed.
Weather has been pleasant this week. Although I only took the dogs up Hunter Canyon Sunday and yesterday, it's still a nice work-out for me as I power walk against the slope. I don't feel I've gotten a work-out if I don't take the dogs up that canyon, but with school back in session daily walks there are slowly going to get more difficult to take as I know myself: I get obsessed with my studies/research.
All the dogs want are a few miles at a dog's pace to run up the forest road, sniff other dogs' poop, poop themselves and frolic in the dead leaves under the sycamores. I don't mind the task as that gets me out of the house and I don't have as much dog poop to pick up from the backyard as the dogs seem to hold their poop in until they hit the trail and literally let it all out once they are in the forest. If this is all my dogs want out of life besides food and belly rubs, I am fine with that as they protect me with their lives.
I had my first class last night: Digital Photography I. It's taught by locally-renowned photography John Buono, who promoted his website and Facebook page several times. "I want you to join my Facebook!" he claimed, so I did. Buono claims to have been a student of Ansel Adams, a nature photographer I admired when I was younger. Adams died in 1984, so Buono is definitely older than me. After listening to him talk for two hours I can see why his course filled up fast. He is a very passionate and animated man. Oh, how I adore passionate men!
"How many of you here want to be professional photographers?" he asked the class. A few men raised their hands. I didn't. "I'm going to be a little harsher on you, and believe me, I will be" he said to those aspiring photographers. "You are going to need harsh criticisms in this field, trust me." He also said that between class time, assignments and website tutorials, students are going to spend eight hours a week on his class. "I take two to five thousand pictures a day" he added. I think he's the only person I know who takes more photos than I do.
When I took a photojournalism class at IU years ago, the award-winning professor, Wilbur Counts, who helped the Louisville Courier-Journal win a Pulitzer Prize for feature photography in 1976, said that at best only ten percent of one's photographs are worth displaying. Last night Buono said the same thing.
I'm going to enjoy the challenge this semester. This coming weekend I'm joining a few hiking club members for a weekend car-camp in the Maricopa Mountains near Phoenix. I have no doubt I will be able to take some very nice photographs there.
http://www.svherald.com/content/jd-rottweiler/2010/01/18/cochise-college-excited-about-new-facilities
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