a good day at the office today --- and then a surprise call from john telling me he and donald got married --- !!!

eleventh street's revenge

eleventh street is open again, for what it's worth --- it's not too scenic but we're observing some issues, i think, remaining with the ground water from the springs and branches that originally ran around the north and east sides of the intersection of p'tree and tenth (the southwest side, too, but that's beside the point) --- this is the same branch that gouged the gully that peachtree road circumvented before it was straightened in the 1880s to eliminate the notorious "tight squeeze" ---there were apparently springs just south of eighth between juniper and piedmont and where the federal reserve bank is now located ---  some of the branch was probably already in culverts when clara meer was built in 1894 by damming the main branch a few hundred feet before it intersected with clear creek  just north of the present park avenue bridge--- anyway, today they have a big ol' area, not unlike a sink hole---taped off and the pumps are running again --- the bean counters are distressed

yay, eye!

post-op checkup at the crack of dawn --- vision is nearly 20/20, although the new eye isn't pulling all its weight yet --- pressure a little high so another eye drop, replacing another one that i finished yesterday ---

the ruination of eleventh street, cont'd.

the west side of piedmont ave downstream from tenth is a little skeery, what with the sheer plywood wall

productive day at the keyboard and the plumber came so everything is dry again --- and my stupid eye continues to improve!

saw some renderings of the new ncr building, which will add an entirely different dynamic to my viewshed, and rid midtown of another block of surface parking

a great american

just finished sugden's biography of tecumseh (1768-1813), and a somber tale it was --- not unlike those of red cloud, crazy horse, sitting bull, quana parker, and geronimo that i have read over the last few months --- tecumseh was a hero to canadians since his leadership is credited with decisive victories during the war of 1812 that helped ensure that ontario would be a canadian province and not an american state --- he was one of several great, and truly tragic, native american leaders who tried, in vain, to bridge the gulf between tribes and cultures to fight the relentless expansion of the euro-americans  ---

whoa howdy, preach it!

great evening on the balcony with friends --- always a good breeze, which is purty plush in the kinda weather we've been having

the orchidicaea

unit #23 (i've numbered them all, so i can keep up with bloom time and what not) --- reblooming for me for a second time --- small blossoms, maybe 2½" in diameter --- 

and a nice contrast with its neighbor #19

 #26, the buono memorial cattleya, has two of four sprays of blossoms open, and smelling nice in the mornings

and this champion, #4, an oncidium, is winding down a blooming season that started the last week in april!

storm at covington, as seen from midtown

wish i coulda been on the ground out there for that one

landmarks gone

i love it that parts of atlanner are building up like a real city, but i hate the loss of trees --- some are personal favorites, like the little 30-year-old grove of virginia pine that wrapped the corner of eighth and cypress --- always the smell of piney woods when dog and i walked that way --- still a little of the piney-woods smell today, but nothing but holes where the pines were

far worse is the loss of the landmark oaks dating back to the nineteenth century --- they left the giant one on eleventh street when they did the initial site work and even fenced it off, but then a couple of weeks ago, they cut the limbs off one side ---- now it's gone entirely --- it was a champion and on a site like that could have been saved were it not for the eternal greed of real-estate developers --- same thing happened to the gorgeous white oak on the east side of juniper between fifth and sixth: wasted for greed

one or two eyes?

i might have been a bit premature in replacing my one-eyed jack facebook pic with this happy jack, but whatever --- after being satisfied that vision in the bum eye was at least stable and not changing every ten minutes, as it had been, i slept soundly, only to wake up thinking it had gone completely out, even after i got the eyelid unstuck from all the drops and what not all up in there --- lay there for an hour in the dark, seeing only red lights where there were a few bright white lights outside --- i think all the crap must congregate in the center of my field of vision when i'm lying down --- had the scheduled doctor's followup just now and he says it's fine and will continue to improve, come back in a week --- so in spite of the still-crappy vision, i'll take that as a positive sign --- robert has been great hauling me around and generally commiserating with this mess

my i

looks worse than it really is maybe, and at least it's over --- it's not quite the immediate and spectacular transformation that the original lens replacement for cataracts engendered, but it's a start --- won't have to wear the patch long, but i got a million drops to put in my eye over the next month

stormy time

been working madly to finish some work before they poke my eye out on wednesday --- counting on things getting back to nermal soon

heritage, not hate

these images were taken at the confederate flag protest in columbia sc on saturday -- look closely at their non-hate-filled display

my personal favorite: this little prick doing gorilla imitations

re-erecting midtown

morning wasted or whatever at dr's office getting pre-op done for next week's eye work --- but got a nice lot of work done in the afternoon --- onward and upward

best buds

a great line of summer thunderstorms just rolled through --- cooled things off a little bit ---

pain in the eye

met with the dr. that installed my funky lens fifteen yrs ago and he's gonna replace it next wednesday --- i will be so glad to be done with all of this


after that, i went down to city hall to be sentenced to another three-year term on the urban design commission ---- wheeeeee!

monday, monday

the eye was halfway usable today so i got some work done --- i'm loving my changing neighborhood even if it is not what i might have built

dog days, cont'd.

el ojo is still a mess, but at least it's no longer dilated, which is a big plus --- and i finally remembered that, oh, you can make everything bigger on the screen --- i had it set on the smallest display, doh

slicing up eyeballs

eyeball-wise, this week has sukd --- had the worst episode yet during the audc mtg last night --- so this morning i was back at the doctor's ---resolution is near, i think: an appt next tues with the surgeon that installed the damn lens in 2001, and a replacement lens shortly after that ---

coochee

the eye has been in and out all day but went up the country to get the sautee-nacoochee project kicked off --- although i've known the area all my life, it'll be a new world as far as its history goes --- ought to be fun

robert has already given it a nickname

keep on building, y'all . . . .

"modera midtown" --- i don't know how i missed it --- located on the north side of williams street between peachtree place and eighth street --- they've definitely broken ground on it --- i won't be able to see anything but the top few floors, but it ought to be a good addition to the view from the expressway --- i'm a little disappointed that the block of ptree place between williams and spring will continue to be the back side of everybody's butt: all the retail will be on eighth

but the first new condo tower since 2007 is the one that really rocks --- holy moly

pickle/eye redux

back to the eye man today, and same old, same old --- i think he told me two or three contradictory things re what's going on --- come back in 5 weeks --- hmmmph --- that was first thing this morning --- this afternoon around 2 went with robt to dekalb farmers mkt and we'd been there 10 minutes when the damn eye went down ---it was useless except for light and shadow for two or three hours and now at 5:30 it may be at 75% --- i think the authority of dr. eye man's opinion has been severely diminished this afternoon

but i did get pickling cucumber and got them in the brine for take #2 in the pickling binge --- much saltier brine this time --- used raw organic apple-cider vinegar and organic dill, which was really beautiful, especially sitting next to the regular product --- the cucumber were probably grown in an industrial brownfield somewhere, but they looked better than the last batch ---- threw in some pearl onion --- same spices as before --- wait two weeks

r.i.p.

she fled her wife-beating s.o.b. spouse in alabama in 1980, i think, and lived with us for a while on sinclair avenue --- a friend just emailed to say she's dead, "complications from diabetes" --- she was a good woman --- i'll miss getting her christmas card

commencing the dog days

an interesting day, all in all --- massive wall of water this morning before meeting a young woman down at the hart cemetery to talk about repairs to the smashed stones --- place was looking kinda beat and kinda depressing --- i'm trying to decide if i want to do anything about that

life is plush when the rudbeckia blooms