Through the Lens

Last week was a week of new lenses for me. On Monday we watched the total solar eclipse at a friend's country home. Despite a few cirrus clouds blowing in and out, we saw most of the moon's movement, a small solar flare, and the silver diamond ring of the sun. I thought the changes to the blue gray twilight were stunning. Naturally we wore the funky ISO approved eclipse glasses. My favorite eclipse instructions were don't drive or walk around while wearing the glasses. Well of course not, the lenses obscure everything but the sun. I was also pleased I could see the eclipse given the cataract in my left eye.

On Thursday, I had the cataract covered lens removed and a new lens inserted. Surgery went well and my eye is healing. On the drive home, I noticed bright vivid colors with sharp precise distance vision. I am forever grateful to medical personnel skilled in the newest technology. As I type, I can see all the markings on the chickadee at the feeder. Literally, I have a new way to see. Now I wonder how else I limit my vision by looking though my own cloudy point of view. It's worth considering.

While my eye heals, I have no lens in the left side of my glasses. I will need some bifocal correction for that eye and more powerful correction for the right eye. The right eye isn't ready for surgery. Until this eye heals, reading remains a challenge. Friends, family, audiobooks, enlarged fonts, and knitting are the answers. Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts.

I am also grateful to be a knitter. I finished the striped socks before the eclipse. I prepared for the post surgical transition by choosing two skeins of yarn. If I absolutely couldn't knit, I planned to wind yarn. However, the night of the surgery, I propped my glasses over the large bandage on the left eye (the doc's suggestion) and knit on this washcloth. It was comical as the glasses kept sliding down my nose. Early the next morning, the bandage was removed at a followup appointment. Since then I've finished the Gemma Shawl (it is blocking), worked on Jonah's sweater and cast on a pair of mitts.

Yesterday I found a mostly red maple leaf. The color was beautiful. Today I may wind the pink yarn for mittens or I may toss a bin of yarn just to look at the colors. Mitten and wool sock weather is around the corner.