my ear

... and a very clean ear it is, inside and out.

As some of you know, I've been battling hearing problems since late May/early June, when a combination of lots of flights - 13 or 14 - in Argentina, and going up to 14,500 in the pre-Andes, created (or so I thought) around 60% hearing loss in my right ear - and if that wasn't bad enough, a feeling of being perpetually distanced in some kind of diving bell, or echo chamber, where not only did all sound become muffled, and it was difficult to tell what direction sounds were coming from, but it made me feel horribly cut off from the world (and grumpy). Social events, with fuzzy noises hitting me from every side, were a nightmare.

I've had to wait 4 months to see a specialist, during which time Googling didn't (of course) make me feel much better.  But first, the technicians at Keck peered deep into my ear - or as far as they could, because like my primary care doctor before them, all they could see was wax, and more wax: it was as though I had a wax cork in there.  So they used a tiny suction machine which I could watch on very magnified CCTV doing its magic (until I got unbearably dizzy, which is apparently normal), and then the specialist finished it off.  No, I've never had my ears deep-vacuumed before.

And now I can hear, just as well as before.  You can't imagine my gratitude.

leaf patterns

Well, it may not be Maine, but we do get fall here, all the same ... I hope these leaf spottings are healthy: they are on one of our two red bud trees, and it looks decidedly ... variegated. But it's deciduous, and behaving how it should, and I'm happy with that.

 

a very colorful Halloween ...

Remember that house in Silver Lake that was being repainted?  They've always had remarkably elaborate and well illuminated Halloween decorations ... now they look even more extraordinary and eye-dazzling.  Did I suggest a few days ago that decorations this year, overall, weren't quite as elaborate as they've been?  No need to have been worried: there are large pink and black spiders, and floating eyeballs, and endless skeletons, all over the place.

 

from the front door

It was looking particularly good today, weird shadow from the street lamp and all.  To be sure, I've raided Trader Joe's for cheap pots of marigolds and for lots of pumpkins, which blend perfectly with the shade of the house, and which therefore give an extra layer of - well, I'd hardly say designer chic: more like super-conventional middle-America - but it really was one of those days when one gulps at one's good fortune at living here.

 

rain

The weather today was decidedly dramatic and mercurial.  As I left the house this morning, I admired all the clouds massing over the mountains and moving away.  Twenty minutes later, somewhere at the top of S. Hoover, the heavens opened; cars started aquaplaning. and I can't have been the only person wondering where the white lines on the road had disappeared to.  A little later yet, and my customary USC carpark was looking completely beautiful, if damp.

Oh, and so far, so good - the sandbags held up yesterday and today.

 

ready for rain?

The first (small, modest) Pacific storm of the season arrived today - it would be good if we could have one a week like that: not stronger, and no drought.  But uncertain how much rain would descend, I did what I've been meaning to do for weeks, and decanted the collapsing sandbags, and indeed much sand that's dispersed over the past few years, into some new bags.  I know these won't ultimately be enough, and I should go to the fire station and get some more; and yes, I did read with interest some articles this week claiming that duct tape is as good or better (though that doesn't answer the question about what to do if you want to take the car in or out of the garage ...).  The problem we have is two-fold: the garage is on a bend, and when rain comes down really heavily it jumps the curb; and then there's a flat space where rain puddles ...  But this was sufficient reinforcement for now.

And then, yes, the rain did arrive, and not just the sandbags but the new gutter guards and piping did their job ...

 

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

I truly don't understand this headless angel: nothing, so far as I can see, to do with Hallowe'en (unless as a counter-force?) - rather, she, and her counterpart (for there are two of them) seem to be guarding over a perfectly normal modest house on Virgil.  I mean - I'm assuming she's not really an angel, but the Winged Victory of Samothrace (now in the Louvre) - the lack of arms as well as head rather confirm that, although the breasts seem a little too pointed and, er, prominent compared with the original Nike.  And also - her wings are gilded.  But even elucidating all of that doesn't explain why there are two replicas of this Greek statue visible on my drive home.