Saturday, November 2, 2013

Eye Am Fine

The eye sees a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination awake. ~Leonardo da Vinci


On Thursday, the Princess and I went to have our eyes checked. I know that I am somewhat nearsighted with a slight astigmatism, but I have not had glasses for over 25 years and I gave up on contacts 20 years ago because my eyes became so relaxed that my eyesight was worse than before I had them, but it improved again afterward. I rather my eyes not get that lazy about focusing on their own. Reading a book or working at my computer I do just fine, but really tiny print or cross-stitching now requires 1.25 reading glasses, so I could have gotten bifocals that I could wear all the time, but I really felt that I just wanted glasses for distances, mostly for reading signs when I drive, signs in a unfamiliar store, the occasion captions on a movie, or words of songs projected at our church. I just do not see me wearing them in my home, where I am most of the time.

The Princess has been telling me that she has a problem seeing things close up, but I think the range in which she means close up would be difficult for nearly everyone! I have always known she had good eyesight for distances and she has no problems reading at all, but now I have confirmation: the girl is 20/20. The optometrist said that she is very slightly farsighted, but not enough to bother with glasses; she looked so disappointed, as I was thanking God! I think she even tried to convince the doctor that she must need glasses, because he made a point to say that her complaints were probably due to eye fatigue. This is likely because she reads books and writes on her computer in her leisure time as well as the work she does for homeschooling.

I was also thanking God that both of us had very healthy eyes, because last year about this time I had incidents of flashes of light in my eyesight, which could have been an indication that the retina was detaching, but when I asked my Lord, He told me this was not the case. Flashes are also common as the fluid in the eye changes with age. So, in a little over a week I will be enjoying the fall colors in crystal clarity, if I choose to wear my glasses.

Our appointment was just after 8:00 AM, but because our eyes were dilated for most of the day, even well into the afternoon (instead of the two to three hours we were promised), we took the day off from former lessons. The Princess said everything was fuzzy and she even was seeing double. I told her that what she was complaining about is how I see all the time, except for the double vision. Because the doctor was so informative and because she had recently dissected an eye in her science class I decided that this would be considered a field trip. Everything is a learning opportunity! She spent part of the day working on her science project and cleaning her room, without being asked.

Some days are good days...but then I have not told you what happened the previous day, Wednesday, our errand day...and I just do not think I have the energy to go there right now.

~ Thank you, my Lord, for our healthy eyes and for the excellent eyesight you have given to my daughter. Protect her vision in that she sees only what You wish her to see. ~