Riddly Riddly Ree...

Vision -- It reaches beyond the thing that is, into the conception of what can be. Imagination gives you the picture. Vision gives you the impulse to make the picture your own.

- Robert Collier

When my sons were small, they were less than fond of eating out. Oh, they liked the food well enough; what they hated was the wait. Brought up on microwaved pancakes & instant pudding, they were unaccustomed to the idea that one might have to delay their gratification till a later point in time.

So we, the adults, became experts at the art of misdirection and subterfuge. We learned all kind of new tricks to keep the lid on the temper tantrums & whining, which loomed just beyond the present moment. One of those tricks was Riddly Riddly Ree.

The game started with one of us proclaiming, "Riddly riddly ree; I see something you don't see and its color is..." The game then passed into the twenty questions phase, "Is it bigger than a bread box?" "Is it here on the table?" "Does it move?"

Once someone correctly guessed what "it" was, that person got to pick out another "it" and off we would go again. This continued till the food arrived or the participants became disinterested, whichever came first.

Vision is on my mind much these days. I have severely dry eyes, have had for the past four years. but it is getting worse. It has become more & more difficult to focus, especially my right eye.

The increasing time spent at my work is undoubtedly the cause. I spend my days either knitting (often in fine yarn) or working at the laptop, charting, writing, communicating, filling orders, looking for yarn, etc...

Yesterday was my annual eye check and I am under orders to: drink more water, use the computer less, & take more frequent breaks while working.

I also have a new prescription and will be getting lachrymal plugs in two weeks. It is hoped that these measures will both alleviate the discomfort & increase my visual acuity back into the normal range.

As with most things in our lives that are working well, we take our eyes for granted. Only when faced with the prospect of their diminished capacity, do we begin to really value what we have. I no longer know what it feels like to have normal vision.

My eyes burn, itch, & go out of focus from the moment I get up until the time I retire for the evening. By 9:00 in the morning, I have a splitting headache. By 9:00 at night, I can no longer see either the television or the computer screen clearly.

I no longer see something you don't see. Now the tables are turned. You see something I don't see. And sometimes the best I can do is guess at what that might be. Riddly, riddly ree...

My outer eyes may struggle, but my interior vision is as acute as ever, thank God. I can still see with my minds eye.

I can look at a yarn and "see" what it wants to be.

I can see my husband's fatigue in the set of his shoulders when he arrives home after a long day at the office.

I can see my friend's heartache, as she speaks of her lost son.

I can also see my mother's world in the movie "Mona Lisa Smile" which was on FX this morning.

Mom went to Connecticut College for Women in exactly the time period and under the same restrictions depicted in the film. If you are not familiar with it, the movie tells the story of a "liberal" female teacher at Wellesley, who confronts tradition and challenges her students to "see" not only art, but life itself, from a new vantage point.

How we see, affects what we see. What we see, affects what we do. And what we do has the power to change not only our environment but the environment of others.

Poor vision needs to be addressed, else we lose our capacity to see clearly. We must protect our sight, whether the solution is new glasses, new attitudes, or a whole new way of looking at the world.