Sailing into the Holiday Season

Life is exciting...and exhausting. My mother had some surgery and , as she was recovering, fell and broke three ribs. She is hospitalized and will be weeks in rehabilitation. So, I'm cutting my holiday family visits in half and headed for Chicago on Christmas day while our son keeps tabs on mom.

Work is now slowing down for the holiday break, and its been great. I don't think I've ever enjoyed this combination of clients and activities more.

Our pilot workshop called "Bringing Your Right Brain to Work" went very well. We decided to keep going and offer four additional workshops in January and February. I think the workshops will be great and I think the nation is yearning for a solution to this devastating state of the union. The arrogance has gone out of the business community. The left brain dominance of the last 30 years has reached its natural end. The next 30 years is too complex and too fast paced for anything but strong left and right brain balance. Leaders who are too dominant on the left or right brain hemisphere need to partner to get balance. The workplace is loaded with left brain dominant managers. Right brain dominant people have mostly left business or are hiding out in a role that looks left brain dominant.

We need to develop a place where people can exercise the right brain hemisphere and integrate it with work...and life. We need to develop a place that is culturally accessable for left brain domnant people. We need a boot camp that interupts the patterns of business, develops the right brain capaibilites and builds a new combination of achievement and innovation...of analysis and relationship...of sequence and random.

The journey to build that place has begun.

Bringing Your Right Brain to Work!

December 3, 2008 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Universalist/Unitarian Church of the Monterey Penninsula

490 Aguajitio Road, Carmel, CA 93923

For over a century, the most workplaces have honored and rewarded a workforce that is deeply rooted in left brain talent and focus. As the world becomes more complex and fast paced, it is increasingly impossible to drive success exclusively from the left brain. The breakdown of America’s and the world’s economic system offers a rare moment to integrate the right brain into the left brain dominant workplace

This workshop explores a model for understanding complexity and the need to balance left and right brain capabilities in the workplace. It is designed to show how the emerging sciences of ethology, cybernetics and systems theory combine to help us better understand the world and the way our organizations can keep up with rapid evolution of everything around us.

Co-Facilitator-Bob Sadler is a management consultant with 30 years of experience in the management of organization development and change. . http://www.sadlerconsulting.net/

Co-Facilitator-Peter Roberson is the founder of Human Insight, LLC which is based in London and is the author of the book “Always Change a Winning Team”. . http://www.human-insight.com/

Cost: $20.00 Donation to UUCMP with Reservations --$30 at the door:
Call Bob Sadler 4156010754

Happy Anniversary!

It's November 20. Yesterday, we celabrated our 42nd anniversary. We dated in our senior year of High School, stayed together while Sharon went to college and I fullfilled my military obligation including a year in Vietnam. We were married in 1966. Our marriage survived the 60's without the benefit of drugs, the 70's without considering divorce (which was all the rage), the 80's without abandoning a home full of teenagers (kids so high on hormones that drugs might have provided relief), the 90's without begging our kids to come home and keep us company, and well into the 2000's in spite of eight of the most destructive years in US history and the resulting feeling of personal futility.

We celabrated with a couple of days at Carmel Valley Ranch. It was delightful. It was a sunny 75 degrees and the fall color was as good as it gets in California. We wandered around village art galleries and ate some of the best food ever.

I look back on 42 years (46 really) with a rush of joy, sorrow, triumph, failure, and, most of all, fullfillment. How did I ever find her? How did she ever find me? How did we ever sustain love and support for each other as our individual identies emerged and grew? I don't know. The warmth of our anniversary will be at the Thanksgiving table next week. I'll give thanks, again, for the bounty.

A Stroke of Insight!

If you haven't seen Jill Bolte Taylor's speech at TED, you really should take 17 minutes and watch it. On a lot of levels, it's worth every minute. It's the most watched speech of the entire TED series. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_s_powerful_stroke_of_insight.html

If you are as interested as I am, you will then read the book "A Stroke of Insight".

Essentially, the speech is about her sudden discovery of her right brain hemisphere that happened as the result of a stroke that closed down her left brain hemisphere. She had a fully developed left brain hemisphere that served her well as a brain scientist, so she hadn't spent much time and energy developing her right brain....that is, until she suddenly lost most of her left brain hemisphere. It took her eight years to recover her left brain, so now she is fully developed on both sides. As a result, she has a unique ability to be both scientific and artful in her speech and book.

