Yet Another Non-Astronomy Update

I doubt that there’s anyone out there it’s been so long since I wrote anything, meaningful or not, on this blog. However it’s not that I’ve lost interest in blogging here, rather that I’ve lacked for motivation and particularly timely content.

You see, my health got much worse even that the last time I posted. I now have a diagnosis of Axial Spondyloarthritis which fortunately means that, at last, I also have some treatment.

But it’s early days, and the astonishingly swift improvement I witnessed in my extremities hasn’t quite been matched by those along the axis of my neck, spine and hips. I’m hopeful that medication and exercise, which occupies a lot of time, will bring some more relief.

Naturally that means that I’ve done next to no observing save for a bit of solar time this Summer. I enjoyed the activity on offer through the eyepiece, but my medication also makes me prone to skin cancers, so I’m being cautious.

Under the night sky I’m certainly limited to small telescope observing by my spine and hips, but my neck makes it hard to use a finderscope at all. I’m concerned that my star-hopping days may be over!

So what to do about the blog? For now, I’ve got my old observations which might find some use. I hope that I will get some more time under the stars, but it might take a while longer.

Addendum

On the credit side of the ledger, it appears that my deteriorating near-vision has resulted in a huge improvement in the acuity of my distance vision. I can see a wonderfully detailed Moon and pin-sharp constellations with the unaided eye again, so no more glasses swapping issues.

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