hunting spiders, donkeys and birds

Thanks to Gaye, Pat and Geraldine for letting me crash their orchid hunting party on Tuesday ... more wonder with Emma's camera in the small spaces.

Fire clearing and good spring rain at Wilsons Promontory have combined to bring the best show of native orchids in many years - millions of them. Tiny and stunning.

They were all there: spider orchids, donkey orchids, greenhoods, sun orchids, hyacinth orchids and red bird orchids. On top of this display - the xanthoreas were in flower after last year's fires - a close up on their constellation-like flower stems is here.

A glow comes from a couple of hours behind a lens in these places: they're the very images that you need to hold to staring at the roof of a high dependency unit - a million reasons to stick around that bit longer.

back on the roads

It's not trekking the Argentinian altiplano - yet - but a four day bike ride across central Victoria with a great bunch of crew helped very much to feed the feeling of getting stronger, and getting back on the roads.
Tour de Heartland was good fun, but meant a lot more in terms of signposting recovery (though Digger and I agreed we both like the word 'reinvention' rather than oft abused 'recovery' or 'comeback'): I gave myself maybe one hour of riding each day, then the rest with feet up on the dashboard of the support vehicle. Instead I managed the whole first day from Mansfield to Benalla, the whole next day Benalla to Shepparton, rested up the third day Shepparton to Bendigo with complaining soleas, Achilles and hamstrings, then rolled all the last day with fresh legs through the old gold mining country - Bendigo to Castlemaine.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=161822436056

Spring has sprung well and truly now - irises, tulips, ranunculus - and cartwheeling among them perhaps more than any other year for having lived through that fucker of a winter's saga: of which the next instalment is another neurologist appointment in a couple of weeks to discuss EEG and his inflammation theory.

I'd have loved to have an EEG or MRI done during my cello lesson last Saturday - feels like every little back room, nodule, lobe, crest, corner, saddle and peninsula of this recently violated scone glows and sings with long bowing of the C Major scale.

Found a fantastic teacher and loving it - I doubt there's any better way to encourage new brain connections/elasticity than wearing Learner plates with a fretless instrument.

Saltwater

Again back to that quote ...
the one about the cure for anything being tears, saltwater or sweat.

Well, took a few days out at Saltwater Creek with the lads ... magic.

Spoke to a neurologist last week ... he's got some ideas with impressive sounding Latin names about inflammation and how that can sometimes just happen all by itself.

Getting bored of neurology - getting excited by the spring and seashores.

'Stable'!!!

It's still there, somewhere deep right temporal lobe, above and behind right eyeball - and we still don't know what the fucker is ...

BUT - apparently it's not getting any bigger.

"Stable" they called me (or it).

I've been milking that for all it's worth: a renowned neurosurgeon's calls me 'stable'!

I see a diagnostic neurologist in a couple of weeks who is interested in the case and has been a part of the background panel of people involved - though I've never met him. He may have some other ideas to chase up in regards finding out what it actually is (or was).

BUT - so far as the surgeon is concerned, I'm now in the "let's see you in six months and keep up observations" bracket: it appears the body's own defence cells have surrounded it, contained it and appear to be making sure the fucker gets no bigger all by themselves without any chemical treatment. He's happy with that - and it meant a lot to see him relaxed and unconcerned. Four months of stress dissipated on seeing his relaxed smile.

I swam 1.25 kms in the pool the other night with Sean, I'm getting up on the ladder to finally clean my gutters, am about to purchase a road bicycle .
Neurosurgeon looked totally relaxed about all that - it's been four months now without passing out and he says the risk of it happening again decreases with time. BUT, I'm probably still a good six months off lobbying the state government to be allowed once again behind a wheel. That may still be a two year wait for a license.

AND I just bought two bee hives along with the nuclear reactor worker suit, smoker and all the other stuff, as did Jason. We introduce the queens and the swarms when spring warms up a little. My hives will sit at the foot of the magic manna gum pictured in the last posting, feeding off her nectar.
Red Hill Honey is born - though I have a world to learn (and hopefully now a bit of time to learn it!)

(The Photoshop enhancement to MRI pic is courtesy of Dave - who has made his own diagnosis of the situation: the gopher from Caddy Shack has taken up residence in there and grooving away quit contentedly, as it does in the cup of the 18th in the movie's final scene. The bee is one of my own shots from a ways back: we have much to learn from bees, like never ever ever giving up.)

of growth, quiet time and food ...

Another MRI tomorrow to see if this thing is getting bigger, smaller or staying content.

Starting to suspect some blood sugar issues - hitting the wall a lot lately: quiet time and food seems the only fix.

Quiet time is never a bad thing though ...


A better shot of my favourite Manna Gum (featured back in May) in some sort of elegant pose which those who know more more about dance could put a name to, and a fungi of some sort just starting life near the creek after much welcomed rain.
Mountain ducks are about lately: with a cunning system at feed-out time for the horses. Duck groom stands guard while duck bride raids what's left of old Troubadour's feed bucket.

Could be worse

Well, we sat with the man who knows all about beasties and ghoulies and fungi and yeasts and bacteria: he doesn't think it's any of those.
After two spinal taps (I learnt that they did a second while I was in surgery) he figures the spinal fluid would have given him some indication.

He was interested in the fact that the brain lining, the meninges, is inflamed.
That could lend itself to exploring the idea of cryptocuccus meningitis: a rare form of meningitis caused by a yeast found in Murray River Red Gum, ie/ firewood. It's a wee beastie that Melinda and Wayne had a long and difficult battle with a few years ago.
BUT: I'd have had crippling headaches, and it would have shown up in my spinal fluid - and would have been a lot more aggresive than what's apprently there.

More needles, more blood tests - but he doesn't think it's his department.

There's a few crew working on it he assured us - fascinated apparently.

I've decided I'm getting on with life: let them scratch their heads.

Dave, Bolivia in November is a distinct possibility for the World Rangers Conference with the Thin Green Line Foundation - and altiplano meandering time.

... and things could be worse anyways: here's a snapshot into Bennie P's backyard from his birthday gig - Once Was Home Brewer. Sad.

Fun in the frost

I've always found wonder in a frosty morning ... but this winter I seem to have the drive to get out of bed and really get amongst it.

Heard from my GP who has gone in and shaken the tree for me in regards getting lost in the public health system - apparently I'll hear very soon from the neurosurgery team with a referral to a specialist in brain hitch-hiking beasties 'exotic' and 'rare'.

In the meantime I'm back at work in full swing, loving that; and getting amongst the frost.

... and Emma, you're going to need a crowbar, solvent and a gang of bikies to get your D200 back.