I have met others who have a good balance between left and right brain development, but they are rare. Most of us seem to have developed much more on one side or the other. The people I know from business are left brain dominant, for the most part. The people I know in other careers such as arts and humanities, are more right brain dominant. These two different worlds seem polarized. I can go into either camp and hear very bad things about the other camp. The polarization seems to have become worse as I think back to the beginning of my career. I've worked and thrived in both worlds. I think I'm more right brain dominant with a focus on relationships and creativity at the expense of being logical and sequential. But I do have a lot of affection and respect for left brain people and organizaitons.

Jill Bolte Taylor's video made me suddenly aware that my career has always been focused on working with dominant left brain people who need to use right brain tools, techniques and awareness in order to get something done. So, it's no accident that I've ended up working with mostly engineers and accountants in established corporations. These are the most left brain dominant cultures in the world and they don't welcome right brain dominant employees for very long. So, I get rented, from time to time, to help with something that usually involves relationship building, emotional processing, or creativity and innovation. In short, 'people stuff'.

Once I defined my business proposition this way, everything fell into place . My client list made sense. The lack of competition is understandable (how many right brain people want to spend their time in left brain settings?). The next big challenge became clear.

The next big challenge? It's been in front of me for years and I didn't see it. I have a lot of very left brain dominant clients who have risen in their careers to a point where their jobs have suddenly changed from requiring strong left brain capabilities (plan the work and work the plan) to requiring strong right brain capabilities (set visions, inspire people, create strong relationships). The requirement change is severe and it often happens in just one promotion.

These clients hire me to help with one or two things, but they are overwhelmed and struggling because they need someone with my skills on almost everything they do. I can often shed light on the problem of having too much left brain dominance in a right brain job, but then they want to solve that problem....and, of course they want to solve the problem with a left brain approach. "What book can I read?"

Development of a long dormant right brain hemisphere will require time, immersion, practice and commitment. There are places you can go to get that development, but they are often shrouded in 'new age' style that is the last place any of these left brain dominant people would ever go.

We need a right brain development center and program that makes sense to left brain executives who need to get more balance between left and right brain capability. I've done a search. I don't see an existing resource that I think would work.

So, we've had our own stroke of insight. I'm working on building a right brain development center. We are piloting some programs this winter and I hope we can launch a full blown pilot in the spring.

Thanks to Jill Bolte Taylor's "Stroke of Insight".

Soaring Again

We've been to Big Sur twice in the past two weeks. The fire damage is in full view as soon as you pass by Big Sur village. Whole mountain ranges to the east of Route 1 are ashen. On the west side of Route 1, toward the ocean, is untouched. Route 1 was the fire break.

The Condors must have been forced out of the hills and over to the beach. We saw about a dozen of them and they were flying low. They just stretched out their nine foot wingspan and soared with the updrafts of the sea cliffs. They didn't use any energy flapping those wings. They just stretched the large black and white feathers in every direction.

That's how I feel. I'm starting to stretch out in every direction. I have a huge pent up desire for everything...relationships, exercise, work, photography, painting, church, and politics. I've never felt so alive. My desire is greater than my energy, so I have to be careful. But it feels sooo good!

I'm still not able to work full time, but I'm continuing to make progress. I'm spending a couple of days a week, on the average, at Lawrence Livermore Labs. It looks like I'll do that for at least another year. I'm going back to the Orange County Unified School District to help them with the next strategic plan early next year. I finished a pilot with HP Software that went well and I'll probably do another engagement there before long. I also finished an engagement at Cisco. Every week I'm a little stronger. I work hard for a few days and then I exercise and rest for a few days.

Our move to Pacific Grove is a year old. It was a great move. We feel as though we fit in. The area is small compared to Silicon Valley and London. People are friendly. They reach out. We know enough people, now, that we run into friends wherever we go. The place is physically beautiful and constantly changing with the shifting weather. That was no surprise. What was a surprise was the social intimacy. We love it here! We're soaring!

The Rhythms of Life

For most of my life, I adopted the rhythm of four seasons. In New England, I was inspired by the first few weeks of each new season and ready for a change in the last few weeks of each season.

California seasons are subtle and there are no inspiring renewals. One month marches into another with no definition. One day I notice the hills are browned out with the dryness of summer and before long I notice we are rich with the green of the rainy season. I never know exactly when the changes happened and the changes have little impact.

