Birthday Musings 12/19/22

I haven’t added a post to this series at the blog since December 2017. Don’t know why. In any case, seems like a good year in which to restart that practice.

I turn 79 today, newly ensconced in a house in the woods in upstate New York — Stone Ridge, an historic hamlet within Marbletown in Ulster County, to be exact, roughly 20 minutes from Woodstock, Kingston, New Paltz, and Poughkeepsie to the north and east. Per a previous post, we moved here from Staten Island in July, putting that house on the market. We’re in contract with a buyer, closing any day now.

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Once we completed the move and the Stone Ridge house became our primary residence, we found ourselves eligible here not just for STAR senior-citizen tax rebates but also for a New York State weatherization program that will subsidize most if not all of a number of improvements to the place: new insulation, thermal doors and windows, energy-efficient appliances, and more. Eligible also, through related NYS programs, for discounts and rebates and tax credits on installation of a heat-pump system and solar-energy panels.

Conceivably, by this time next year, we could make this place self-sufficient in regard to both heating and electricity. Since our water comes from our own well, we’d thenceforth provide all our own utilities at zero cost going forward.

We also need a new roof. All this likely means various phases of construction work throughout 2023, on which I’ll report in the recently initiated “Straight Outta Stone Ridge” series of posts.

21 Lamberti Lane, December 16, 2022. Panorama by Anna Lung.

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The Hardware

I’ve set up a new office, of course, this one situated at the south end of the house, with a sliding door to a small deck and — with the trees now bare — a view of Mohonk Mountain on the crest of the Shawangunk Ridge, when the skies are clear. I can step outside anytime for a breath of fresh country air  (a refreshing change from the more citified ambiance of our Staten Island neighborhood, which offered an excellent view of the Stapleton Houses project, birthplace of Wu Tang Clan). And I’m giving serious thought to installing a wood-burning stove, so I can write with the crackle of a fire in the background in the cooler months.

MacBook Pro, 13″ Retina model, early 2015

I’m working on pretty much the same equipment I used at this time of year in 2017 — the same Mac Mini, in any case (now running Apple’s Sierra OS, the most recent update this machine will handle). I had to replace the monitors I used then with a couple of perfectly fine discards I found on the street — the fruits of someone else’s upgrade, I assume. The system works, and I only replace when absolutely necessary and financially feasible.

For my 2019 Teti Photography Fellowship at the former New Hampshire Institute of Art (NHIA), in Manchester, NH, I bought a lightly used MacBook Pro — an early 2015, 13-inch Retina model, the smallest laptop I’ve had since my original MacBook back in the day. It served me well during that residency, but since then functions mainly as a backup for the Mac Mini. However, it sits on a standing desk I constructed here, enabling me to keep going while changing positions periodically, which is good for my back and my posture. I also use it, with its built-in camera, for Zoom meetings and such. So it doesn’t feel neglected.

The Wetware

The move from Staten Island meant, among other things, that I had to change Medicare Advantage plans and set up a new network of healthcare providers. I haven’t yet had a chance to do an intake with my new primary, much less any new specialists, so as to see what condition my condition is in.

I stopped going to the gym a few years ago. Instead of an exercise routine, I walk up here — a mile every day or so — and do physical work around the place: carpentry, painting, gardening, pruning, digging, lifting, carrying. Plus some isometrics now and then. I don’t have the physical strength that I did even a decade ago, but I’m fully functional and ready for whatever tasks the day may bring. (Also fortunate to have a strong son and hardworking wife on the premises who can handle the tougher chores.)

In recent years my eyesight has actually improved, to such a degree that my ophthalmologist (last visited in December 2021) told me that I no longer need glasses for driving. On the other hand, I’ve experienced enough hearing loss that I’ll likely explore the options of various hearing aids, once I’ve identified my new ENT specialist. Briefly put, I have no serious medical complaints or health conditions, just a few minor conditions and aggravations, most of which predictably come with age.

I Heard the News Today, Oh Boy …

On a daily basis, I start my mornings with Bill Palmer’s Palmer Report, whose publisher and main content provider proves himself consistently adroit at winkling out the nuances and implications of every twist and turn in the unending Trump scandals, the prosection of the January 6, 2021 insurrectionists, and the collapse of the Republican Party. I follow that up by checking in at Raw Story, Crooks & Liars, Buzzfeed, The Daily Beast, and Daily Kos. All of that augmented by regular visits to the websites of the New York Times, CNN, and the BBC — though my confidence in the mainstream media has diminished considerably over the past decade. Be that as it may, thus fortified I feel sufficiently informed about the outside world to start the day’s work.

The Beat Goes On

Speaking of work, it’s been a thin year, professionally speaking. Two small writing commissions, an ongoing curatorial/writing consultancy, and some Zoom panel-moderation assignments and virtual classroom visits. (I also generated and/or edited 30-some posts for this blog, bur that results from internal rather than external demand.)

However, preoccupied as I’ve been since late May with the move to Stone Ridge and the subsequent adjustment process, the absence of professional obligations allowed me to focus my attention entirely on the process of migration to these new quarters. I’ll spend the winter settling in and getting organized, optimistic that the new year will bring new professional challenges.

My own in-house projects continue to center around the Capa D-Day investigation: A book version thereof, the temporarily shelved traveling exhibition that draws on the related materials I’ve collected, and, newly rethought, a documentary film based on the unmaking of the myth. These went onto the back burner this year, but will shortly move up to the front once again.

21 Lamberti Lane, the view south, December 12, 2022. Panorama by Anna Lung.

Happy Birthday to Me

My thanks to those readers who have emailed or called or posted on LinkedIn to offer birthday salutations.

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