Walking with a new vision...

....can reveal so much. Glasses slipped down on my nose for nearly four decades and from my very first to the very last pair of glasses owned, they have always been progressive, meaning the glass will turn dark when I am outside, and when I enter a dark interior the glass turns clear automatically. I couldn't understand why people would have a clear set and a dark set, switching from one to another when in- or outdoors. Why trouble yourself when you have have one set capable of both uses?

With camera in hand, I stepped outside today for the first time in my adult life without glasses upon the bridge of my nose, and was promptly blinded by the brightness of it all. How can people tolerate this on a daily basis? WoW! I now understand the following:
1. Having glasses serves several purposes:
a: Protective
b: Sunglasses
c: Something to do with your fingers on a hot day



Whatever will I do now with my bored fingers on a hot simmering day and there aren't any glasses to push back up? Oh, the misery!

I spent some time at the Marina where there was a festival of family kite-flying, and enjoyed the bright colored-kites but didn't appreciate the strong breeze blowing through the Golden Gate. Another use of those old glasses: a wind-block! Now I have to tolerate air blowing directly into my eyes, and it wasn't pleasant!

During this time of discovery, I stopped here and there to snap a few pictures... adjusting the camera viewfinder diopter now, a few minutes later, and again... and again. I found sometimes my left eye would see sharply, then not. Another time not, then later yes; sharply. It's a progression and I am happy I use auto-focus!

But it was something new.... though many take it very for granted to be able to walk outside with or without glasses, this is the first time since my teen-years that I've stepped outdoors without anything sliding down my nose. It's amazing the things we grow accustomed to, and how we tolerate it and even make it a necessary evil and a routine... a habit of our individual lives.

I am glad I am able to put aside finally one small but important detail of my life, and though I haven't yet purchased those reading glasses, I still am very grateful for the vision I have, and now enjoy the liberty of a vision free of other items... hanging around my neck, hanging off my nose, or something I need to remember to take with me in order to see.

It's a great sensation and very liberating!