Coming Back

I had a massive heart attack on March 24. I am told that I was very very lucky. If not for the excellent training and quick thinking of the 911 operator, the amazingly fast response of our local voluntary first aid squad and the fortuitous presence of an outstanding cardiologist in the emergency room when I arrived you would be reading my obituary here, rather than this post.

I took a few pictures of visitors and my meals in the intensive care room with my iPhone but, otherwise, photography was nowhere near the top of my list of concerns. But as my recuperation and cardiac rehabilitation proceeded I began to think about what is really important to me. It turned out to be a relatively short list: family, friends, the church, music and photography. 

Part of my cardio rehab program involves setting goals, short term and long term. My first two short term goals were to sing with my church choir on Easter Sunday and to shoot, develop, scan and print a roll of film. I met the first goal on Sunday. I vested with the choir and participated in the service as best I could, remaining seated much of the time and saving my breath for the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, which I got through without a hitch. At this point it appears that my volume will be as good as before but I am going to have to pay a lot more attention to my breathing. 

I am moving along with my photography goal as well. Yesterday I assembled the Visoflex rig on the IIIf, put it on the tripod and carried the whole kit out to the back of the property where I took some closeup pictures of details on the the old shed. I finished the roll, removed the film from the camera and loaded it into the developing tank. I expect to develop it this afternoon, scan it tomorrow and, if anything looks interesting in the contact sheet, make some prints this weekend.