June 20, 2008

• Cocoons

  I have bad eye sight. I've mentioned this before, but I can only see out of my left eye--albeit with glasses or a contact lens. My right eye is legally blind. I have a scar on my cornea that prevents me from seeing anything with any clarity. If you taped wax paper on your glasses or sunglasses, you would see exactly as I do. And I mean exactly--since the scar is in the center of my cornea, my peripheral vision is alright, but I can't see straight ahead. Eyesight notwithstanding, this scar has another unfortunate affect. My left eye hurts when I'm outside. I'm not really sure why, and the opthamologists who I have asked never give me a specific answer, but I suspect that the light refracts abnormally through the scar and ends up striking the retina in an uneven distribution.

  As a result, I always wear sunglasses outside during the day, even if its cloudy. And the lens has to be very dark. This often invites the jokes of students.

  "Hey sensei! What's with the shades?"

  "Sensei, we don't know who... or what you're looking at!"

  Anyway, I usually wear my one contact lens when I go out, but when I'm at home, I'm usually too lazy to put them in. Instead I wear my glasses. My eyes are pretty awful and so the glasses are quite thick--Coke-bottle level. I can function adequately, even drive--although with only one good eye, my depth perception is suspect under certain conditions. However, when I'm puttering around the house, it's no big deal. But when I step outside, say, to go grocery shopping, I used to have to put in the contacts. Not for narcissistic reasons, mind you, but so I can wear my sunglasses, because typical clip-on sunglasses will not fit--Did I mention my glasses are really thick? And besides, most are flimsy and break very easily.

  Fortunately, I recently discovered clip-ons called Cocoons. At first, I thought the name was a play on the animal raccoon, but I learned that is not the case. Originally this company created oversized sunglasses that can be worn over regular glasses. They virtually wrap around the glasses like a cocoon. I considered these but they seemed bulky and lacked a certain aesthetic quality. Okay, maybe I'm a little narcissistic. but I learned they also make clip-ons that are fairly sturdy, easy to take on and off, and come with a lifetime warrantee. They are working out very well.

  Maybe too well.

  Since it's summer, and I don't go to campus very often, I'm usually at home and don't put in my contact lens. When I step out to go shopping (or get a beer ), I don't even think about putting in my contact lens anymore. I just flick on the Cocoons and I'm gone. But wearing a contact lens takes getting used to--especially hard lens to which I am limited because optometrists say that the chance of an infection through a soft lens is too risky since I only have one eye. So I worry that when I go back to school, I will have to get used to wearing contact lens all over again.

  Wow... what a boring post this was. But I want to keep writing. I don't want to stop again, and risk fading away. If you've read this far, thanks for putting up with it.

  • 5:13 AM
  • 9 Comments