Staying Alive

Hat tip to the Bee Gee’s

I was with my GP yesterday. We scrolled through the usual, breathing worse, sleeping a bit better with the pills, nausea and vomiting have now increased to up to three times per week, sometimes with diarrhea.

That brought me more pills, this time to counteract my brains new inability to handle movement, I already take anti sickness pills to counteract the drugs I take. My toes are clubbing, not disco ball clubbing, but bulging out and over, it’s a by poroduct of the asbestosis. The doctor gave me nail varnish and Vicks vapour rub to apply. I wonder if she thought it was April 1st.

I am now taking twenty-three meds a day that keep me alive and give me a quality of life that is far beyond the settee and daytime TV. I have a medical drawer that hold one month’s supply and is full. And I have just had to order a larger daily medicine dispenser.

At the end of the session we discussed Moby Dick, I had been reading it in the waiting room, and whether the doctor should read it. I did my best to push the book, telling her about a whole chapter on the colour white and how to strap a whale to the side of a boat so nothing capsizes. I hope I made a good impression.

Pulmonary Rehab phoned to tell me they were looking into my case to see if I was worth spending time on. If so they’ll be in touch. No need to call them.

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The first of April has a significance for me. It is the end of the self-imposed isolation I began in November. The chance of a respiratory infection is significantly lower than when I entered purdah back in November. Scout has taken me out for a short walk after dinner and it was very satisfying. I think he enjoyed having me there too.

It is also significant because this is when I start my new year. Over the next few weeks money will be shifted around, plans costed and budgets made. This will stay in place until next April.

I also plan projects for the year ahead. There is a slow read of James Joyce’s Ulysses that I have begun with elizabeth graham madden and a cultural wander through art with THE REFLECTIVE EYE that I am hoping will give me a foundation for looking and appreciating. I have made a decision to add these two newsletters to my paid subscriptions along with my existing Melissa Harrison for her wonderful insights in to nature and the goings on, legal or otherwise of a close knit community. It is worth checking all of these out.

I will study with these on a monthly basis but the real benefit will be come November when I batten down the hatches again until the following April.

Along with literature and art I have a new photography project coming where I am going back to B&W 35mm film and my new/old Rollei 35 S.

These little delicacies are essential for me today. It keeps my mind and body moving forward.

I am working on the second part of my triptych short story. There is a great deal of research into an area I am familiar with but not intimately. There is a mountain of reading and understanding to transform facts into an entertaining narrative. Part one of the triptych, I Hope There Is A Sunset is out being read and I hope enjoyed by people. The second part I hope will be with readers next January/February. If anyone wants to read it drop me a message via the newsletter.

I’ve just finished reading Moby Dick, my second read through of Melville’s classic. As always the author had snook into my house to insert new chapters and pages, things that were not there before. That’s a good reason for second readings. Each month I try to read a book that I have read before. In April it will be Swann’s Way that I last read in 2023. I do a lot of reading, I have the time and I enjoy it. My next read is The Children Act by Ian McEwan. A few more books and I will have completed his work then I might move on to William Boyd. In between all this I’ll read more classics, Walden and Huckleberry Finn are on the list that The Honest Broker set up on his Humanities Reading course. I’ve really enjoyed it even though I’ve been so slow, it’s a one year reading course and I am currently in year three with over a quarter of the course still to do. It was another Substack find that has educated me beyond anything I could have imagined.

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Back in the 70s I was a disco man. Every Friday and Saturday night would find me on the dance floor doing my stuff. It was the time of John Travolta and Saturday Night Fever. What a great album that was, and I was a prog rocker. Those of you old enough and lucky enough to remember those times will remember the falsetto crooning of the Manchester brothers, The Gibbs. I can still see the three of them walking towards the camera in their tight fitting spangly outfits, heavily permed hair and tight trouser high voices. Those were good days.

I think the next twelve months will be so exciting. I have to pinch myself for being so fortunate to be immersed in staying alive.

Take care and good luck

Paul