So, it was natural to fall into the rhythm that cancer generates. I just had my third CT Scan, and the results were great. I'm very relieved. I am inspired. It's like Spring!

As much as I trust that I am cancer free following all the aggressive treatment last year, I need to verify my condition every six months. I am in a trust and verify rhythm. The two seasons of my life are July through December and January through June each year. This rhythm will go on for five years.

I can easily trust that I'm healthy now, but as I get close to the next scan in January my anxiety will grow. "What's that pain in my arm?" "Is that a lump in my thigh?" "Why am I feeling tired." "Have I lost weight?" In the six weeks before the last scan, I was fighting to stay focused on the positive. I was mostly successful, but it was like trying to stand upright at the shoreline with your face toward the sun while a dark, swirling undertow tries to throw you off balance underfoot.

Anyway, I've been scanned in great detail and I'm fine. There is still a pseudo-cyst on my pancreas that is a result of surgery. It's a potential problem, but they often go away on their own, and mine shrunk about 25% in the past six months. That's a good indication that it will continue to dissolve.

Beyond that, I've not lost any more weight. The other side effects like atrial fibrillation and pulmonary emboli are no longer present. My strength is improving and my energy level is good. I managed to walk 18 holes for the first time in July. My gym workouts are more rigorous.

The work that I am able to do is going well. I just finished an engagement at Cisco and another at HP. I managed a business trip to Australia with no ill effect. I'm focused on work with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

For ever thing there is a season....

The end of 'news' as we knew it...

I discovered journalism in college. I had two teachers. Mal Salter was my journalism teacher and the college's Public Relations Director. Mal hired me in my sophomore year to work part time in the PR office. When he left the college, Pete Durham replaced him. I continued to work for Pete, and he referred me to the Farmington Valley Herald where I became the editor after graduating from college. I served as editor for two years and did the job part time while I taught school.

Mal and Pete grew up at the Hartford Courant. The Hartford Courant is a serious newspaper and is the oldest newspaper in the United States.

I loved these guys. They were affectionate, family focused, patriotic, skeptical and had a 'bull shit' meter that they wore on their rolled-up sleeves. They worked hard to get the story. They were fair. They wrote good leads, good headlines and made you want to read the whole story. They had trusted sources and used there authenticity to put people at ease as they talked. They believed they were the fourth pillar of the American constitution just behind the legislative, judicial and executive branches of government. I absorbed that style like a sponge and it shaped all that I do today.

I grew up with the assumption that the press wouldn't change. Over the past 20 years, I've watched in horror as the fourth estate disintegrated. The last bastion of the that estate was Tim Russert. I hardly ever missed an episode of "Meet the Press" . Tim was Mal Salter and Pete Durham on steroids. He had all the same qualities...just larger than life.

As the American audience developed a giant case of attention deficit disorder, TV news went to entertainment and finally split into left and right wing info-tainment outlets. All the prinicpals of journalism are gone. Pretty faces read garbage....over and over again. Newspapers are shrinking and giving way to blogs which have no value for the principals of journalism.

Tim Russert was the last journalist standing...and, now he is gone. He can't be replaced. There was no succession plan. Tom Brokaw will come back for a few months to let us down genltly. Then, Tom will fade out.

When Tom fades out, there should be a funeral for journalism.

It's a new day!

There is something about the Clinton's that made me queasy. I wanted to like them. After all, they are liberal democrats. Bill presided over the country during some great years. But I always felt that he was recklessly ambitious and that Hilary was right there with him. I didn't trust them. Yes, I was happy the Republicans weren't in office, but I had to hold my nose for those eight years. I felt that they were a big bubble...just like the housing bubble. I couldn't understand what power inflated that bubble.


And then came Bush. He was so bad that he made the Clinton's look good.

We watched Barrack Obama speak at Kerry's Democratic convention and thought, "Wow! he'll be a player before long." I never thought for a moment it would be this soon.

Then we read " The Audacity of Hope" and we were really hooked. When Obama decided to run this year, I thought it would be a dry run. Then, the Clinton's made me remember why I wanted to hold my nose. I think it was when Hillary said that she though John McCain would be a better President than Barrack Obama. Good lord, talk about recklessly ambitious!

