Post 31/2020. Goshen, Indiana. I’m posting a short, personal note. I had cataract surgery on Monday and the wonder is that I can see in the distance like I’ve never been able to do without glasses. All those corrective lenses from the wire frame glasses I once left hanging on a garden fence while we enjoyed a watermelon fresh from the patch to countless pairs worn over the years. Wow. Wonderful.

The words “I see” are ones with which a work colleague, Simon, responded to me early in my writer/editor career. I went on and on about how much I valued understatement. Waxed vigorously and resoundingly on the point, I did. Simon simply said, “I see.” We had a good laugh.

Today I have double reason to be grateful. I’m thankful for the years of work among colleagues in a vocation that entailed primarily the written word. Boundless memories. Add to that fixed sight without glasses. Will probably need glasses for reading; that’s fine.

Thank you to the medical team, to people who shared their success stories with the procedure, to family and friends. I’m kind of speechless about the new reality of seeing without spectacles. If I can be as happy-go-lucky as the seven-year-old who, for whatever reason, hung his wire-rimmed glasses on the fence (found them later), then I’m set for a new venture. Rich memories, a new way to see.

A few pix picks

I’ve picked photos from the last few weeks at home.

(1) A collage of shells, rocks and driftwood that I glued last year onto a marble slab on plywood. It hangs in our garage. (2) A mushroom that lasted one day. (3) Cantaloupe that was at the peak of ripeness. (4) One of the antique cars that were on display and paraded around Greencroft on a recent Saturday. (5) Masterfully curated flowerbed among a few others like it that border the Greencroft Goshen Native Grasses and Wildflowers area. (6) Waving bloom. (7) Rain in full measure.

Gratefully,

-John