May 2026

 

I Can See Clearly Now 🎵

May's big deal was getting the scales removed from my eyes: almost literally, as I had cataract surgery in both eyes. After the surgery, the world felt new: sharp, vivid, full of contrast. Every time I stepped outside, every short walk through the neighborhood, was an experience of joy. I know the image above is just an ordinary photo of flowers, but when I took it freshly after my first surgery, they seemed like the most vibrant flowers I had ever seen. 

One of the really exciting changes seeing with new eyes is how many more birds I am seeing. Difficulty seeing contrast was making it hard for me to see birds in the trees, on the ground, even flying in the sky at a distance. It has renewed my enjoyment of birding. Though I didn't like to admit it, I hadn't been enjoying it as much for awhile. And what a good time for this change, with Spring migration going on.

Shortly after my first surgery, I had a chance to enjoy this particularly vivid bird: A Lewis Woodpecker that stopped over at Tingley Open Space for a few days.

Nearby, a Cooper's Hawk, still in Juvenile Plumage (though likely born last year), was eating fresh-caught something or other.

 

 

Though you would think that a bright red Summer Tanager male could be easy to see, they have a surprising way of blending into the forest. I am seeing them so much more frequently now. 

And certainly seeing more of the neutral-toned flycatchers, like this Ash-Throated Flycatcher and this recently arrived Western Wood-Pewee. 

I got the joy of a close view of this Black-Crowned Night Heron recently, at the edge of one of the Tingley Fishing Ponds. Fishing, of course, so in the right place. 

Baby Bird Time Begins!

The Great-Horned Owls and the Neotropic Cormorants are some of the earliest nesters, and so that is who is showcased here.

 

 Great-Horned Owls 

Feeding Time at the Cormorant Roost 

 

The Nest Next Door

The Pigeons are nesting in the crook of a pine across from my balcony again. All day long, through heat, wind and rain, the female steadfastly broods her eggs. The male takes over at night, and I believe I've seen him there at dusk. I've watched the female hang tight while buffeted by heavy winds, and last week I watched her remaining still while being pelted by rain. (Though it may be hard to tell, that is what is happening here in the second photo.)

During that same rain, a wet and bedraggled White-Winged Dove braved the elements to visit the feeder area next door.

Painting with New Eyes

As I went through the two surgeries and adjusting to the new circumstances of my vision (good distance and poor close vision), I enjoyed watercolor painting under varied conditions.

 

Condition #1-No Corrective Lens

I painted this two days after my first surgery, with clear vision in my right eye, very blurry vision in my left, and very bad close vision. I worked from a poster on my wall of David Hockney's Mt. Fuji and Flowers. I did not use readers to help with the close vision, wanting to see how I could do without the correction.

 

Condition #2-With Reading Glasses

Because I was painting this one from a photo reference on my iPhone, I could use the reading glasses to look at both the subject and my painting.

 

 

Condition #3: Alternating Between No Correction and Reading Glasses

With my sketchers group at Cimino Compound, I made the first attempt at the most challenging condition: Looking over my reading glasses at a distant subject, then back to my painting through the reading glasses (keeping the glasses on the tip of my nose). What a coordination challenge it was, especially because in my mind, glasses are still to be used for distant vision.

 

 

Style Experiments

I'll show two more paintings from the end of May, where I was trying out some different styles. In the first, I first sketched an outline in black ink before adding watercolor. In the second, I went directly to watercolor without any preliminary sketching.

  

That's it for now. We'll see what adventures unfold in June!