I began to wish for a miracle. I've never been right about politics in America. I thought Bill Clinton would lose both elections. I thought George Bush would lose both elections. So, I stopped predicting. I'm too out of touch with mainstream America. I can't believe that more than half of the country refuses to believe in evolution. I can't imagine that the 99 channels on cable TV actually have an audience.

Even early this past week I thought the Clinton's would do something slick and postpone a conclusion. I felt the same way the last time the Red Sox won the World Series. I was so used to them losing that I expected them to lose in spite of the evidence. Yesterday, the bubble burst.

Well, here we are. We have a black Presidential nominee. It's also clear that the country is ready for a female Presidential nominee even though Hillary lost this opportunity. And, now, despite all the evidence, I won't predict that Obama will win. John McCain is an interesting guy. I don't think he would be as bad as he is promising to be, but it's time for the next generation to jump into leadership roles. This is a new day. The country needs to make a break with big money vested interests. I don't know if it will happen. I'll can only hope!

Surgery plus 1 year!

Wow! I went in for surgery a year ago today! It feels like a natural time to do a status report.

I just got back from doing two consulting assignments and spent a long weekend visiting my in laws in Massachusetts. Sharon has been there for three weeks to help her parents after her father suffered a stroke. He is now recovering very well.

Despite about 10 days of travel and work, I arrived back in Pacific Grove last night feeling fine. I'm looking forward to the long weekend to rest and recover. I am able to eat virtually anything. I need to be careful not to eat too much. I don't feel full when I'm eating, but about half an hour after eating I know that I've eaten the right amount or too much. If I eat too much, I am very uncomfortable for about an hour. I'm still experimenting with various foods and amounts. I have to be careful when I'm with clients or with friends that I don't overeat and end up unable to work or visit afterwards.

I'm going for at least one more endoscopy and dilation of the esophagus in a month. I don't feel like I need it, but I'll do it to be on the safe side. It feels like the scar tissue growth has subsided and my esophagus is clear. I'll also have another CT scan in a month or so to make sure that this cancer hasn't spread and started growing somewhere.

My energy level is almost back to normal. I can't work as much as I would like because I still have to spend a lot of time with doctors, tests, exercising and physical therapy. I've added physical therapy to try to get my upper back in shape. I lost so much muscle from the surgery and recover time that my back muscles atrophied and I have a tendency to stoop. It's actually hard to stand up straight and bring my shoulders back. The therapy is really helping, but I have long way to go.

When I look back on the whole experience, I am amazed at my good fortune. The detection couldn't have been earlier, the doctors were great, the recovery was about as good as it gets, and I feel very good at this stage. It's been a year and a half since I was first diagnosed. When I was diagnosed, the statistics said that I would have a 20% chance of living two years. Because of the early detection, my chances were actually much better than the average, but the numbers only go up to 50% chance of living two years. I'm confident that I'll do much better than the numbers suggest. I don't really feel vulnerable to this cancer any more. I feel, and evidently am, cancer free. Only time will tell for sure.

Wow!

Photo Workshop

I just finished a week of co-teaching a workshop here at the Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove. Guy Magallanes http://www.guymagallanes.com/ and I did our second annual Watercolor/Photography workshop. It runs for five intensive days and evenings and covers the whole workflow from seeing an image... to recording it with a camera ...to painting it... to recording the painting... and, publishing the painting. Whew!

Guy and I were exhausted by the end of the week, but the participants were very happy with what they learned and produced. This year we added the challenge of creating a self-published coffee table book of images from each member of the workshop, with poetry, by the end of of the week. They did it! No one was more surprised than the participants.

I really like this work! It seemed as if there wasn't a minute that I wasn't working with a group or individual who wanted coaching. Daniel Dixon came by on Monday evening and told the story of growing up with his famous artist parents...one, Dorothea Lange, the photographer and the other, Maynard Dixon, the painter. Daniel is a writer, story-teller and musician. He is a smart and giving person whom everyone came to adore.

Kevin Woodson also stopped by Monday and did a demonstration of his watercolor method. He held the crowd in absolute rapture as he talked and painted at the same time. He completed a painting of a very complex bouquet of poppies in about 45 minutes and never stopped talking the whole time.

Jack Wasserbach, a Carmel photographer, came in on Wednesday to show his work from Big Sur. He also divulged that he is slowly losing his eyesight because of problems with detached retina. He is slowly going blind, but he is so experienced with a camera that he can still work and plans to go on even if he loses his sight. He was very moving and inspirational.

