Glasses - A boon and a curse

          Where's my glasses? These are the wrong pair! The age of many pairs of glasses is a challenge that had not been considered in younger years. I had a friend who was very conscious of her appearance to others, but she still needed reading glasses after she got past her 40's. She did have a glamorous pair for reading that she would hang about her neck on a lovely chain when presiding over a meeting or conducting a class. At home, however she had a pair of ordinary reading glasses wherever she might need them: by her cookbooks, at each phone station in her house, by her favorite lounge chair. But once put on the bridge of her nose and used, she would forget to remove them and so when she returned to a specific spot, once again she couldn't see because the glasses had been deposited elsewhere in her home. A source of frustration to be dealt with.

           And then there is the two pair situation. Needing one for normal sight, driving, etc. and a different pair for reading. If both look the same a person is apt to start driving away from one's home, only to discover that the glasses now on your face are the reading glasses and will not work very well for the task at hand.

          More?  Oh yes,,there were three, or four. ... near sighted, sunglasses, bifocals, trifocals, decorative frames, night driving, blue light filters, wraparounds,  high density. The list of possibles goes on.

         I have discovered  some of these other types of glasses that are of benefit for me. Luckily they are easily identified so I don't get them mixed up. The help each one delivers is needed in completely different circumstances. Attending a brightly lit sports arena is the place for the night light glasses as well as driving in the darkened hours. Working on the computer at work or at home is easier using blue light filter glasses. I discovered these wonderful things cut down on migraine headaches, or for me, optical migraines. Who knew such glasses even existed? And of course they haven't existed for a particularly long time because technology didn't challenge our forebears, reading and near-sightedness or far- sightedness was sufficient.  Llilghting in the home differed as well.

         How about sunglasses, also one that is needed more frequently than in the younger years. Multiple choices with this one. Does a person have the darkening type put into their prescription glasses, or not? Advantages and disadvantages to this. Does a person require a front only view, or a wraparound that blocks light on the sides as well?

          Consider the need for this wonderful tool. How lucky we are to live in a time when these various needs can be fulfilled. Imagine what it would be like if there was no help for the problem of deteriorating sight. If magnification was all that was available. I vote for multiple pairs of glasses and finding a way for each individual to place them where needed, when needed.

Backyard entertainment!

When our morning curtains part the show begins, lasting off and on, all through the day.

              Backyard birds. Our backyard is a bird haven. Not just in the warm months, some varieties are here year round. Smaller birds lodge near during warmer months, but two gigantic pine trees seem to be the permanent home for a flock of magpies and they provide plenty of diversion for our observation. Such smart winged creatures, and beautiful as well. I am well aware that they are looked down upon by the human species, but I love them. 

            However, they are not the Lord of our winter backyard. That title goes to a handsome cock pheasant who has somehow eluded the hunters that are about each fall pheasant season. He strides through the yard/orchard at will, not threatened in the least by the black and white scavengers. He is a wise one and the magpies do not mess with him. Today he flew up and knocked one of the apples off a tree in our orchard, high in its branches. He proceeded to drift down and enjoy his treat, magpies flying through the orchard, but not interrupting his feasting. There were more apples available, in an orchard with 10 apples trees, those black and whites could get their own if they were able.

         King Tut (my name for him) must have truly loved his apple. In the later afternoon he brought a younger pheasant cock and three hens to the orchard. Just where they are hanging out I am not sure, they leave by flight to the north east. They are gorgeous to see, fun to watch.

          Now the magpies are back to their normal antics. They steal from the cats' food dish, boldly striding up, checking out the location of said felines  as they cock their heads to one side, then the other, and then they make their grab. Whether the cats are interested in them I know not. Sassy and Purrci are both good mousers and are keeping our vole population in check. It is their job and I am delighted to see them fulfilling it so adequately.

          In following days King Tut has ushered in a flock of about a dozen pheasants, a mix of ages. They roam about, scratching and flattening the snow beneath their feet.  Evidently they find something besides apples for munching. As long as Sassy and Purrci stay near our back door the birds ignore them, but when the cats start that slow, sneaky advance in the direction of the flock the feathered creature rise, helicopter style. low to the ground and then move out as a group.  Only one left, the King, who continues to ignore the slinky shapes. The mousers change plans and retreat.    Party over.

           What is it about this #1 bird that keeps him protected?  Pride, conceit?  He is a great example of self-confidence.  Hopefully his pride will not be his downfall any day soon.

Winter Sunsets

Is it the cold crisp air than enhances the sunsets of winter? Looking down our valley to the west the setting sun on a winter day is absolutely glorious. Not every day, of course. It take a few strips of clouds stretching across the V formed by our mountain sides to bounce some extra color. And they push and pull, a heavenly elasticity as it alters with the dipping of the sun over the edge of the horizon. Just wish there were words to describe.

I have pondered about this a bit. Is my rate of appreciation higher because there are storms moving in and out through the winter months, and days when we have no sun to watch its setting? Not just days, sometimes it is a week or so before we are blessed with a sky of blue during the cold daylight hours. For some reason the colors of blue, orange, yellow and purple have an extra intensity, as though the Painter had thrown some white silver into the blending before casting the color across the sky.

The horizontal swirl of color with the winter blue above.. . It never fails to awaken within me such gratitude for all the beauty that was put into the creation of our planet and the system that brings each day and night back into our lives. The beauty is always there, changing with the seasons, with constant 24 hour intervals, for those living upon the earth to enjoy.