It happens every 110,000 years. And I saw it thanks to my improved vision.
Tag Archives: littlethings
Little Things: Autumn Colors in Kentucky
And without warning, seemingly overnight, Autumn has reached Kentucky. Our trees now begin their show and we head into our relatively mild winters here.
With my new eyesight, I’ve enjoyed autumn this year more than usual. I’ve spent days outside on weekends with my hobby and taken in every minute detail.
It’s so much more than sharpness – it’s color saturation that comes with the new eyes.
Blog Theme Update
It’s also been a long time since I’ve updated the blog’s look. So I hope you like the new theme I’ve chosen moving us into the cooler months.
Little Things: Stargazing
I just went on a 2 week family vacation to CA. Lots of night driving. Not a peep out of my contact lens, and never any pain at all and wore them for 14+ hours daily. We went to Yosemite and at 5000 feet elevation, found a remote field and just went stargazing for a few hours. It was the first time I’d done this since cornea transplant surgery – and it was wonderful. I had my new soft lens in place and each star was a pinprick. Meteors, satellites and more. I imagined my donor out there somewhere. I think we might join a stargazing group in Lexington.
Little Things: A Robin Feeding Her Young
Today I watched a robin working her nest. My depth perception was, well, deep. With keratoconus, I would previously have been less able to pick out the nest against the leaves in the background. But this time, it was clear. The colors were distinct, and the ugly little birdlings were even more homely than I recall before. Brilliant.
Little Things #3: Ability To Really Get Back into Mountain Biking
Mountain biking in Kentucky is generally called “Cross Country” riding. The terrain is made up of undulating hills usually 150-200 feet maximum. A good 10 mile ride will take several hours and offers a tremendous upper and lower body workout. It’s more like cross country skiing than downhill skiing for lack of a better example. The reward for a long climb is usually a roller coaster ride through a tunnel of vegetation, airborne some of the time, making split-second decisions on how to manage what’s coming at you. You’ll encounter wildlife and get away from the city in a very special way.
The wooded trails require depth perception. Things come at you and you must make a decision, react and adjust your “line” to overcome it. Branches can be low, rocks can be loose, and alternative paths through difficult terrain can make the difference between a thrill and a spill. It’s definitely possible to ride with one bad eye, but you must ride slowly and carefully or choose “open” trails like the fire-roads I rode in CA. Kentucky has very limited trails compared to most states (go figure) and most are of the wooded variety, so this is great for me.
I’d say ride wherever and however you can, good eyes or not, and adjust your pace and path. As my surgical eye gets better and better, I crossed a “binocular” threshold where I am comfortable on cross country wooded trails again. When I stop in the woods to enjoy a babbling creek or to watch a white-tail deer , I’ll say “thank you” again for the priceless gift that my donor gave me.
<photo by trailsource.com used under CC license>
Little Things #2: Ability to Use a Bike Mirror
After you have DALK/Corneal Transplant, you start to notice some of life’s little conveniences that were out of reach when your eye was messed up.
So… Little Things #2, The ability to use a bike mirror… as a bike commuter, these small glasses-mounted mirrors have always been great. But with Keratoconus in my left eye, I’d not been able to use it. Naturally, these only work on the left side (in the USA) as this is where the traffic is.
