busy doing nothing

St Paul's Anglican Church, Charlottetown

I haven’t done much of anything lately. There’s been too much snow and ice to run and cycling’s out of the question until May at least. Even walking isn’t pleasant. Roads are dirty and stubborn snow heaps are still melting into puddles that are slow to soak away.

Abdominal pain hasn’t helped. I’ve had two bouts of serious pain. It comes in waves like cramp and at its worst leaves me doubled over, sweating and almost breathless. My digestion arrangements were all over the place and I lost my appetite. Eventually I went to the ER and had blood and urine tests followed by x-rays and a CT scan. None of these were conclusive but the doc treated me as if it might be diverticulitis. Antibiotics have helped and the pain has loosened its grip leaving me with mild discomfort.

All in all, sluggish is a fair assessment.

In addition to testing the recovery of my running injury when both warmer weather and better health arrive, I have a couple of projects sitting in the wings. In particular I want to make a photographic record of the principal buildings in Charlottetown. This may run to a few hundred images. There are many churches, government offices, historic buildings, shops, restaurants, public amenities, education and healthcare establishments as well as beautiful old homes full of architectural detail, some restored and others in decay. Several sunny mornings from 5AM onwards should do the trick. I will need to photograph some facades from the west though, which will require the light of evening expeditions.

Audio books continue to be a big source of entertainment. Lately I’ve listened to books that I had read before and found I took more from them this time round, especially those I had previously read aloud. Reading aloud requires more looking ahead than one might imagine and while you’re checking the remaining path of the sentence you don’t listen to yourself reading the first half. You hear but don’t listen. Authors narrating their own work brings a nice personal touch but isn’t always the best idea. Jon Krakauer reads his firsthand account of the 1996 Everest tragedy at breakneck speed, while Alice Sebold reads Lucky and The Lovely Bones in a dull monotone. I’m currently listening to The Secret Life of Bees. I enjoyed the story a few years ago but the narrator Jenna Lamia breathes new life into it, positively owning the first person character Lily, a true ‘performance.’