Dixie Dixon was in the workshop as a participant, but she switched roles on Thursday night and brought some of her rock band musicians along for an impromptu concert by the fire. She did some country swing, some jazz, and some rock. It was a cool clear evening, but we had a roaring fire in the fire pit and watch the sunset over the Pacific as we sang along. Dixie has a CD which will be released this Thursday. I have an advanced copy and it's wonderful!

It was a special workshop and it took me four days to recover from the effort. I'd do it again in a flash!

Major Gains

I'm getting into deeper and more challenging consulting engagements. In the last few months, I've worked with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, HP, Cisco, BT and Emulex. As I get healthier I am available to get into more complex issues. The issues are absorbing and the challenges of balancing work with health care and family life are greater.

I'm happy to have those challenges to wrestle with. A year ago, I was focused on getting well enough to undergo major surgery that was loaded with risks. It's taken a year to feel like I'm getting back to normal.

I still have to be careful. Eating is getting easier. I know better what I can eat and what I can't. Each person is unique and has to learn from experience. I have at least two more dilation procedures scheduled. Getting at least four dilation procedures following this surgery seems about standard from what I read on other patient blogs.

We have figured out that I can't wait for scar tissue to close the esophagus passage before I schedule a procedure. I need to anticipate and schedule the procedure before it gets closed off. You would think that someone in the medical profession would explain about the fact that scar tissue is going to cause problems following Ivor Lewis surgery. An intern said something about "opening up the passage if it became clogged". It would have been much better if a surgeon had said, prior to and after surgery, that scar tissue would very likely form and need to be dilated several times before it stopped growing in a year or two. The procedure consumes a day and is not painful or uncomfortable in any way. That expectation would have saved me months of discomfort.

I'm getting steadily stronger week by week. I can really feel the gains on the golf course and in the gym. I climbed three flights of stairs fairly quickly with a client yesterday and was not out of breath as I would have been three months ago. I walked nine holes a week ago for the first time and felt fine afterward.

I'm getting there!

Time March's on...

We set the clock forward an hour today and sprung forward with the rest of the country. It does feel like we are springing forward.

The procedure I we did two weeks ago worked well. I'm able to swallow with little problem. I've gained three pounds in two weeks. I've worked almost full time over the last two weeks as well.

I feel as though we have a new life here. We know a lot of wonderful people already. Sharon loves volunteering at the Monterey Aquarium. I love my work with clients. We both have joined the Unitarian/Universilist Church of the Monterey Peninsula.

I feel like time is finally moving forward.

It's Spring!

Well, not according to the calendar, but try telling that to the thick, rich yellow daffodils fighting for space in our raised bed to the right of our driveway! And, try telling that to the pink and white Camellias that are pushing hard on the redwood fence that surrounds the garden. The warm, moist air won't listen. The low hanging fog around Point Lobos will just continue to slide by in it's springtime easterly direction whispering "Itsss ssspringggg!" ever so softly.

Exactly one year ago I was half way through chemo and radiation. Only now do I have the stomach to go back and read what I wrote. It is an out of body experience. It's about 10 months from surgery and I'm doing very well. The doctors told me that it would take a year to get my energy back, and I think I'm a little ahead of schedule. I feel great!

There are still occasional problems. I've had increasing problems swallowing and digesting certain foods. It's unpredictable. I'm going to have a second endoscopy with a balloon dilation this Thursday at Stanford. I'm sure it will help. It may take a few of these procedures to beat back the scar tissue that continues to grow around the area where my remaining esophagus meets my stomach.

There is evidence of a pseudo-cyst in there somewhere as a result of surgery. We have to scan it every 6 months to make sure it doesn't grow and require more surgery. These things are more hassle than danger. They often go away on their own. I can tune out the hassles and get back to work.

I'm going to try to work four days instead of two this week and next. I believe I can do that without getting too tired. We'll see.

I feel born again....physically, emotionally and spiritually. Like Spring!

I can breath again...

When you have a day scheduled such as last Friday you hold your breath as the day approaches. I was to hear about the status of the Pulmonary Emboli that was discovered three months ago. I was also to hear the results of the ultra sound scan of my legs where the clots were produced. I needed another breathing test. And then, there is the dreaded contrast CT scan and those results.

