It is rare for men to make and keep friends, a small miracle when it occurs. I’ve not always been good at it. My friend George Forss has many good friends and I am not as good at it as he is.   George and I have a special relationship born out of love for photography initially but has grown beyond that. We talk often on the phone, e-mail one another, and share photos we are proud of or have learned something from. George keeps me up to date on work with light, his experiments with optics and reflections, his search for aliens.

We took an important trip together this morning with Donna to meet my doctor, Glen Finley, a naturopath at the New Leaf Holistic Practice in Kingston, N.Y. Dr. Finley comes to Manchester, Vt. once a month and I see him there. He is diligent, gentle, thorough and has helped me make the turn from conventional health care to a different kind of medicine. I cannot begin to relate how much I admire and respect him. We often spend more than an hour together. He is also an avid photographer and I can sometimes distract him a bit talking about photography, but never for very long. He has made me love my  body and medicine again. I look forward to my doctor’s visits. Thanks in part to him, I am on no prescription medicines of any kind and feel strong and healthy. I asked if he would meet George and advised him not to ask many questions about aliens.

My friend George had some health issues recently and he said he would like to meet Glen to help him figure out all the medications he is supposed to be taking, so I brought Donna. It was a classic meeting in many ways, George is not used to talking about his health, or the polio that afflicted him in his childhood. Donna is also a friend, and is a brilliant artist and a brave schizophrenic who has controlled her illness for some years through medications, spiritual work and just plain hard work. She spent some years of her life as a street person in New York City and Atlanta and is an advocate for the mentally ill. George and Donna love one another very much and their relationship is a sweet and touching thing to see. She came along with her sketchpad. I brought my camera.  Glen seemed to take all of the attention in stride, not skipping a beat in his discussion of medicines, gall bladders, livers and health.

Glen brought two of his cameras. I took photos, Donna drew, and George and Glen traded optic and lens chatter for awhile. George loved Glen’s cameras. “I love all cameras,” e said. I learn so much just from listening to George. I was taking photos of Glen and George pointed to his hands and his charts. “The hands,” he said, “that’s the image of a doctor.” Then George and Donna and I went to lunch.

I wanted George to meet Glen so that George, who is going through a confusing time, would have someone to talk to who wouldn’t simply write prescriptions for him, although he may need some. Glen is a specialist in nutrition and had great ideas about heart health and diet. The three of us agreed to meet soon at Bedlam Farm to take photos together.

Glen took my blood pressure and it was a little high. He asked me about my life. He remembered I was moving, that I had four books coming out this year, that I had a new dog and spent the weekend with more than 1,000 people at Bedlam Farm. I told him I had spent the week running up and down hills with Red. When he took the reading, my heart jumped a bit. I feared he would send me into the system for some blood pressure medication. I won’t do that, I said. Not to worry, he said. It had happened before. One of my numbers was fine, and he felt I was under stress and needed to deal with this issue in that context. We talk about ways to rest during this period.

I saw George taking in all of this, and I felt so fortunate to be sitting in this room having this talk with my doctor about my friend, my life, my health. George will make up his own mind about his health care, but this is the path for me, for sure.

Afterwards, George and Donna and I went to lunch. George said the morning was great for him in many ways. He liked Glen a lot, was thinking about his future health, and also had learned that I disliked politics and parties. “I wouldn’t have thought that,” he said. “This was productive.”

Photo album on Facebook (including the hands)