I went in for my annual eye exam today. I’ve been doing this since I was ten years old, when I first discovered I was near-sighted and got my first pair of glasses. Today I was again impressed at the expertise of my optometrist, who from my vague comments was able to tweak my vision correction and improve my eyesight.
My visits are a lot more complex nowadays, having gotten much more near-sighted, requiring reading glasses wearing contact lenses, and having been through repairs for a torn retina. With correction, my left eye is cool: 20-20 or better. Right eye (the one frozen and lasered) is fuzzy, cloudy, and out of alignment. That eye isn’t going to improve, will quickly develop a cataract, and will need a procedure for that in the near future.
But for now, it needs some assistance, and the doctor gets to work. Holding a card in my hand, I read the smallest line I can. Not too bad. Looking at the wall, though, I can only see the largest and next-to-largest letters. I used to laugh at the chart. Who wouldn’t be able to see those monster-sized letters? Looking through holes in a mask-like device, the doctor changes lenses and asks, “Which is better — number 1 or number 2?” In a few minutes he has determined the correction for near and far, astigmatism, and the prism to align the images from each eye. All from my comment, “Well, it’s a little fuzzy and not lined up.” To me, it’s a miracle.
After he checks the pressure in my eyes (I aced that test!) he steps out of the room for a minute and returns with a new pair of contact lenses. He pops them in and immediately I can see better. Those little, fragile, kind of pricey pieces of hydrophilic whatever bring my world back into sharp focus. I never cease to be amazed. After I test drive them for a few days, I’ll order a few boxes of multi-focal (like bifocals) lenses. That technology boggles my mind. Additional amazement.
I only wear glasses first thing in the morning and at night, so I haven’t gotten a new pair for a while. Insurance pays for part of new ones each two years, so a nice young lady helped me pick out a new pair. When you wear glasses or contacts getting a new pair is exhilarating!
I’m giving God thanks tonight for a really great optometrist, contact lenses, glasses and the gift of sight,
Lord Grantham had just spewed blood all over his dinner guests on “Downton Abbey” last night when my phone rang. I recognized the name on my phone, so I answered, since calls at that time of the night from church members are usually important.
“Our Father, Who art in heaven…”
Since the day we brought him home, we wondered what kind of dog Samson was. We were originally told he was a mix of shepherd and lab and whatever. Friends would look at him and see boxer and ridgeback. We often asked him, but he never even gave us hint. Our vet simply called him a Florida Brown Dog, and we pretty much stuck with that.
Eight months ago, I jotted down 
When I got to the office early this morning, I saw the red light lit on my phone. I had a voice mail.
Waite for it... 