the eyes and ears

So I drive down for what I believe is my last appointment for my eyes in San Jose. It's been months since my last checkup and my eyes feel like it's always been without glasses, though I know it's been the other way around.

It's incredible to think that sight is such a gift that we all take so much for granted. As a photographer, I see things in a different light and if I were to ever lose my vision, I'd be more than up a creek!!

In the months it's been since I've had my "new" eyes, I've been blinded while shooting the sunsets, I've been jabbed in the eyes plus I've poked myself in the eyes several times and also jabbed my eyes with my camera straps. It wasn't easy to do and to do it several times wasn't easy ~ actually very painful! I've seen a lot and even as I write this, my vision improve each and every day and I can SEE the differences.....

When I make the hour drive from SF to San Jose for these eye appointments I try to make it a day-trip to shoot things and places; this won't be any exception..... will post results of the appointment plus any fotos later....

The other day attended for the first time the Stupid Parade which started near the Ferry Building. It's my first time as I've been away from the City for so many years. So many events, so much uniqueness and so little time. sigh..... I had the chance to meet with a fellow-blogger and flickrite who is from the Costa del Sol, plus yesterday I met with a fellow Yelper and flickrite bubbletea1 who BARTed over from Fremont and we met at the Museum of Craft + Design, then walked over to Polk Street and Washington to see a Yelp-friendly art gallery. I got back to my car parked near the museum just in time before it was towed!!

UPDATE: Well, it was harrowing drive to San Jose - leaving at a later hour but stopping at the Daly City cemetery to see family, I lost track of where all of my family were as they had cut the grass and one tomb marker was completely covered by the grass!! It took me a few minutes to find it - I haven't been there often as I lived out of the country for decades - and now have the location etched permanently into my brain! It's disgusting to see that so many tombs have no flowers which means that they are forgotten... so sad. Will I too be forgotten and just a piece of blowing grass or trash when I am gone?

Because of that search and the outbound traffic, I had only 20mins to drive from Daly City to San Jose!! I couldn't believe it but I arrived and walked in on time! Usually I select an appointment time much earlier but as it was my last I decided on a later hour - big mistake! So my eyes are improving as can be expected. I should be using eye drops but I haven't - too busy - but I do try to remember to use the drops at night to see better. Within a half hour, I was out of there and enroute other locations. The day ended with a grand sunset from Immigrant Point at the Presidio....

Did you see it?

On a more somber note, while I was eating at a downtown restaurant the other day, I sat at a booth with a few people behind me. Of course, it's the typical situation where I could everything said.... and at one point, these tourists I overheard "have you seen all of the homeless on the streets here?" then laughed loudly. It bothered me... and for the next few minutes words floated and bounced through my head. I determined that when I left, I would turn to them and tell them that homelessness is a WORLD problem and it could be them next week or month, and would people point at you and laugh? I tossed the words inside my head, but when I left, I didn't turn to them, nor did I say a word....

I knew they would not care, I knew they would not understand, and I knew I would be looked upon as the stupid one to bring up my thoughts that interfere with their private conversations.....

sigh....

I was trying to park for just a minute in a yellow zone ~ yeaaaa, I know ~ and when the tires were done turning, I looked toward the parking meter, and saw the words on its post... listing the towing warning and when parking is allowed, and then it dawned on me:

I was sitting inside my car, still belted in and behind the wheel, and I could see the words on that parking meter post! Even when I had glasses, I couldn't read the words!

It's not only a miracle, this bit of modern technology, but amazing! That in some little-noticed daily routine of Life that everyone takes for granted: breathing, touching, drinking, seeing.... that I could see well without glasses for the first time in soooo many years!

Everyday is a revelation for me in regards to my vision. Sometimes I cant see well, or hardly at all, and after a few simple blinks, my vision return after the cornea is a bit more well-moisturized.

Today I was on the road almost all day and didn't get back to my cell till after sunset. I had missed two of my required eye-drop applications and my vision paid dearly... I could hardly see at all during the drive home in the dark night. However I still know that my eyesight is better now without glasses than it's ever been in the last four decades!

We take so much for granted, and we don't realize how much we have (or not have) till it's gone..... or in this case, till something that has gone bad and has been replaced.

And yes, I did try to blind myself looking directly into a bright golden sphere tonight. But one needs to see what is all around... as in most events... there is more to the eye than the main "performance"... one must look elsewhere, because the main event is often just one part of a whole scenario that often we forget to notice....

It's when we take that moment to pause for a second to see what else there is, then we can truly appreciate what Life offers and how WE also offer something in return.