Of Having Covid & Kilts

Fun with Canon EOS 5DSr + Canon EF 35mm f/1.4 + Speedlite 600EX-RT flashes + Laptop + Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT

In my version of the 'Dying Gaul' he doesn't go down meekly.

I’ve been incapacitated with Covid-19 for a few days. Thankfully I am used to being in pain, and my lifestyle is helping me fight off the virus. The Ho Chunk Nation also gifted me with the vaccine earlier than I would have received it otherwise. It’s not been the best few days, thankfully I have recent experience with living in solitary confinement. It strengthened me.

Having posed for art classes at the university, as well as once having been a student, I thought doing some unusual positions would be interesting to see.

The worst part for me are the dreams. This sickness had invaded my subconscious and loosened a few of the nuts holding things together. Thankfully I am very experienced at holding chaos within an acceptable, cynical acceptance of it simply always having to exist. Pretending it’s not part of life doesn’t work. You just “nut-up.”

I simply had fun balancing on a yoga stability ball. It's something I do as part of my regular fitness training anyway, so it lent to more natural "look" for me.

Yesterday I lay in bed all day, feeling guilty over not being alive enough to go do something productive. I mean, I rarely have a day off from work, so it felt so wasted. I’ve been fortunate to have learned from some very wise people that self care is essential. So I napped, dreamt and drank a lot of water.

Last night as I dozed off I felt footsteps of a very light cat step onto my ankles. I could feel all four of its paws delicately saunter their way up my calves. As it stepped onto my thigh, I startled awake! How real it felt! After that I slept soundly for the first time in days. My dreams no longer tormented me.

In one vivid dream I donned my kilt and played with my professional camera gear. I lived through setting up the gear and how I would light myself. It all happened in a happy blur of creative energy, like swooping around the wooden roller coasters back home; the one I used to ride with my child in a flight of pure joy.

So this is my being ALIVE and saying “FU COVID-19!”

I am still testing positive on my test kits. Today's “T” line appeared as soon as the fluid hit the mark. It was very solid, very fast, so I guess I am still in for a ride but I believe I will be OK. I have to be. Oh, and thanks for the weight-cut. I guess my body needed to lose a few more pounds. What really sucks is as I write this I have cooked a Greek meal with chicken, garlic, lemon & oregano (the oil is implied) and I can’t smell it. Fun.

You can also view this series and other work on my photo site, which has been woefully ignored by myself for too long.