Point Made

Steppin' Out By Jeff Jordan There's a small rise on my road to recovery. It's neither a cliff or a curb. It's four steps leading out of the house. Navigating those four steps, both coming and going, is my path to freedom. So far, so good. Well so good if you forget the first couple of times where I nearly knocked Maria down as I descended and had her lift me as I ascended. But clearly the last couple times, it's been more manageable, and I'm controlling the trip much better I received an email from my artist, golfer, and Packer fan friend, Lenny Nagler. Each year Lenny crawls out of his self imposed hibernation from his studio. Bearing the fruits of his labor, he feels compelled to take the temperature of his associates as to the quality of his work. Artists in all fields of endeavor crave the validation of the audience. No? Lenny calls this his "Preview Party" Taking a huge gamble f the weather, it is traditionally a cookout.  The highlight...

Challenge, What Has Photography Meant To Me? by Jeff Jordan I got an interesting challenge from an unsolicited source. Going through my many email's from all kinds of organizations and individuals I've never heard of, but apparently, silicon valley thinks I should, a photography course ad asked it's viewers, 'What has photography meant to you?' Wow! That one got my attention. First of all, I'm the oldest photographer in my family, but by no means the best. I began taking pictures in the sixth grade. I was a student a The Basilica of St. Mary's in downtown Minneapolis. Down the street was a camera store and a film processing company. Ah, It was there I experienced my first sniff of film and photo processing chemicals. Addictive? Of course, and who is more prone to such behavior? Moi. My most memorable photo of this period was a shot I got of my classmate, and probably my first baby crush, Karen. I was holding the entrance door of the church as my cla...

The Battle of Wounded Knee How you take a shower when you're required to wear an immobilization brace . by Jeff Jordan An Immobilization brace is a device that prevents any torquing or bending of a knee. In my case, it is necessary to protect my knee while healing from surgery for my torn tendon. I was home from the hospital just one day when my surgical site began oozing a combination of gooey stuff and blood. It fouled my suture bandage to the point I needed to have it changed. I needed a nurse or wound specialist to change it. We went to the ER at Thedacare in Appleton. They cleaned, rebandaged the wound and gave me a new brace. This brace, when compared to the one I was given at my doctor's office, is much more effective, comfortable and safe. Its rigidity is accomplished with three metal strips. One strip is underneath the brace, keeping the leg straight. the other two, are on the sides of the brace guarding against twisting. The other element is the foam pad...

We have the opportunity to have our Grandchildren visit us about twice a month. They visit so they can spend time with Tom, their dad. Tom doesn't currently have an apartment large enough to accommodate them, so they all come to our house. Reagan (RayRay) is a lovely lively four-year-old girl, who has a normal amount of curiosity and the dexterity to look for and find what she is curious about. Her brother, Felix (Fee) is the same but a two years of age he doesn't talk and hasn't got the mobility to get everywhere he would like. They can be like insects on the floor. Inevitably, you try not to step on them. We have a pile of toys which are stored in a large bin. Almost the first thing they do when they arrive is to tip the bin over and spill out all of the contents. Things are easier to find that way. Then, using their imagination they convert objects into other objects and makeup games, stories, and characters to entertain themselves. Ray Ray does interrupt her ...

 If somebody tells you that the Mueller Report reads like a novel, they are an attorney or I, Ernest Hemingway. Not that it's not worth reading. (Full Disclosure: I've read the Introductions and summaries to both volume 1 & 2. I sampled bits and pieces in the body of the report.) One thing I learned is I watch entirely too much cable news. Why do I know that from reading the Mueller Report? Did you ever start reading a  book and then realize you had read it before?  The names were all familiar. I knew who were the good guys and the bad guys. The narrative was familiar. The plot was transparent. I knew when the story was going to take a twist. And the scenes... Yes, I may have forgotten some of them, but it all came back to me with time. I don't know how you come down on which side in this debate, but It doesn't look good for Trump in the long run. Caution! Schedule Change This weekly missive is going to be out early this week because of my scheduled surger...

As we celebrated for almost two weeks the successful implanting of my new knee, we were unaware of the snake lurking in the weeds. It showed its face during my post operation exam,  when my Doctor asked me, "How is it going". I replied, "Fine but when flex my knee sometimes it pops. You know like a knuckle cracking". After an extensive exam and x rays, he determined that I had torn my patella tendon. That's the one extends from knee to the lower leg. Imagine your sitting in a chair and you kick your foot out straight in front of yourself. You need a patella tendon to make that happen.  So next Wednesday I will make my fourth trip to the operating room at Thedacare and my left knee will be operated on.  The result will be that I rehab for at least six weeks in a leg brace. Did I ever write about how much I hated the brace I was wearing? It isn't so much the restriction it places on normal movement. It's more the lousy design, the unintentional disco...

Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee I have been drinking coffee since I was a teenager. Early morning I would witness my father getting up and brewing coffee in a percolator. This was a stovetop pot with a stem that perched on a concave dish. This allowed the water to bubble up through the stem and disperse across a basket of ground coffee. The time it took to pour a perfect cup from this device? The time it took to shave. He would then pour two cups. One he drank with his breakfast. The other cup would then be cool enough to gulp down as he left the house. No go-cups for him. Later, I attended St Edwards High School in Cleveland Ohio. We took the city bus to school. We usually had plenty of time to go to the cafeteria and drink a cup or two of Joe. It was dispensed out of a huge pot with the cream already mixed in. I think the idea was to provide nutrition while they woke us up before class time. It was Folgers and Economy grind from the...