And, at the end of 48 hours of breathless anxiety, I could sigh with relief. My lung capacity went from 82% six weeks ago to 97% on Friday. That's amazing! I had been gaining 2-3 % every six weeks and I thought it would take a lot longer to get back to normal.

I also passed another scan with no sign of cancer. They don't need another scan for six months. The pulonary emboli are cleared up. My legs are clear. My weight is stable. I'm working out a lot and gaining muscle back a lot faster than I imagined I would.

I probably need to go back and have my esophagus dilated again in a few weeks, but that is expected, routine, and relatively easy to get done.

Life is getting better and better.

It's still raining...

We managed to stay warm and dry as the rain continued to come down over the weekend. There is no sun in sight on the 10 day weather forecast, but we needed the rain to prevent the drought conditions that often affect the Monterey Peninsula.

Sharon loves her orientation workshops at the Monterey Aquarium. It's the best organized and managed non profit organization that she has been involved with including Kew Gardens in London. She is studying to be a guide.

We also are joining the Monterey Unitarian/Universalist Church next Sunday. We haven't had the time to be involved with a church since our Middletown days. It's been very enjoyable to connect with so many caring people in a church which is so inclusive.

My health continues to be good. My weight is stable. I'm eating a wide variety of food. Occasionally, I have trouble swallowing and I have to eat slowly and carefully. I saw a story the other day about medical researchers who have worked out an esophagus transplant for people with esophagus cancer that is made of a pig's bladder coated with stem cells. It seems to work. I've worked hard to avoid piggishness and I don't think I'll be one of first to try it.

I have follow up CT scans again in a couple of weeks. Those are always unnerving, but I don't feel any symptoms that give me any concern, so, once again, I'm expecting a good outcome.

We had a video conference with our grandchildren yesterday. The technology is improving and it really helps to see a video image of them as well as hear there voices.

Deep in Rain Season

I was exploring the rocks, with my camera, at low tide this afternoon during a break in the rain and came across this Great Blue Heron. He didn't seem to mind my presence. He was regal as he picked little fish from the tide pools and swallowed them in one gulp. I really like my new camera. I had the 300 mm lens that I got for a birthday present.

We came home from a week of deep freeze in the East to non-stop rain on Sunday and it feels great.

I did some work in New York City late last week and then went on to Springfield, MA where my in laws are trying to adjust to the idea of moving out of their home of 50 years and into a new senior apartment in a nearby neighborhood.

This was the first real travel and business trip since going back to work part time. It was touch and go because I came down with a cold that robbed me of my voice for the first half of the week. I gambled that I would get my voice back before the workshop. I did...30 minutes before the workshop. Close call.

All in all, I did fine. I'm looking forward to stepping up my work hours over the next few weeks.

Kicking Off the New Year

Happy New Year! We took a terrible pounding by a storm that descended on us from Alaska and brought high winds and rain for two days. The local surf went up as high as 32 feet and our power wend down for most of two days.

We huddled around the fireplace and we were able to cook on our gas range, so we were never too uncomfortable.

We had a packed full and wonderful holiday.

Now, we turn our attention to the new year. I think my health is as good as it can be. I'll get confirmation on Friday that the blood clots are gone from my legs and lungs. I've been on blood thinners for a month, so that should take care of the pulmonary emboli issue.

My appetite is definitely increasing and I'm eating more. I haven't gained any weight, but I haven't lost any either. I'm getting more muscle. Each visit to the gym brings a good feeling as constantly add more weight to each machine.

I'm able to get a lay on my stomach for a long enough period of time to get a good massage from our massage therapist.

Work is going well. I'm alternating among Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, BT and HP. I'm going to New York to do a workshop with BT next week. I'm able to do about two days a week with clients, and I plan to gradually increase that over the coming months. I have my next CT Scan scheduled for February 8 and I'll see the surgeon a few hours after that scan and get the early results.

As soon as the weather improves, I'll be back at the golf course to continue lessons. I am taking a lot of images with my new camera and lenses and loving that. I'm also beginning to prepare to teach the photography portion of a photography/watercolor workshop that Guy Magallanes and I are offering in April. http://www.guymagallanes.com/Instruction.htm Please pass this web site on to anyone you know who might be interested.

We had a great workshop last year and we will improve on it this year.