Claire Returns To China

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Writing

I watched a movie this past week that touched me in several scenes. (The Emporer, 2012 - Tommy Lee Jones) Near the end, General Fellers was reading letters written by Aya and saved by her uncle. What touched me was that these were letters, hand written on paper, that could be touched and felt and read and kept. When is the last time you wrote a letter? Received one? A long time for me. How about just writing on paper? These are skills we are losing. I write this on an iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard. I could even dictate it if I wanted and would not have to type. What are the chances of someone saving my writings and re-reading them after I am gone on whatever device they may me using? Photographs are facing a similar fate to letter wrting. We've gone digitl from beginning to end of the photographic process. I've got albums of photographs which include photos of my great grandpartents and other relatives. Some I cannot even identify but I can still hold them, touch them, enjoy them. Not so digital images. They end up in albums on my hard drive and on Google+ and Facebook but all in digital form - not something you can touch and feel.

 

Cataract Surgery Stage One

Yesterday I had cataract surgery on my left eye, remove natural lens and replace with an interocular lens. Today I am amazed at my ability to see brighter colors and to see without correction.

I did not realize how cataracts had changed my view of the world. Whites were not white anymore - they were yellow. Today I can look at a white wall or a piece of paper with my left eye and see bright white and with my right eye, beige or yellow. As the day goes on I realize more and more how the cataracts not only changed my visual acuity but also my perception of colors. I didn't know! Whiter whites! Bolder colors!

Original cat trap

Alternative cat tap

I've got some healing to do and my brain has to adjust to my new vision, but so far this experience has gone well and appears to be as life changing as I anticipated. I suspect my photography will change also as I see the world more clearly and brighter now.

 

Home

We are still setting into the routine of home. Sharon has been off to Boulder and now also to Racine. I've been trying to catch up on yard work and moving photos off of the camera's SD cards. Of course the cats are happy we are back and they have forgiven us for leaving them for so long.

Big changes in my life start tomorrow. Cataract surgery day. My left eye is first and I am of course nervous but also ready to do it. I believe I have written about this before, but this is a big step for me. I have worn glasses since I was two years old, and have worn contact lenses since I was 15. My left eye is considerably worse than my right eye, and I also do not have full vision across my left eye - it is as if there is a hole in my vision. Because of this I have alsways relied on my right eye for the majority of my vision - reading especially. Thus the nervousness about the surgery. The big change for me will be not needing to rely on glasses to see. Now, without my contacts or my glasses I am lost and cannot focus on anything near or far. Everything is a blur. After surgery, I should beable to see in mid to long distance without correction and only need glasses for near or reading. This will be a major adjustment.

This past weekend we drove up to St. Paul for a graduation party for Audra and Claire Dunvan. They have been part of our lives since they were infants and it is always a joy to spend time with them. I suspect now that they are college graduates we will se a bit less of them. We wish the best of success to both of them.

At the bus stop leaving Sitges, a rainbow.