where your body and soul roam tonight
The nice thing about vacations is getting a break from regular life. The not-so-nice part is that nothing on my regular life to-do list gets done in that time.
Last Thursday was both my 5 year anniversary of getting LASIK as well as the day of the autumnal cross-quarter.
5 years and 1 week ago, I had eyes of -5/-6.75 (+astig). 4 weeks later, I had 20/20 vision for the first time in about 20 years, and it has remained stable and wonderful ever since then.
The amazingly good parts: I can see. I can read the bedside clock in the middle of the night without thinking about it. I can get dust in my eyes without it causing excruciating pain. I can close my eyes and snooze without waking up with sore eyes or crushed frames. The recurring eyelid infections I used to get are easier to keep under control.
The less-than-amazingly-good parts: I'm still sensitive to bright lights, and extensive exposure when I'm tired can give me headaches. My right eye, when it's particularly dry and/or tired, gets noticeably more fuzzy. High contrast light settings are a challenge, which means my night vision is still pretty bad. The worst situations are: If it is dark and raining, the reflections make it very difficult for me to see the lines on the road; and a dark background with bright lights and little ambient light (for example, headlights against the otherwise darkness of a rural highway) tires me out and gives me a headache.
I can't really say this is an effect of LASIK, as I hadn't really made measurable sight benchmarks before surgery. I know I've always had poor night vision, but I think the challenging parts shifted a little.
My tears are pretty much normal. In fact, I've been extra teary this past week, although I think that's probably more due to recent politics than any residual surgery effects.
Also, I can't say that my eyes are green, anymore. I consider that a worthwhile loss, though.
This cross-quarter date marks the beginning of the darkest quarter of the year. My house is chilly, and my jackets and sweaters and hats and O socks are back in common use.
My trees dropped nearly all their apples and leaves in one last hurrah for the year sometime over the last week. All in all, they yielded apples for about 5 quarts of apple butter, maybe 3 quarts of apple sauce, 3 apple pies, some poached apples, apple syrup, dried apples, apples for eating and salads, a few days worth of crunchy cinnamon dried apple skins, and several bags given away to friends and neighbors. And easily 5x that in half-rotted fruits bequeathed to the compost. Next year, I shall be more prepared.
The darkness annoys me. We still wake up in daylight (although barely), but it is twilight when I leave work, and long past dark before I get home, leaving me nearly zero time to do any outdoor work that I want to finish up. I have not felt strong psychological effects obviously from it yet, but I'm trying to keep half a mind on it.
I know I don't see well in the dark. In my car, I can generally deal with this limitation by avoiding long night driving when possible, or by doing so extra carefully when I do. I believe I need to apply this same level of precaution to other parts of my life in these next few months. Ideally, I'd love to give up doing the driving, but I know that's just not feasible most of the time, so instead, I need to be extra careful when I do. Try to avoid stressing myself, avoid making sharp or sudden turns or stops, and see if I can have someone along with me to help me with my directions if I need it.
In the meanwhile, I'm staying busy, bundling up and enjoying the hot chocolate. Light a candle for me, for the night, and hold me 'til morning.
Last Thursday was both my 5 year anniversary of getting LASIK as well as the day of the autumnal cross-quarter.
5 years and 1 week ago, I had eyes of -5/-6.75 (+astig). 4 weeks later, I had 20/20 vision for the first time in about 20 years, and it has remained stable and wonderful ever since then.
The amazingly good parts: I can see. I can read the bedside clock in the middle of the night without thinking about it. I can get dust in my eyes without it causing excruciating pain. I can close my eyes and snooze without waking up with sore eyes or crushed frames. The recurring eyelid infections I used to get are easier to keep under control.
The less-than-amazingly-good parts: I'm still sensitive to bright lights, and extensive exposure when I'm tired can give me headaches. My right eye, when it's particularly dry and/or tired, gets noticeably more fuzzy. High contrast light settings are a challenge, which means my night vision is still pretty bad. The worst situations are: If it is dark and raining, the reflections make it very difficult for me to see the lines on the road; and a dark background with bright lights and little ambient light (for example, headlights against the otherwise darkness of a rural highway) tires me out and gives me a headache.
I can't really say this is an effect of LASIK, as I hadn't really made measurable sight benchmarks before surgery. I know I've always had poor night vision, but I think the challenging parts shifted a little.
My tears are pretty much normal. In fact, I've been extra teary this past week, although I think that's probably more due to recent politics than any residual surgery effects.
Also, I can't say that my eyes are green, anymore. I consider that a worthwhile loss, though.
This cross-quarter date marks the beginning of the darkest quarter of the year. My house is chilly, and my jackets and sweaters and hats and O socks are back in common use.
My trees dropped nearly all their apples and leaves in one last hurrah for the year sometime over the last week. All in all, they yielded apples for about 5 quarts of apple butter, maybe 3 quarts of apple sauce, 3 apple pies, some poached apples, apple syrup, dried apples, apples for eating and salads, a few days worth of crunchy cinnamon dried apple skins, and several bags given away to friends and neighbors. And easily 5x that in half-rotted fruits bequeathed to the compost. Next year, I shall be more prepared.
The darkness annoys me. We still wake up in daylight (although barely), but it is twilight when I leave work, and long past dark before I get home, leaving me nearly zero time to do any outdoor work that I want to finish up. I have not felt strong psychological effects obviously from it yet, but I'm trying to keep half a mind on it.
I know I don't see well in the dark. In my car, I can generally deal with this limitation by avoiding long night driving when possible, or by doing so extra carefully when I do. I believe I need to apply this same level of precaution to other parts of my life in these next few months. Ideally, I'd love to give up doing the driving, but I know that's just not feasible most of the time, so instead, I need to be extra careful when I do. Try to avoid stressing myself, avoid making sharp or sudden turns or stops, and see if I can have someone along with me to help me with my directions if I need it.
In the meanwhile, I'm staying busy, bundling up and enjoying the hot chocolate. Light a candle for me, for the night, and hold me 'til morning.