Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Vision

1. Roosevelt Bridge-gusto Roosevelt Bridge Arizona 6-6-2010

Vision. Most of us take it for granted. We love to see colors. We love to see nature. And who doesn’t love to watch a sunset!

2. darkness-gusto But 10 days ago a great darkness fell on us as Gus suddenly lost his vision. We went from one doctor to another. The diagnosis was cataracts. Surgery was scheduled for this Monday, but…would it work? The fear that it wouldn’t made me sick to my stomach. Gus couldn’t even see well enough to drive! This would change our whole lives. This would rock our world if he went blind. All of the pictures in this post were taken by Gus. He hasn’t done much photography lately because his vision has gotten so bad. It is no longer fun for him. This makes me sad. He is a good photographer! I like the big picture, but he is a detail man. He sees things that I don’t.

3. sand-gusto Like these blades of grass poking up through the snow and sand at Salisbury Beach in Massachusetts, or…

4. flower-gusto these golden flower petals…

5. coot toes-gusto or Coot Toes!

 

6. black n white-gusto Back in January of 2010 Gus saw this black and white warbler in Phoenix along the Salt River while I was hurrying ahead to count birds. He took its picture. I never saw it so I never got to add it to my Arizona Life List! He tried to draw my attention to it, but I thought he was just seeing another yellow-rumped warbler! I guess I should have listened to the detail man!

7. peregrine-gusto Gus was thrilled to get this photo of a Peregrine Falcon eating a freshly killed dove on a utility pole in Sycamore Canyon in 2010 when we lived here before.

8. sunset-gusto And Gus has always loved sunsets.

9. fire in the sky-gusto Now I wondered, would he ever get to see one again?

Below are just a few of the things his eyes have seen and photographed.

10. PRNWR sunset 1-22-11 gusto Sunset at Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts 2011

 

11. snow shadows-gusto Snow Shadows

 

12. winter beach-gusto Winter Beach

 

13. snowscape-gusto Snowscape at Salisbury Beach 2011

 

14. sandy point-gusto Footprints

 

15. sky full of gulls-gusto A Sky Full of Gulls

 

16. Sunset 1-22-11 gus Salisbury Beach Sunset 1-22-2011 Massachusetts

 

18. copper mine-kab Gus took this photo of the Morenci Mine in Greenlee County, AZ in August of 2010. This was right before we moved to Massachusetts. He later sold it to a publishing company! They had seen it on my Sycamore Canyon blog! Now we are back in Arizona. Now we had to wait. The fear stood before us like a mountain.

Then…

  • On Monday Gus had surgery on one eye.
  • On Tuesday morning he went for his post-op check-up.
  • On Tuesday afternoon he could see clearly enough to drive to work!

19. light-gusto Finally the light has dawned,

 

20. calm-gusto Things have started to calm down…

21. color-gusto Lake Cochise, Wilcox, AZ 8-1-2010

…and Color has returned to our world.

Gus can’t wait to get the next eye done! I can’t wait until he picks up a camera again! (Maybe now I can finally get caught up with my blogging?)

Note: All photos in this post were taken by Gus Brown and are copyrighted by him! Please do not use without his permission!

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17 comments:

  1. The Odd EssayJanuary 23, 2013 at 12:09 PM

    What a wonderful success story. So happy Gus has his vision now. Having had cataract surgery on both eyes I can only marvel at the clarity of colors now... birding is fun again. Best wishes for total success.

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  2. Roy NorrisJanuary 23, 2013 at 1:30 PM

    Some really amazing scenic shots Kathie. Thanks for posting these.

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  3. RohrerbotJanuary 23, 2013 at 3:10 PM

    Glad he's almost back to normal. I love his photography. Maybe, just maybe, he'll return back to the pictures. We take so many things for granted. Glad it all went well. And that warbler, peregrine and shot of the gulls is awesome!

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  4. FABJanuary 23, 2013 at 4:41 PM

    Hi Kathie. Great series of shots courtesy of Gus. I'm delighted to learn that the first op went well ... just wait for when he gets both eyes back in focus. Best wishes to you both ... FAB.

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  5. GaelynJanuary 23, 2013 at 5:09 PM

    Gus has an excellent eye for details and his photography is amazing. And to have sold a photo is superb. So glad he's getting vision back and best wishes on the second eye.

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  6. UnknownJanuary 23, 2013 at 5:23 PM

    Crazy about Gus's eyes. Glad most cataracts are treatable. They are common in my mom's side of the family. She had them in her late 30's, but has since recovered.

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  7. GuyJanuary 23, 2013 at 8:48 PM

    Hi Kathie

    What wonderful news, That must have been really terrifying for both of you. Gus's photo's are great I have to try the Coot toe type shot.

    Give Gus my best.

    Regards
    Guy

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  8. UnknownJanuary 23, 2013 at 9:05 PM

    What a great post! And great news about Gus. I showed these pics to Ma as well. Our favorite was the hawk eating the dove (although I felt bad for the dove.) Hawks are beautiful and intimidating at the same time. I had to help one out of the glassed in porch. I put dad's work gloves on and a pair of sun glasses for protection.

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  9. grammie gJanuary 23, 2013 at 9:05 PM

    Hi Katie...Oh so happy for you both that Gus has got his vision on the mend!!
    The photos are wonderful and very fitting for this post!!
    Thanks for sharing!!
    Grace

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  10. thewovenspokeJanuary 23, 2013 at 9:21 PM

    What wonderful news that Gus is getting his vision back for both of you and so he can continue his wonderful photography! Thanks for sharing, a new follower from AZ

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  11. Sherrie {Bird Lady}January 23, 2013 at 11:05 PM

    I love how you told this heartfelt story about Gus and his vision loss, and what lovely sites he has photographed. Glad to see he was able to have it corrected.

    ~ Sherrie (Bird Lady)

    http://www.birdladyblog.blogspot.com

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  12. Mia McPhersonJanuary 24, 2013 at 9:04 AM

    Kathie, the fear of blindness for a normal person is frightening and even more terrifying for a photographer so I can only imagine how afraid both you and Gus were. I'm so glad that the surgery worked and that we will soon see more of Gus's wonderful images!

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  13. MarvinJanuary 26, 2013 at 2:58 AM

    Congratulations on the successful surgery to you and Gus. Cataracts surgery was one of the best things that every happened to me.

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  14. betty-NZJanuary 27, 2013 at 4:35 PM

    I'm so glad I read all of your post to find out that the surgery was successful! I'm so happy for you both! And the photos are amazing. My hubby and I take photos and sometimes, we see completely different things and sometimes, exactly the same....

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  15. joyJanuary 29, 2013 at 11:01 AM

    I am happy that it went well with the first eye. And he has really eyes on beauty:) breathtaking pictures:)

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  16. Julie G.January 29, 2013 at 12:35 PM

    I can now let out a sigh knowing that Gus made it through the cataract surgery with flying colors. Blindness certainly is a scary thought! My fingers are crossed that the second surgery will be just as successful. How lucky we are to be able to view the magnificent photography work of Gus, featured in this post!

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  17. Dawn FineFebruary 2, 2013 at 1:08 PM

    So happy that Gus has his sight back. Jeff is having issues with a cataract ..makes it harder for him to bird.

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Welcome to my nest! I hope you will enjoy spending time here with me and the birds. Thank you for your comments. I will try to get back to you as soon as I get back from counting more birds.

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