The Ponce Chronicles 2025, Part Three

Or should I call this the Puppy Chronicles? Little Shadowfox turns out to be a fast learner, and she’s already calmed down considerably and is well on the way to being house trained. She sits and stays (ish). She’s sleeping through the nights, and is getting used to her bungalow (crate). She’s becoming part of the family, and it looks more and more as though we’re going to be returning in April with a second dog. (The name Shadowfox is not official yet, but it seems to be sticking.)

One big project got done by a contractor—a new platform for the pump and pool filter—plus a bunch of small repairs by yours truly. A lot of other important projects are still on hold while we await workers. Until a few days ago, our daughter and her partner were here, enjoying the Ponce celebration of Carnival. They’ve gone back home, and now it’s the two of us and the dogs, until some friends arrive in another week or so.

I’ve begun writing again. Slowly and haltingly, but writing. In fact, in the last week, I’ve dreamt twice about writing (though not fiction). The dreams were so detailed that they involved the actual wording and editing of the text my dreaming self was working on. I’ve never experienced that before. I think my subconscious is beginning to stir.

Here’s a clip of Shadowfox in perpetual motion machine-mode, helping Allysen to water the plants. (If it asks you to sign in, just reload and click Watch on Youtube.)

And the two dogs learning to get out of the swimming pool.

 

 

The Ponce Chronicles 2025, Part Two

If there’s one certainty about our coming to Puerto Rico—beyond the island’s beauty and warmth—it’s that our plans will be thrown into utter disarray by the arrival of one or more abandoned dogs seeking refuge at our front gate. This time it happened on the day of my second arrival. This charming little girl showed up, half starved, inside the gate, on the very day Allysen drove to San Juan to pick me up. You’d have to be Scrooge to resist this face.

I suppose we could have said, “Go somewhere else to die…” But seriously, no. By the time I got there, she’d been given food and water. Then she got a collar and a flea bath and a trip to the vet. She is sweet and affectionate and unafraid of people, and while our dog McDuff finds her energy mildly alarming, they get along fine. Did I mention she has boundless, explosive energy and no training? She could be in Wikipedia under the heading, “Handful.” Everyone is in love, and also exhausted.

Can we find someone to adopt her before we leave in April? Is there a way to get her back to the states, given that she’s too big to travel under an airline seat? Can my wife bear to give her up? Many questions, no answers. She appears to be part Manchester terrier, and guess who has always wanted a Manchester terrier. (Yesterday was Allysen’s birthday, so this might just be her present.) We’ve tried a dozen names on her and settled on none. I presently call her Shadowfox or Foxbat. But that might turn out to be her breed and not her given name.

When all these things are settled, I’ll let you know. Here she is with McDuff.

Boskone Over, Back to Puerto Rico

Last Saturday, I made my first in-person appearance since the pandemic at Boston’s Boskone convention. It was brief but enjoyable. I moderated a panel on “Hopeful Futures in SF,” which is something I feel we need more of; and I moderated a panel on “Writing and Structuring Long Series,” which is something about which I feel more writers should finish what they start. Ahem. Both panels were lively, with good input from my fellow panelists. I also talked to a fellow writer who told me he’d made extensive use of my online writing guide when teaching writing to high school students. This totally made my day.

Tomorrow I’m off once more to Puerto Rico, because we need to get going again on The Ponce Chronicles, or something like that. Also, I miss my wife and my dog. One of my daughters is already there, and the other one just landed in Ecuador. Doesn’t anyone stay home anymore? I guess not. I’ll be back in touch when there’s something to report in the next episode of the hit webcast, The Ponce Chronicles. (Cue rousing theme by John Williams.)

See you then!

IPF Update

Here’s another of my promised updates on my battle with pulmonary fibrosis. Now back in Boston (see below), I just had my first CT scan in a couple of years, and the new images show that my interstitial lung disease has progressed more or less the way my pulmonologists expected. This is a lot like, Sorry to report, but we’re continuing to spiral in toward the black hole. Still, according to my pulmo, she’s seen worse. My need for supplemental oxygen has doubled in the same time frame, which is not great news, either. I have a “new” 10L oxygen concentrator here at home now, as well as the actually new one I got in Puerto Rico. This thing is loud! It might be saving my life for now, but it’s killing my hearing and threatening my daughter with migraines at the same time. Looks a little like Robbie the Robot.

The new drug that promises to stop the progression of this damnable disease has just completed dual trials, with favorable results (according to my doc, who keeps her ear to the rails). There’s hope that it could be approved for use before too long. But that’s only if the Musk/Trump wrecking ball currently demolishing our government doesn’t disrupt the FDA’s drug approval process. (Bets, anyone?) That aside, in April, when I come back from Puerto Rico for the second time, I’ll be looking to get listed as a lung transplant candidate.

