On Saturday March 21, I went on my first hike since September 2008. It's great to be out and around again.

I have been improving my personal web site, with changes going into effect in mid May. I will add a new business web site in June. Also, I am working on a commercial web site with which I have been associated for several years. It needs a lot of work. It’s so awful that I sometimes use it as an example of a very poorly managed site. No matter what I do, it will be better.

Also, I am busy volunteering for the Michigan Wildlife Heritage Program. Plus, I am “joining the 90s” and shopping for a notebook PC. I have used laptops for several years; but never actually owned one. I used company notebooks in the radio days.

As with every spring, I will be hiking a lot and shooting godzillions of photos. Watch my website for images of all the action.

A lot of catching up is going on this winter.

First of all. I am catching up on health issues. The hemorrhagic stroke that hit me in September resulted in partial paralysis. My left arm, shoulder, hip, leg, ankle and foot are not fully functional. The paralysis has receded quite a bit. I continue to walk better each week. But progress is not steady.

On the winter solstice, I could walk tentatively and sometimes needed a cane. In the last week of December, I could not walk at all. As the paralysis left me, areas that had been numb became, instead, painful. I had plenty of strength; but it hurt too much to walk. I had to use the wheel chair, a/k/a gimp mobile, to get around. That really sucked after walking for a couple of months. With help from advil and caffeine, I was walking better than ever by mid January.

As I walk through mid February, the spring fling beckons. I am looking forward to hiking and shutter bugging in 4 weeks with everything coming to life.

I need to catch up on photography. I had a stroke in September just as I was shopping online for a new cam. When they let me out, I resumed shopping; and got a new Olympus digital camera in mid December. At first, my left hand was a little too shaky to hold the cam steady. As I learn the quirks of the new camera, my left hand is slowly stabilizing. I am gradually catching up with my photojournalism; and posting images on my web site at www.davelaporte.com.

I am also catching up on personal matters. I was sequestered in medical custody for nearly 90 days. I did not have internet access during that time. I lost contact with most of my acquaintances and business connections. I have followed up on the godzillions of email messages that filled up the in-boxes. Now I need to update contact lists. If you have not heard from me in a while, I might email you to see if you are still around and up for anything.

Stay tuned.

- Dave

This was a very slow fall season. In mid September, I had a stroke. I recovered quickly; but was not released from medical custody until December 1. So I was out of circulation all season. I was allowed a few brief visits home. It seemed as though we had a rather unspectacular fall color phase. So I feel I did not miss much being unable to get out and shoot photos. I noticed that we had a rare visit of white crowned sparrows passing through on their way south. Now I am catching up on correspondence and shopping for a new digital cam. By the way, that's exactly what I was doing when I was stricken with illness in September.

Stay tuned!!!!

Interesting summer. Over the last few years, we've had some very dry spells. But this year, we are getting above average rainfall after a dry April and May.

I am cleaning up the family room and garage. In the process, I am finding interesting artifacts from my childhood. One flying model airplane was in pretty good shape after being in a box more than 30 years. I am using eBay as a big yard sale. The plane went for about $180 and an old cap gun sold at $55. A lot of the things I find just get tossed. I was putting a bunch of old curtains out in the garbage. Immediately, a tweaker pulled up and started to load the metal curtain rods.

My arthritis has been acting up. I don't go for a hike every day anymore. It's easy to keep the dog in shape. I just have to toss a ball several times a day. But keeping myself in shape will be more of a challenge. I am getting the mountain bike out. I am trying to teach Hanna how to run along with the bike without causing a serious accident.

Stay tuned!!!