Ahhh, relief!

By Ed Piper

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz
Oh, what a relief it is
(Alka Seltzer ad jingle back in the day)

Oh, to start heading for the door for La Jolla's first football Friday night of the year, and no back pain.

To stand out on the track next to the one-year-old turf, and be able to enjoy the pregame late afternoon.

Boy, it hasn't been this way in several years.

A handful of years ago, I even resorted for eight months to taking Ibuprofen every day, just so I could keep taking photos.

That was a dumb move. It only made my back worse.

It was the heavy equipment: The serious problems started with carrying my 300-millimeter lens, which to familiarize yourself with camera gear is a pretty long (a foot and a half, maybe?) metal tube. I got the greatest action shots, mostly of Viking athletes on the old turf. But, for me, it has always been a literal pain in the back to carry this stuff, and this was the worst.

Wisely, giving up my grandest piece of equipment, I sold the 300 on eBay years ago.

I should have quit carrying digital SLR cameras at least two years ago. Because at that time I didn't have the chronic pain in my left lower back. Yes, I had pain. But with rest and medical tweaking, it would often go away.

A problem, too: Though responsibility for my body and its care lies with me, I had two chiropractors this whole (agonizing) time that set as their goal to "allow you to keep doing the things you want to do", as one of them told me. Magicians with their hands and electric-stimulation machines.

But definitely the wrong prescription for me. Because, as I went into their offices each time to get help with the camera-induced pain, I would only take the occasion to go out and take more photos.

In my heyday--I took action photos of Viking athletes for the last 13 years, beginning with a point-and-shoot, then graduating to better and better stuff--I would drive energetically to four different events in four different occasions, if I could get there in time. (Five years ago, traffic wasn't even as bad in San Diego as it is now.)

Looking back, I'm surprised that I could even get to that many events. I was motivated. I was on a mission.

Photo-taking was my art. I loved it. But for everything, there is a season. And that season had to come to an end.

What finally got me to face facts, and not just get rid of my humongous lens but also to quit all DSLR shooting and allow my (now arthritic) back to have some peace for day-to-day living, was playing in the backyard with my grandson.

It was an afternoon last January. I had stabbing pains so much in my lower back, that I couldn't chase my 5-year-old nieto around. I stopped and thought: Wait a minute, I got to get my priorities straight. I can't even play with my grandson? There's something wrong with that.

And a short time later (you can see the last date I posted photos on my LJHS sports website), I quit for good.

It has been a fun summer, selling all my equipment, and now reporting and doing the stuff I did way back in my teens and early 20's before I had much photo expertise--yakking it up with people (La Jolla High athletes and family and friends) and writing up a storm.

Enjoy the fall. It certainly looks pain-free out there on the field. Looking through a whole new lens.