I was just reading the latest on Hurricane Milton, which seems headed for my home turf in Florida. The forecasters seem to believe the storm will weaken before it hits land in the Tampa area, but it could still be a huge disaster. Stay safe, friends and family.
Life around here is boring by comparison, at least meteorologically, which is good. I'm about to start my annual Dickens novel. This year it's "Bleak House," and after today we'll be off work the rest of the week for our October Break. I'll hopefully have lots of time to settle in and read.
We're not traveling for the break because Dave has several medical appointments scheduled, including one today. He's had this weird thing develop with his eye, involving abnormal blood vessels growing near his optic nerve, and he's seeing a specialist to develop a treatment plan. It happened so suddenly -- he woke up one day last week complaining about spots in his vision that look like scattered pepper, lots of small defined black dots (or red when he's in sunlight). I think the consensus is that it's blood from these blood vessels that has spilled into the interior of his eye. Anyway, apparently this is a known thing and it's treatable, but it is a form of macular degeneration so we're not sure about any long-term implications.
The doctor kept asking him, "Are you sure you haven't been hit in the head recently?" Dave is sure.
Just one more shot of our canna lily, with two flowers fully open.
(Top photo: My walk to work along Finchley Road, yesterday morning.)
The long shadows in the Finchley Road photo look interesting. I hear quite a bit about Finchley Road from various sources. It must be a major road and carry a lot of traffic, which might not be a nice thing.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a major road through North London and not particularly pleasant to walk, but it's the most direct route from our flat to work.
DeleteLower autumn light picks out so many different things..that is a lovely image.
ReplyDeleteHope all your family stay well both here and there.
Thanks! Sometimes the light strikes in just the right way.
DeleteYou have such a finely tuned eye. Wish Dave’s could be, as well. Keeping a good thought for him and for the good people of Florida and other states in the path of Milton (I suppose I should keep a good thought for the shitty people of Florida, too).
ReplyDeleteYeah, I imagine everyone deserves good wishes at this point!
DeleteI saw yesterday (I haven't checked this morning) that Milton was upgraded to a category 5. That is so scary. I hope everything with Dave's eye will be okay. Enjoy your break from work.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a 5 now, but they say it will weaken before it strikes land. Still a scary storm, though.
DeleteThe special autumnal light is well-captured in the top picture. Sorry to hear about Dave's sudden eye issue and I hope the matter can be quickly resolved. Is it just in one eye?
ReplyDeleteJust one eye. The doctors seem convinced it's some kind of injury.
DeleteSorry to hear about the eye problem. That's worrying. On break again? It seems like a few days since you started back.
ReplyDeleteI started back almost two months ago. Time flies! This is our first big break of the school year, the October Break (which I think the British call "half term," though theirs comes slightly later).
DeleteThe canna lily is gorgeous. What a colour combination! Here's good wishes for a speedy recovery for Dave.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've been ambivalent about those cannas, but seeing this one bloom I think I need to take better care of them!
DeleteHopefully Dave's eye condition is completely treatable. Will send positive thoughts to both him and our friends in Florida.
ReplyDeleteThanks on both counts!
DeleteYour canna is lovely. I hope everything goes well with the treatment for Dave's eye. Milton is a category 4 at the moment. We should get more rain this time. I'm not thrilled.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Yeah, no one needs the rain, that's for sure.
DeleteThat's scary about Dave's eye, but if I were him I might start looking at you suspiciously because maybe you hit him in the head while he was asleep (I jest, but Mike & I have been known to accidentally pummel each other in the night).
ReplyDeleteHa! I really don't think I've done that unless neither of us woke up, which seems unlikely!
DeleteFor a couple days, I've been thinking about you and mostly your friends and family back in Tampa. It looks like it will be an ugly one and I hope everyone stays safe. We have a friend who moved down to Fort Myers earlier this year. It looks like they will be on the bad side of the hurricane for storm surge.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and now the storm has moved slightly south so they may get more wind damage too.
DeleteHope your family is safe from Milton.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about Dave's eye, altho, I am glad to hear that it is a treatable condition. Just another worry, tho.
Enjoy your break, Steve!
It IS a worry, especially because we're not sure what caused it.
DeleteI am so very worried for those in the projected area of landfall for Milton. What a stupid name for a hurricane although I guess it doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteI surely hope that Dave's eye situation can be treated successfully. That's worrisome too.
