Do Not Disturb

I didn't leave the house yesterday until dinnertime.  I meant to.  The day was another one of a now long string of beautiful days.  But, as I told my mother later, I seem to have lost gumption.  What I did do, however, was work on the surf series.  I've scanned about 130 negatives now.  It takes a long time.  As negatives were scanning on one computer, I was cooking them up on another.  That is taking a long time, too.  As I near the end, I will need to consider buying a printer.  Well. . . I'll need to buy one.  The question is how much money will I spend.  There will be much more to do when I start printing as the paper tones are much different than the tones you see on the screen.  Some colors are "out of gamut" and are translated into colors the ink can handle.  The paper tone and texture make subtle changes in the image, too.  If I really wanted to go all out, I would take on producing the images as platinum/palladium prints.  That would be the thing to do, but I would need to buy a whole lot of materials including an exposure unit that takes up a lot of room and is expensive.  The process of making one print takes a whole lot of time.  If I was all set up and worked an entire day, I could probably make eight or ten small prints.  The other way I could go is to use the photo gravure process.  I would have to buy a printing press and all the accouterments.  It is no quicker a process, really.  Each of those, however, make spectacular prints.  

For now, I will have to satisfy myself with inkjet prints.  

Money and time.  I'm running out of both.  

Just as I was walking out the door to go to my mother's, Tennessee called.  I had not heard from him since he went to the Earth Day concert.  It was weird and strange, he said, and he partied long and had not been up all day.  Now he wanted to take his boat out for a sunset cruise.  

"Sorry, dude.  My mother's making dinner."

I was glad I hadn't gone to the concert.  I was still recovering from the two previous nights.  I would have liked to take the boat ride, though.  

"Let me know when you leave your mom's house.  I'll come pick you up at the dock."

But I knew it would be too late.  

I took a bottle of wine as my contribution, and before we ate, my mother and I sat outside and had a glass.  The air was gentle, the light soft.  A bit of breeze would move the leaves slightly from time to time.  Mom seemed to be in good spirits.  I told her measured tales of small debaucheries from the past few days.  She told me about her friend, three years younger than herself, a woman with whom she used to travel, who is having terrible trouble with her leg.  The blood is not flowing to it. 

"She told the doctor that she is over everything.  She's just ready to be done."

"Yea. . . I understand that.  At some point, you just aren't having fun anymore, you can't do the things you used to do."

"She still plays cards," my mother said.  

"Well. . . at least there's that.  And we have the wine."

My mother is not the best cook, but dinner that night was delicious.  Steamed broccoli, mashed potatoes, and big fried pork chops.  We ate it all and finished the wine.  

We went back outside and chatted until it was dark.  

Driving home, I got a text from Tennessee.  It was a picture from the boat.  Was I glad I didn't go?  There was Black Sheep holding a girl who was steering the boat from behind.  Two more women were sitting in back.  It looked like trouble.  

Later, when I was home, Tennessee called to explain.  Black Sheep had met the women in a bar and brought them back for a sunset cruise.  It was his boat, not Tennessee's.  

"Oh, shit.  Black Sheep is calling.  I'll call you back."

"Don't."  

I was down for the night.  My phone goes to a "do not disturb" setting early in the evening so that it doesn't ring or announce text messages.  I only know I have a call or text if I check my phone.  This frustrates some of my friends, but it is better for me, I think.  I'm only open from eight to eight.  

I will hear all about the last two nights today, I'm sure. 

Of course going on the boat would have been better for the blog.  I would have some kind of story to tell.  And for that reason, I am sorry.  But for all kinds of other reasons, I really am not.  I need to get this surf series done and get onto the next thing.  It is tedious and time consuming.  I hope I am pleased with the outcome.  I'm a pessimist, of course.  You surely know that.  I am always ready for disappointment.  That way, anything good is like a miracle gift from the gods.