My wife suggests the possibility that I am depressed. My neurologist says pretty much all her patients are either anxious or depressed. It makes me laugh, reminds me of a bumper sticker sentiment: if you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.
I need a big day. Maybe October 8.
It’s fall 2022 and I am on the same rig as I have been for a while: Swarovski 8.5x42EL, Benro monopod, and Swaro ATS 80 on a thirty year old Manfrotto Bogen tripod that weighs about a thousand pounds (not including the micro fluid head.) Maybe I should give in and ask Santa for some carbon fiber for Christmas.
I don’t think I have been that good this year, but maybe carbon fiber and coal are not that far apart.
I still haven’t figured out how to carry the P900 without it banging into everything but when I am birding with the boy he sees the world through his little Canon point and shoot viewfinder half the time anyway so maybe that’s a non-issue. And since Standish Academy is a home school, I am never not birding with the boy.
“Never, not.” Maybe I need an editor as well.
Back on just Sinemet, I cannot map the lagging “on” or “peak” periods to the dosage timing, which disappoints me because I think I should be a better scientist than I am. I can barely get my pills into a plus/minus one hour regimen. I have no discipline when it comes to sticking to a strict symptomatic recording schedule. Combining the carbo/levadopa with a dopamine agonist seemed to work a lot better, right up until my feet began to swell. And there was also the slight bit of obsessive behavior to contend with, specifically a fixation on the acquisition of polyhedral dice. (Which in my defense is really a pretty mild obsession in the grand scheme of things.)
Although I need it like two holes in the head, it may be time to think about wiring up some deep brain stimulation.
This is not a very birdy post. Here’s a thought: I was with the boy doing a little hawk watching at Wachusett Mountain on Saturday and the wind felt like it was blowing 30 or 40 mph, with gusts over and above that. I was layered appropriately, except for the fact that I discovered too late that someone had poached my birding gloves from my windbreaker shell pocket. Those exposed hands were enough to make me shiver.
Shivering is contraindicated if you have PD, so stay layered up, and don’t forget to bring gloves!