That’s all kind of a downer, isn’t it? Let’s see if I can end this on a more positive note: I have a whole lot of people praying for me. And I can still do all the push-ups and squats and lunges and weight-lifts I was doing before. I just need a little extra push in the atmo department. And ear muffs. What’s that? (Cupping hand to ear.) No, I can hear you just fine! It’s just… can you stop mumbling and speak up a little?

Upon arriving home from the tropics, this was the scene that greeted me. Brrrr.

Boston Lights at the Franklin Park Zoo

posted in: art, events, personal news 0

Recently we went with a friend of Allysen’s to see this remarkable installation of art at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo. It was spectacular, an hour-long walk through the grounds of the zoo, winding past a continuing display of gorgeously lit fabric-covered, wire-frame sculptures, many of them animated. It was mesmerizing, and a remarkable achievement by the artists who created it. Here are a few of the highlights:

We didn’t see any orgs, that is, living zoo animals. I asked about it as we were leaving, because I thought maybe they had all been moved to another facility for the time being. But no, I was told, they were all just asleep in their enclosures—apparently uninterested in the fairyland just outside their doors!

Pulmonary Fibrosis Update

I said I’d post from time to time on how I’m doing, health-wise. I guess it’s about that time. I just had my semi-annual visit with my pulmonologist, complete with the usual PFT (pulmonary function tests), to see how well my lungs are breathing. The answer is, almost as well as this time last year. I am reasonably stable, which with pulmonary fibrosis is the best outcome you can expect with the treatments now available.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed. The Chinese herbal treatment I’m on is reported to have helped several other PF patients get measurably better, and of course that’s what I wanted, as well. But I don’t know the details of the other patients.

My doc was pleased that I’m doing as well as I am. We discussed the Chinese herbs, and when I said the main definite benefit seems to be improved energy, she assessed that as a win and suggested I keep taking them. We talked about some new drugs coming along in clinical trials; there’s one she’s excited about, which offers the hope—no, not of a cure—but of real stability and the halt of decline. I said how soon, and she said it was being fast-tracked with two simultaneous trials, and if the tests prove out, it could be available in a year or two. Now I’m excited about it.

Now, if only they had something to keep me and my family from tripping over the damn oxygen hose all the time! What we exos have to put up with, carrying our own atmospheres around with us!

Perfect Day for Walden Pond

posted in: nature, personal news 1

I took the Mothership out for a spin today, just to run it. I had no real destination in mind—maybe Wegmans, maybe Costco, maybe nowhere. Instead, the road led me to Walden Pond. What a beautiful end-of-summer day for it.

 

Allysen Retires!

posted in: personal news 3

My lovely wife Allysen has retired! Her company, Ab Initio software, gave her a great sendoff. (Ab Initio has long been outstandingly generous to its employees, and her departure was no exception.) She’s been editing their software documentation for the last thirteen years. With perfect timing, our sister-in-law Youngmee came to visit on that very evening and spent the weekend with us. This is Allysen receiving a toast from us at one of our favorite restaurants, the Menotomy Bar & Grill.

In her first half-week of retirement, Allysen has celebrated by sleeping, and sleeping some more. Tonight, another great friend flies in for a visit!

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

New Roof!

Rebuilding the front porch just didn’t seem like enough. After all, the porch had only been needed for the last ten or fifteen years. The roof has definitely been on the to-do list for longer than that. And now… it’s done! K’ching!

I’m glad that wasn’t me up there.

Tales of the Kite — Six Weeks into the Herbs

For six weeks now, I’ve been gulping a pile of Chinese herbs from my potions master that look like this, dissolved in hot water, twice a day. Yum. (No, not yum. Gaghh.) So how’s it going? Is it working? I’m glad you asked. Reports from my crack team of observers say that I appear to have more energy, more focus, more life. Myself, I can’t tell! But I believe them, and I’ll take the win. Also, my years-long morning cough has largely gone away. I feel subjectively that I’m less short of breath when I exert myself. Does that mean it’s working? I hope so.

Empirical evidence is less clear. My O2 readings are about the same—dipping down when I exercise and coming back up, as always. I’m using the same amount of supplemental oxygen. I won’t have pulmonary function tests at the docs until August, and then we should know if this regimen is working in a measurable way. Fingers crossed.

Though I had high hopes for better on the O2 end of things, I am encouraged by the energy, and the other things. Keep on kiting!

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