eye glasses...

 As I think I mentioned in a previous blog, I have been wearing glasses since I was seven years old.  This means that I know what it should feel like when one puts on a new pair of glasses.  First there is a little pause as your brain gets used to seeing things more clearly, and then you just wear and enjoy your new glasses.  In recent years all of my glasses have been no line tri-focals which have worked very well for me.  I can drive safely, I can work on my computer, I can read, I can even put together jigsaw puzzles.  In other words, I can see to do whatever needs doing.

That's how it should be and that's how it has always been for me until my newest pair.  Don't get me wrong.  I've had three other pairs of glasses from this same eye doctor and all have worked very well for me.  

But when I put on this new pair of glasses they seemed fine at first but then I realized that i couldn't see to drive unless I slid the glasses down on my nose and looked through the top quarter inch of the lens.  I also realized that when I looked across the room, any room, at home it was blurry.  I went back and the nice technician adjusted the frames so they fit differently on my face and ears.  This seemed to help but not really.  I tried again, still no better.  So I made an appointment for this afternoon and went back to see what else could be done.  After two glasses gurus looked everything over it was determined that the lenses simply didn't line up correctly with my eyes.  In other words they agreed with my diagnosis of the situation.

So now I am sitting here typing my blog wearing my two year old glasses and managing pretty well.  My new and improved lenses should be ready in ten days.  If you hear shouts of glee you'll know that they are working as they should, and I'll know that it's ok for me to be driving again. If instead you hear gnashing of teeth, I'm not seeing well and I'll know that another trip to the dentist (see yesterday's blog) is required.  Stay tuned.

new tec....

 I went to the dentist today.  This is not something I would usually write about but I'm intrigued with his new equipment.

I went to the dentist because my left jaw has been aching for a couple of weeks and had finally started bothering me enough that I decided I really must do something.

They took an xray, then the dentist massaged my jaw and pressed on certain points watching for my reaction when he hit the spots that really hurt.  He found them all.  Then he gave me some advice "Don't open your mouth too wide, eat soft food, and take small bites."  All of which I had already been doing because it just felt better.

Then, and this was the exciting part, he zapped me with his brand new lazer.  My nurse told me it was his new favorite toy.  My dentist referred to it as his magic wand.  It was a very nice treatment.  He zapped me repeatedly from outside and inside my mouth.  It was a very warm, not too hot, feeling, and very relaxing.  Not at all what one expects in a dentist's office.  It didn't make any noise at all.

That was several hours ago and, while my jaw is still a little achy, it feels considerably better than it did before my appointment.  My wonder spouse assisted me in following directions by cooking noodles alfredo for supper, soft, easy to eat and delicious.

I'll be going back for a follow up treatment in two weeks.  Is it weird to look forward to going to the dentist?

It's all so green

 I hope you all have had a pleasant St. Patrick's Day whether you are really Irish or only a little Irish like me.  My west coast brother suggested that today I should go looking for shamrocks and four leaf clovers.  That got me wondering if there is a difference.  

There is indeed a difference.  A shamrock is a three-leaf clover and is used as a symbol of Ireland and Saint Patrick.  The name comes from the Irish word seamrog which means little clover.  The three leaves represent the Holy Trinity. 

When I was very young our yard had lots of clover growing in it and we would search sometimes to see who could be the first to find a four-leaf clover.  Everyone knows that four-leaf clovers are lucky.  I did not know until this evening that only one in 5000 clovers possess the extra leaf.  No wonder our searching took a while.  The four leaves are said to represent faith, hope, love and prosperity.

Unless of course you grew up in the country like I did and belonged to a 4-H club.  The 4-H symbol is a four leaf clover with an H on each leaf.  The H's stand for Head, Heart, Hands and Health.

None of which has anything to do with Saint Patrick's Day but it has been fun to remember.

a fishy Finn

 Everyone knows that tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day but did you know that today is Saint Urho's Day?  This special day is based on a Northern Minnesota legend begun in the 1950s. Richard Mattson, a Finnish American founded the day as a playful reason to celebrate on the day before Saint Patrick's Day. "Why," he asked "Should the Irish have all the fun?" Since the 50s this day has evolved from a joke to a beloved tradition celebrated in many cities throughout the United States, especially by Finnish Americans.     

The serious celebrators wear purple and green, purple for grapes and green for grasshoppers (the bugs not the drink).  The legend goes that Saint Urho drove all the grasshoppers out of Finland, thereby saving the vineyards.  

If you seriously doubt that Finland has vineyards, or grasshoppers for that matter, I suggest that you visit Finland on your next holiday.  It's a wonderful country and I highly recommend a visit.  

But if you want to celebrate Saint Urho's Day you will have to stay in the USA. Saint Urho's Day is not celebrated in Finland.  It is, however, celebrated in Finland, Minnesota and many other US cities, also at least one in Canada.

a misunderstanding??

 My west coast brother informed me that today is "Eat an Animal for PETA Day."  I really don't think this is what PETA is all about but I did have Swiss steak for supper. 

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is the world's largest animal rights organization. focused on stopping abuse of animals in laboratories, food, clothing and entertainment. It was founded in 1980.

I only bring this up because last night my spouse and I watched the old John Wayne movie "Hondo" filmed in 1953.  It was a good movie, excellent entertainment, ahead of its time in many ways, and involving what appeared to be hundreds of horses.  

I don't know, nor do I care to know, if any horses were maimed or killed in the filming of that movie, but as I watched it I kept thinking that it must have been filmed before PETA was founded.  I was right; see the dates above.  There were lots and lots of horses running all over the place in this movie.  Soldiers on horses, homesteaders on horses, cowboys on horses, Apaches on horses and horses pulling covered wagons and other conveyances.  It was a very exciting movie, but I can't help thinking that films like this were part of the reason that PETA was founded. True or not, I do recommend the movie.

Oh happy day!!!!!!!!!

 


The big day has finally arrived.  My great grandson is nine days old and I got to meet him and hold him and rock him for almost a half hour.  I had to wash my hands before I could hold him.  Can you tell he's a first baby?  My son (his great uncle) says "They'll be passing the second one around like a collection plate." We shall see.

In addition to the joy of holding him, I had the pleasure of rocking him in this old maple rocker.  I could tell he liked it and he should.  My mother rocked me and my brothers in this rocker and I have rocked my children and grandchildren in it.  And now my great grandson.  Life is GOOD!!

when the bough breaks...

 Rock a bye baby in the treetop.

When the wind blows the cradle will rock.

When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,

Down will come baby, cradle and all.

Isn't that the most depressing lullaby you've ever heard?  Who would sing that as you were trying to lull a child to sleep?  It has been a very windy day here today and I think that's what brought this poem to mind. The more I thought about the words the more I thought that this is not a cheery little ditty. 

So I did a little research.  It turns out that this English nursery rhyme first appeared in print as "Hush-a-bye" in "Mother Goose's Melody" around 1765 but seems to have been sung since about 1688. It seems that the innocent sounding lullaby was actually a death wish aimed at the infant son of the Catholic King James II.  Some of the citizens were wanting him to be replaced by a protestant king.  James Francis Edward Stuart was born in 1688. His birth, as a Catholic heir trigggered the "Glorious Revolution."  He spent much of his adult life in exile in France.  

I'm glad that he got to spend most of his adult life in France and probably in royal splendor but I can't help wondering how he felt, knowing that people were wishing him dead from the time he was born, and even singing about it.  It's enough to give a child a complex.  That's enough tid bits of history from me.  Feel free to do more research on your own.