19 April, 2022

Spring Colors in Dallas

I'm in Dallas for a few days, enjoying the gorgeous spring weather in between medical appointments.  I always stay at a hotel next to Bachman Lake City Park.   I enjoy walking around the lake and the location is fairly convenient to the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Clinics, which I where I come for healthcare that is not available in Belize.  Healthwise, everything looks good, but I do have to come back for a procedure on my left eye.  The vision in that eye has deteriorated in the last 6 months to the point that it gets hard for me to read or use the computer unless I make the font pretty large.  And the left eye image conflicts with what I see in my right eye, so it pretty much makes me crazy!  Problem diagnosed now and a simple(-ish) solution, if eye surgery can ever be called simple.  I'll come back to Dallas for surgery  and hopefully can get it scheduled before the weather in Texas gets super hot!  A few photos below to share the beauty of spring in Dallas.

Can you see the turtles on the log?  I also saw some very large fish in the water.  This is the shallow end of the lake where the stream comes in.  I can almost see the turtles from the window in my hotel room.

Texas is known for its roadside primroses - here are lakeside primroses.

These colors look like autumn!  I think this is a Japanese maple.

Lakeside flag irises.

A closer view.

The weather has been delightful - cool at night and low 70sF (~22C) as the daytime high.  Still, I will be happy to get back home on Thursday.

18 comments:

  1. I'm glad your health is mostly good. One of my favorite local sights is turtles on a log. I guess Texan turtles do that too.

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    1. Yes, I am quite fortunate with my good health and I put a lot of effort in maintaining it - even if it does take more effort every year! Aren't turtles great? Lots of big ones in this lake.

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  2. Good luck with all the medical procedures. Take good care of your eyes, you are going to need them for a long time!

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    1. Thanks, David. It will be great to have this problem fixed and I hope I don't have any further problems - I would like for them last another 30-35 years!

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  3. Such beautiful photos, but I’d rather be in Belize than in Texas. Glad the appointments are going well. Sorry about more eye surgery (and that it can’t just be done now), but hope that solves all the problems.

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    1. Thanks, Mitchell. I would sure like to get it over and done with, but it will be at least 2 weeks before I can even talk to the staff that schedule the surgeries, they are so swamped! No idea when it will happen. I will try to be patient, but it's hard.

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  4. I'm sorry you need surgery and I hope it goes well when you have it. The photos are gorgeous.

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    1. Glad you like the photos, e! The surgery is pretty simple - a vitrectomy in which they suck out all the vitreous humour and replace with an artificial substance. It appears I had a tiny bleed behind my retina and the remains of the blood have floated into the vitreous humour and are blocking part of my vision. I will be so happy to get it done!

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  5. I've never been to Dallas! It must be such a culture shock to go from Belize to Texas. No wonder you've sought out some nature. Glad all is relatively well with your health and that your vision can be taken care of!

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    1. I like Dallas much more than I thought I would. This has been our stop in the US since we moved to Belize. We have a mail and parcel drop here. I like the hotel and there is a wonderful family-owned Italian restaurant a 5 minute walk away. The bartender knows me by name, so I always eat at the bar - it is almost Cheers-like with regular clientele and running jokes. So at least I can feel comfortable here and find lots to do - museums, the aquarium, hiking trails, etc. It's not Belize, but it's not bad, either!

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  6. Hi Wilma.
    Eye surgery is not as daunting as one would think nowadays.
    I have had Cataract surgery to the left eye 4 years ago and will have the right completed this year at a time of my choosing. I was apprehensive at the first, but now I am looking forward to getting the other done. With any eye procedures it is not the actual procedure, but the bind of having to look after the eye for several weeks afterwards. Eye drops numerous times of day, shielding at night etc etc.
    Once thats done its fine and you won't be crazy anymore. :-)

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    1. Glad your experience was so positive! It is amazing how much simpler these procedures are nowadays. About the same time you had your left eye done, I had both of mine done 1 week apart. I love these new lenses - I hadn't realised how much my vision was suffering - I just thought my glasses were always dirty or scratched! I think this procedure is even simpler than cataract surgery, so I am not expecting anything harrowing!

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  7. Hello! We (Silke and I) always talk about our friends back in Belize and wonder how you're doing. You take such beautiful pictures. I've been working with my 'Macro' lens a lot lately, trying to perfect my skills as well. Hope everything is good back home.
    Kind Regards,
    Nick

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    1. Hi Nick and Silke! So good to hear from you. For the most part we are doing well. Would love to see some your macro images. the latest news down here is that the new owners of Steppingstones are really fixing the place up. They are hoping to move down from the states later this year or early next year. Super nice folks. You must come back for a visit sometime!
      cheers!

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  8. Lovely photos! Hope the surgery gets scheduled soon and is successful.

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    1. Thank you, Chris. I have high hopes for the surgery and it is scheduled for 3 weeks from Monday! I think there must have a cancellation that they got me slotted in to.

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  9. Glad you're getting a health checkup. We have those yellow irises in England, too (or very similar ones).

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    1. Those yellow flag irises are cheerful the world 'round, I do believe.

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