Blog

I had a scare over the weekend.  I’m a long, long time birder, or "bird-watcher," as they used to call it.  As a teenager I helped with bird banding and prepared study skins, “stuffed” birds that now just lay in drawers at Ohio State University's Museum of Biological Diversity.  Through this in-hand exposure I picked up histoplasmosis, a fungal disease that, in my case, broke out in the retina of my eye.  I’ve had a number of laser surgeries because of leaking blood vessels in each eye (which isn’t supposed to happen), leaving me with blind spots in both eyes, and significant vision loss in the left.

I noticed a flare-up that required a visit with the ophthalmologist yesterday.  But to my great joy, new procedures have been developed which make “hot laser” only one of several treatment options.  I had many times worried if I would be able to paint the same way if I lost further sight in my good eye.  People are praying for me, so I’m trusting the Lord for good things!  In my giddiness, I decided to post my favorite painting of the last 6 months or so.  It’s a small piece that only took a short time to paint, but it seemed to pull together the stuff I’ve been trying to learn, and It “worked!”

——Jim