Goldfish and Silverhair

We have been watching our fourth generation of goldfish in the pond. We bought the first batch in May 2004. They were eaten by the heron in the fall of that year, but not before they had a batch of babies that over-wintered and grew big and strong by spring 2005. They were eaten by the heron that fall, but not before they had a batch of babies, and so on. This spring we have a large and beautiful school of gold and multi-colored fish. They look big and healthy and will make a grand meal for the heron in the fall. We wish it weren't so, but we can't seem to prevent it from happening.
This Saturday Good Planets may be enjoying its last weekend at The Gypsy's Caravan. I haven't rounded up a new host, and really I haven't even tried. To be perfectly honest, I have been a bit ill the past few months, and my energy for such things has waned. I love the concept of Good Planets, I love that it's a carnival of pics, and not links. I have been thrilled by the views from around the globe. But carnivals take time, consideration, prodding, thoughtfulness, and vision. Things I have been sorely lacking lately. So, perhaps this weekend's offering will be the last of it. It was a good run, and I've personally loved every minute of it. Please email your spectacular, celebratory earth pics to SBgypsy at hotmail dot com.

About my health, back in December I noticed a small rash on my arms and was utterly panicked by it. Several years ago, I had a rash that started out the same way, spread relentlessly over almost my entire body, lasted five months and left me with post-inflammatory hyper-pigmentation that took years to finally fade. This rash began the same way, but has turned out to be slightly different (doesn't feel like a very bad case of sunburn and poison oak 24 excruciating hours a day). I went to the doctor during the first bout, but they could not come up with a diagnosis even after biopsies. I went to see a local doc the other day and was diagnosed with systemic eczema. I'm not sure I buy that, but that's what she said. To look at me you'd never know this was going on under my clothes. My face, hands, and feet are completely fine (just like the first rash), but I am sick. So, that's a little background on the light posting, the fatigue, the generally uninspired way I've been feeling. I'm supposed to start the antibiotic Keflex and steroid cream tomorrow. We'll see about that. I may be sick, but I'm still an old rascal who will do just about anything to avoid taking medicine. Wish me luck.
Here's a pic our friends took of me on Tuesday. I showed them the black and white cover of the NY Times magazine from three weeks ago. I thought it looked something like me. We tried to do a match, although I don't have a hair stylist, didn't brush my hair at all for the shot, and couldn't figure out how to light for the contrasts they obtained. The cover says: Can Science Tell Us Who Grows Wiser?

What do you think?

*click on all pics for the big view.