Sunday, January 12, 2014

Driving While Dilated

Driving while dilated.  We had no idea when we went to our eye doctor in Chandler on Friday that we'd both get dilated.  We thought we could avoid that with the x-ray they take now.  And basically, we didn't anticipate the problem since we're used to driving five miles home and vegging until the drops wear off.

I wish that lens in my eyeball could click photos.  Every little piece of chrome on the cars on I-10 (with my eyes shielded by my Ray Ban prescription sunglasses) turned into a huge gleaming flashes of pain.  We were the blind leading the blind trying to make out interstate and street signs.  I'm hoping I wasn't seeing my future since I have the beginning of macular degeneration in one eye.

The stressful drive was worth it.  Home is where your friends are, and after the frantic blinding drive in rush hour traffic, we met friends for dinner we hadn't seen in the eight years since we left Seattle.  With friends that close, it's like you haven't missed a step.  We were suddenly home.


Craig was the designated driver that night.  His right shoulder may be bad, but he always sees better than I do at night, and I was not seeing well at all!  At first I didn't get it.  Huge floating Christmas displays hovered in the sky over Phoenix.  Oh my God!  What is that?  Craig laughed.  They were jets waiting to land at Sky Harbor.  Every headlight on every car was a gigantic beaming Star of Bethlehem for both of us!   You don't have to be in Texas for the stars at night to be big and bright!  Old eyes evidently don't recover quickly.

We're thinking about a long overdue reunion trip back to the Northwest in July.

Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.




2 comments:

Babs said...

Holy moly! I'm glad you made it home safe and sound. My eye Dr. did a test to determine my night blindness and suggested I NEVER drive at night again.
I'm gonna listen to that and stick to taxis here in San Miguel.
Isn't it wonderful to reconnect with old friends. Hope you do have that reunion .........treasured memories.

Life's a Beach! said...

Babs, I've had problems with 'night blindness' since my 30's. This doctor says it's made worse by the cataracts which aren't at the point yet where they'll remove them. I swear this summer's reunion year in Seattle. It's been too long!