My Unique Veiw of The World or Welcome to My World

We all view the world through our own pair of eye-glasses. Some are rose colored, giving everything a bright, positive look. Some are grey or green, they give a variety of views. A few are so dark nothing bright or colorful can make it past the lenses. I almost forgot, RayBan's that deflect the world away from the wearer. Then  there's my pair of eye-glasses, thick and usually covered in salt from my eyes. This helps give me a blurred image of the world around me. Of course, anything more than three feet from my nose is a blur.

Not many people know but I have a rare eye condition called a Coloboma. When I was a newborn, a neighbor gazed into my eyes and made a startling discovery, my pupils were not round, they are keyhole shaped.  Upon closer examination, because this condition often comes with more than one abnormality, it was discovered the optic nerve in each eye did not fully develop.  Pictures of my optic nerve show a large gap behind each of my baby blues.

Between my larger than normal pupils and missing optic nerves, I get a slightly different view of the world around me.  Some of the views have brought laughter while some just plain embarrassment or frustration.  During my first eye test to check my vision or lack there of, I was asked to name the animal on a chart at the end of the room.  I looked in the right direction and asked a question of my own, "What animals."  With that, the nurse said, "Forget it." and the test was over.

In my high school years I took driver's ed, yes, I see well enough to drive.  The instructors knew of my condition and while driving one day with Mr. Jones, he casually asked me what the sign up ahead said.  I looked, and was about to respond, "What sign, because there wasn't a sign in sight.  As I opened my mouth, the sign popped up from behind a tree.  I quickly told Mr. Jones what the sign said, it was a picture which I can see much easier than words.

In college I would wave at passing cars with friendly hands waving at me.  My friends asked, "Who was that?"
 "Gee I don't know, I just figure if they're waving at me I'm going to wave back."

I often squint trying to get a better focus, my glasses help but my corrected vision will never be 20/20.  Words that look alike often get mixed up in my head. Just before sitting down to write this I took out a can of hairspray.  I read, "Frizzy" I thought, why would I want to use hairspray that makes my already wild mop more so.  I brought the can closer, it said, Aussie Freeze.

I enjoy watching the Discover Channel and one day a program came on that I think explains why I see better than anyone ever expected I would. It showed two patients with irreversible brain damage.  One had lost the ability to speak when that part of the brain was damaged by a stroke.  Eventually she was able to learn how to speak again.  This puzzled her doctors who knew her brain function for speech had been destroyed.  The did an MRI of her brain and found an amazing sight.  While the speech part of her brain was still gone, another part of her brain not connected to speech had taken over that task.  I firmly believe that part of my brain not normally connected to sight has found a way to connect and take over as much of the functions the optic nerves as it can.

Until next time, keep those rose colored specs near by, you never know when you'll need to put a rosy glow on things.

Do Opposits Really Attract?

There's an old saying, opposites attract.  I've met many couples this applies to.  One such couple I met when I was in my early twenties. A minister and his wife.  If opposites attract they must have been Siamese twins.  The minister was a very scholarly man, quiet, well read, impeccable manners and very fastidious about his appearance.  His wife on the other end of the spectrum was boisterous, a casual dresser who liked to have a roaring good time.  She was the type of minister's wife who could easily wear a scarlet red dress to church and think nothing of it.  She is the one who introduced me to Planter's Punch.  It was a hot afternoon in South Carolina and we were swimming at the summer camp(before the camper's got there) I had gone to work at as a counselor for the summer.  She and our companion, the camp's secretary, brought along a thermos of punch.  Being a hot Carolina afternoon, we drank often.  Did I mention it was HOT, they had brought a large, I mean large thermos of Planter's Punch.  There was plenty to go around and around and around.  To make a long story short, the thermos was empty when we left the pool area. Not being from SC, I had no idea Planter's Punch was full of rum.  They must have made this potent potable with very smooth rum because it went down very fast.  It wasn't until they took me back to the director's house laughing and giggling that I learned what Planter's Punch was.

 The minister and his wife came from upbringings that were also polar opposites. Imagine my surprise when I learned later that summer he grew-up on a farm and she in a well connected family.  I would have thought it would be the other way around.

To outward appearances my husband and I are very much alike.  We grew up in the same economic class and we have the same level of education. We are very opposite in what we enjoy watching on TV.  For instance this past week he chose to watch, The Winds of War, on Netflix.  I on the other hand sat and watched, Howard the Duck. I can't say I'm proud of this but my husband had commented on it until I had to see for myself what it was all about.  I thought it was going to be a risque flick with a duck. It turned out to be a sci-fi flick with a person in a duck suite.  It is such a fine example of movie making that Wal-Mart had copies of it in their $5 bin.  I could go on but why should I embarrass myself with full disclosure of what I like to watch.  Until next time, beware of minister's wives offering Planter's Punch pool-side, you could end up plastered to the bottom of the pool.

Poll:

Have you ever watched Howard The Duck?

____No, never.

____Yes, every chance I get.

____Yes, but it's my dirty little secret.

_____No, but I will as soon as I find a copy.

Leave your answer in the comment section.
For those who want a copy go to your local Wal-Mart.

Getting From Here To There

I'm back!!!  I took time off to mourn my father and take care of family business.  My new goal is to add a new post to my blog once a week.  If I miss my goal I will jump in my pool fully clothed and post the picture on my Face book page.

You'll notice I updated my picture.  I'm truly not a procrastinator, I just take Scarlett O'hara's view, "I'll think about that tomorrow."  Of course, when tomorrow comes I'm still saying, "I'll think about that tomorrow," and so it goes on and on.  I think, I'll think about whether I'm a procrastinator tomorrow.

Now for the main focus of this blog post.

Have you ever stopped to think about the evolution of travel, finding the way from here to there? Here are a few of my thoughts on the matter.

I wasn't there but I imagine the earliest people simply followed the food supply.  Next, hunting parties had to remember landmarks to find their way back to the right cave.

I don't know who discovered constellations, but following the stars was popular for a number of years.  Compasses came along and pointed people in the right direction as did maps. With the development and use of the automobile gas stations were needed to fuel up.  Inside the station was the helpful attendant who was always ready to point and rattle off a series of left and right turns. 

It is now the 21st century and we have the GPS.  They started out as a separate unit that you carried with you, you put in a coordinate and the GPS showed the location with a dot on a grid.  The GPS has evolved into a very sophisticated unit that is standard in many automobiles.  They not only show you a map of where you are but they give verbal directions.  My brother's smart phone has an AP for a GPS, you the phone where you want to go and it starts giving you blow by blow directions on how to get there. It even tells you when you've gone too far.  The draw back to this and any other GPS is that they aren't always up to date on road construction and detours.

Over the years people have come to depend solely on their GPS's to get from here to there.  I have seen people actually hold their GPS in front of their faces to find their car in a parking lot.  The sad thing is, the parking lot was small.  The GPS has another major draw back, no signal, no directions.  Recently I went to the boondocks of Alabama with my brother.  We were trying to find an old family cemetery, he spoke the name into his smart phone and we were on our way, that is until it announced "out of range, no signal."  We didn't have a map, there were gas station attendants to ask and of course the stars were not visible. It took us awhile, but we did find our relatives that arrived in Alabama in the 1700's from Scotland.  We then found our way home to Florida without the GPS, map or friendly gas station attendant.  Until next time keep your maps of stars and roads handy, you never know when you will be out of range or if the car it is attached to breaks down.