Hobbies

MARIE: Jon said in a dim and distant post that he was playing with his camera once more and would soon show some of the results. And now that he has, at last, started on the Ritalin, he has stopped talking about doing things and started actually doing them. Jon took his first tablet last Saturday and frankly we were both a bit concerned as nothing much seemed to happen. But already on Sunday there were signs of an effect, and by now one week in it is quite clear that the drug is helping him break down the barrier between idea and action.

In fact, he is now rather busy, not only with the photography but also with painting and sketching, researching some equipment for an old colleague and friend, and ebay-ing (is Ritalin turning him into a shopaholic? If so, the fumes are affecting me as I’ve also just discovered the joys of ebay).

Don’t get me wrong, Jon still needs his rest periods for his back and to deal with variations in drug effect, the motor symptoms are of course the same as before, and he still gets tired and loses concentration. But before Jon was satisfied even at the best of times just to be passively entertained by the TV and radio, whereas now he uses his peak performance time actively on things that engage him, things he enjoys, things that serve a purpose or have an aim, How wonderful is that?

What with suddenly having so many things on the go, Jon has left it to me to make a little selection of pictures for the blog, so I’ve now sprinkled around a few holiday shots, some family pictures and a few of Jon’s more artistic studies (shadows, textures). However, he did specifically select the picture adorning this post.

JON: This is a picture of milk droplets in water. OK, it’s not going to end up in the Tate Gallery, but it took a surprising length of time and many false starts to generate. Which is the whole point: it was creative, fun, time consuming – and, most importantly, gave me a place to hide from she who must be obeyed. I think I’ll leave these droplet images alone for now, although I have several ideas on how to edit and improve them. Call it a work in slow progress.