Isn’t the Universe a great provider! Since I got on to hemodialysis last December I have been begging to get my fistula (arm connection) in place, because I was told that my line connection in my neck wasn’t waterproof. As one of the two lines goes straight to my heart it would be too dangerous. But there was a waiting list, like there always is…
And waited I have, with the time trickling through my clenched fists like water. By the beginning of May I saw my summer wing away. The fistula operation takes at least six weeks to heal and then the line has to come out taking another six recovery weeks. My Art College in Limerick took all my love and attention, but by May only some loose ends had to be tied and I saw the summer coming as one big black hole through which I’d be landlubbering in increasing frustration. I wrote an extensive elucidation to my doctor in command, tried to arrange a talk with him, was fooled with Irish promises, all to no avail. I have been racking my mind with the craziest of plans, like a dialysis strike, Sheldon Cooper’s ‘I will be very difficult to live with’, stalking my doctor, but anything I could think of would only backfire.
Since my eye operations last year my eyes easily tear. And with such a miserable summer ahead I found myself in tears on a daily basis. Only since yesterday evening I realised that the universe had provided me with my own ocean of salt water. That was about one moment after my plan was approved of.
My plan is based on the proposal of Michelle. To keep the exit wound for my Peritoneal Dialysis dry she suggested using a stoma-bag. It worked perfectly for over two years and I shall always be grateful to her memory. The same solution I have put forward to waterproof my line, plus the added security of a huge overlapping plaster, also fully waterproof. On top of that I want a sleeveless one mil neoprene shirt to keep everything in place when I wrestle into my wetsuit jacket.
My relief is astronomical. Today was my last day in College, so before me lies the kind of summer that has made Ireland come so close to my heart (but not too close). And the season has already taken quite a lift off. Since a few weeks Dusty has been seen swimming with another dolphin! Also she seems to prefer Doolin Harbour over Inisheer. Now the water at Inisheer is a lot clearer than in Doolin, but Doolin is so much easier in logistics. I can go swimming any time of the day and can change in my van. Inisheer means ferrying over at 10 o’clock, changing on the rocks in whatever weather and back with the 4.45 pm boat.
I have often said that jumping in the water with a dolphin does not solve your mental affliction, but for me dolphin has given purpose and direction to my life. And now, in Art college, I have taken this to a next level. The building of the living part of my van in cardboard grounded me in LSAD (Limerick School for Art and Design). The WaterWing project was a great exercise in fluid dynamics and resulted in an actual try-out model.
The ‘Eyes on Stalks’ project was a great exercise in viewing the world in a different perspective and easily extrapolates into the world of animal experience.
And of course I have plans for the summer, and beyond I should say, as I intend to keep focussing my artistic energy on dolphin. My very first project will be to address a problem that I have had as long as I swim with dolphins. I need a lot of circumstances to be favourable to video the dolphin. The viz should be good, preferably with sunshine, no distractions for the dolphin, like other swimmers, boats, jet ski’s, other dolphins, and of course the dolphin needs to be there and in a good, inquisitive mood.
As you can see on Dolphin Address I have accumulated well over a hundred of videos with Dusty in it. But what I really would like to have on film is Dusty interacting with me, responding to all kinds of communication modes and experiments that result in interesting and unique behaviour. Two years ago I did an attempt to this end at Inisheer. I strapped my camera to the WaterWing, moored it to a stone in a bag on a rope in line with the current. It still wasn’t stable in one direction, the one in which I intended to meet Dusty. So now I’m thinking of different solutions, like strapping the camera to the bottom and then swim above it.
I aim to think that every little thing Dusty does, or not, has meaning to her. That opens up there is reason to everything she does. Something to look out for. To live her life, not in an anthropomorphic way, but more in an Ani-morphic way, imagining myself in her skin with an extensive coverage of capabilities I know to be hers, elaborated on in interviews with her. So research with a smile, putting the fun in her fins like the pun in her -phin.
Beat with your flat hand on the water with a speed of 40 km/h. This fast a dolphin speeds through the water. The resistance spreads itself across the dolphin’s face. Many dolphins have sport-stripes…