It's not as stupid as "Georges," which is perhaps the worst hurricane name I've heard so far. It looks like it's going to be a bad one.
DeleteKind of scary about Dave's eye so I'm glad it's treatable. I can think of better things to do than read Dickens on my days off. I looked at the Milton forecast this morning and it's projected to be down graded to a cat 3 at landfall.
ReplyDeleteI actually like Dickens but I realize I am in the minority here!
DeleteThe canary lily pleases my eye, the one that can see...I feel tremendous empathy for Dave's vision, that may or may not be impaired. Injections in eye ball have helped my eye for now. I hope that the treatment for Dave is successful. Losing vision is frightening, major adjustment!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy October holiday! Reading Bleak House! I remember reading it long ago and feeling mostly frustration. Never put your faith in the legal system....
I thought of you when he mentioned macular degeneration, but the docs seem unsure exactly what it is or what caused it. They seem to be progressing on the assumption that it's an injury.
DeleteAmazing canna! We are prepping for Milton here outside of Orlando. NOT looking forward to this.
ReplyDeleteIt will be no fun for anyone! At least you're inland, but watch for tornadoes!
DeleteDave's eye doctor may do a vitrectomy (... the surgical operation of removing the vitreous humor from the eyeball. "... vitrectomy may be indicated in cases of retinal detachment.") I had to have that done on my right eye. It sounds like Dave's retina may be detaching! Having a blow to the head could cause that, hence the doctor's question!
ReplyDeleteHe needs to get it taken care of ASAP!
Enjoy your break!
Milton is not looking good ... There will be more deaths from this one ... Helene was deadly, Milton will add to that total!
They haven't mentioned a detached retina, though I suppose that's a risk. They seem to think he injured his eye which led to the blood vessels bursting. They're taking a wait-and-see approach.
DeleteI hope they find that Dave's eye problems aren't serious.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThis sounds serious. I hope it gets sorted quickly.
ReplyDeleteYou mean the eye? They seem weirdly sanguine about it, but yeah, I hope it resolves quickly too.
DeleteThat's good that Dave's eye problem is being treated quickly.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I guess vision changes can signify very bad things so they saw him right away. But in his case they seem to think time may heal it.
DeleteThat canna lily is beautiful! I hope Dave's eye problem can be treated quickly and effectively. It has to be a bit scary. I was thinking about you when I heard that the most recent storm is headed toward Tampa. Another scary thing. Fingers crossed that it loses steam before it arrives.
ReplyDeleteWhen he first mentioned it I thought he meant he had floaters, like all of us do. But no, this is something else! Yes, let's hope Milton runs out of steam.
DeleteI read a lot of Dickens in college. I'm done with that now. There was also a lot of Jane Austen, which I did enjoy. Hope Dave's eye is not a terrible thing.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read any Dickens until I was 45 or so, and now I'm trying to catch up! I actually like it, but I know many people don't.
DeleteThat's a beautiful color lily! Those sudden health issues are annoying; we think we're fine and the next day we're dealing with some crappy problem. Hope that Dave will have a successful treatment.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's weird how this just came out of the blue!
DeleteI do love that shadow play in the first photograph. What would cause blood vessels to suddenly grow? Good luck to Dave.
ReplyDeleteCould be lots of things, apparently, including (at the scary end of the spectrum) cancer, and (at the less-scary end) an injury. Dave thinks his Crohn's and autoimmune issues may have something to do with it as well.
DeleteThe lily has wonderful color. I hope Dave gets his eye situation resolved.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are with everyone in FL. It is a big dangerous storm and FL hasn't recovered from the last storm. So unfair!
Yeah, this is a lot to have happen just weeks after the last one.
DeleteThat Finchley Road picture is really good, the shadows are quite dramatic. Great shot! Hope Dave's eye turns out to be not serious.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I will report back on Dave. I hope it resolves on its own, which it apparently may.
DeleteGrowing old is a pain in the . . . well, it's just a pain. Condolences to Dave.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, Dave says his eye doesn't hurt at all. He doesn't feel a thing.
DeleteI hope Dave's eye is treated and he is soon seeing normally again. Is macular degeneration treatable too these days?
ReplyDeleteThat long shadows photo is really good.
It is treatable depending on the cause and the severity, apparently.
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