Clearer vision

New eyes
I’ve been in a simply splendid mood all afternoon, because I went to the eye doctor today and I asked him about the trouble I’ve been having focusing my vision after I’ve spent time reading or working at the computer. I’ll be working at something near to me for an hour or more, and then afterward I can’t seem to focus when I look at something farther away, which usually means driving. It’s not that the world suddenly goes blurry, but it’s like when you space out and can’t focus your glance on any one thing. I get headaches frequently after reading, too. I’d begun noticing this even before my last year’s eye exam, and it kind of freaked me out but it didn’t occur to me to ask about it. This time I did, and it turns out that while my vision and my eye health are fine, my near vision is noticeably limited in endurance. So my eyes strain more easily when I’m working at close quarters, and then they take longer to snap out of it once I’ve finished. For a remedy I’m supposed to take more breaks while working (which I already knew, and which would also help my wrists and shoulders, but which I definitely don’t do enough), but now I’ve also put in an order for a pair of separate computer/reading glasses. As soon as the doctor mentioned this as a possibility, I knew I had to get them. I hadn’t really thought up to this point that these headaches and this weird inability to focus were things that could be fixed, so now I’m really excited to think that after I get these glasses maybe all that will go away (or at least get better). I can’t wait.

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New vision
Tonight I took a long walk with Shra and Erik after dinner. We explored trails we haven’t been on before, and talked about herb gardens and our parents (not in association). It’s been rather a long time since I had such an opportunity to talk with Shra uninterrupted.

There’s really no one quite as good for talking about your parents as the sibling(s) you grew up with. I suppose we’ll get to share that with Al too someday, but now not in the same way. Being able to reminisce about our childhood, then speak about our parents retrospectively, is one of these marvelous pleasures of growing up… not quite the same as getting to order whatever I like in a restaurant or staying up all night if I feel like it, but a pleasure nevertheless — and unlike the aforementioned, it’s not one that you can anticipate when you’re still a kid.

I think things like this are the best part of growing up, things you discover along the way that keep life interesting and worth living.

[This post was imported on 4/10/14 from my old blog at satsumabug.livejournal.com.]