May 24, 2007
On Wednesday, I had the surgery to remove the cataract and have the lens implant in my right eye. The left eye was done in early March, and this now completes the pair. All went perfectly, and the delight of fine vision and brighter colors in both eyes is huge. The surgeon who did the work is the most detached doctor I have ever dealt with. He is very good at his craft, and he does many like operations every day – by the time he sees a patient prior to the procedure, that person has been reduced to a single eye. There is a blue covering over the entire body with the exception of a circle around the area to be worked upon. Most of the interaction occurs with the staff as the preparations are made and these are people who are very friendly and efficient. Anyway, when the doctor came in to check the eye this morning, he completed that in about a minute, looking at it through the device that eye doctors have where you put your chin on the little cup and look into open circles suspended in large black holders like a mask for a giant’s face. He was able to do this without ever looking at my person or making eye contact and when he declared that all was very good it was with a satisfied air that said in unspoken words, “I did it again.” I don’t think he would have recognized me in the hallway two minutes later. . . but then, in reflection, I would choose this fellow over a warm and kindly sort with shaky hands any day. With just the two eyes, the relationship is naturally limited anyway.
Sanctuary had wet and humid days this week, when the trees met over the forest paths in dark and secret ways. Then the rains came, bringing us moisture that has resulted in today’s new and bright greens under a lovely sky. On the morning walk, Alphie and I observed the unusual sight of three owls flying out together from their hidden spot in the Austrian pines. Usually, the owl is alone, so perhaps this was a family. They were immediately set upon by a flock of blue jays. . .in this nesting time, all the predator birds have smaller bird escorts everywhere they fly. Right now, I am battling raccoons who come in at night and remove suet holders from the bird feeding stations and drag them into the bushes to remove the contents at their leisure. Two nights ago, a costly bird seed feeder with a screen around the tube was pulled down and dragged away – it was too much. I put on old clothes and crawled under the cedar trees until I found all the feeders, empty, but undamaged. I asked Charles for assistance in wiring them into place – after we completed the project, he said that if anything wanted to get those items, it would have to take the stands along as well, and if that happened, we should probably move back into town.