Wow! Thank you all for the helpful and supportive comments.
@Jeremy: The arrow keys and one-step-to-gallery page seem easily doable. I'll hope to fix those soon.
@Lois: I have no problem with Firefox (no scroll bars at all), but I am using a pair of 21" monitors, and I admit I have a prejudice that "real photographers don't use laptops". But I also realize that many others do use them, and when I tried the site on my wife's laptop, I got the cramped, ugly look. So yes: I've got to do something about that. I have been avoiding learning about CSS, but my experience putting this site together has indeed taught me why I need to learn it. So I will look for a copy of "The Complete Imbecile's Guide to CSS".
@jeorgen: I suspect that once I master CSS, as Lois suggests, that making the left navigation panels consistent throughout will be much easier. The harder trick for me at my present state of web-knowledge is how to make the pages look good on both big and small screens.
@deeyas: A preview image for each gallery is a great idea, and it should be easy to implement.
@Blas: Where's your website? I need to steal it!
@Ray: You asked "What the heck is road tar?" In parts of the U.S., and certainly in many cities and towns around Boston, our asphalt-paved roads develop cracks after a few New England winters. Back when there were fewer cars on the road and asphalt and tar were in (seemingly) infinite supply, many roads were regularly resurfaced with a second, third, or fourth layer of asphalt. In recent years, in order to prolong the life of the road surface a few more years, the cracks are sometimes filled with a thin stream of tar. A tank truck with a load of heated tar drives slowly along the road, and a worker walks behind it operating a nozzle very much like a giant version of a cake-decorating nozzle. The worker just dribbles tar wherever he (or she, to be P.C.) sees a crack. Some years ago while driving along a road treated this way, I saw the scene in the late afternoon that became the first of my "Road Tar" series. The late day sunlight was backlighting the scene, making the shiny tar drips glow, while the older asphalt stayed dark. I have gone looking for scenes like that ever since. For the image to work, the sun needs to be in the right place, and any shadows or street gizmos (drains, etc.) need to "belong" in the image. I'm planning soon to try some night shots, using streetlights and headlights for the light source, especially on streets that don't run in the best direction for sunlight. So the "artist" is really the guy who puts down the tar; I just record it.
@Lisa: You know I visit your website often when I want to explore places -- especially mountains -- that I'm not likely to get to myself.
@ Everybody: Again, thanks for your help and comments. I will report in again when I've made some of the changes suggested. But don't hold your breath; I've got to get out and play with my new G10 and my old 5D, too.
Cheers,
Eric