3.3 miles
2 trails+
51 degrees
51 degrees! Sun! Less layers — instead of 2 pairs of tights only 1 with shorts, no jacket or gloves or hat covering my ears. Before I started, as I walked towards the river, the birds were noisy. I imagined them calling out, spring spring spring. Since it was so nice, I decided to run on the winchell trail on the way back. The first part of the trail was all mud. Remembering how I fell last week, I carefully walked today. The rest of the path was dry.
I chanted in triple berries — strawberry/blueberry/raspberry
10 Things
- the soft knocking of at least 1 woodpecker
- 2 people on the edge of the trail, looking out at the river
- 2 big black forms coming out of the Winchell Trail — turkeys? No, 2 humans
- a brief glimpse of my shadow off to the side, looking strong, straight
- a view of the river — pale blue with silver, snowy edges
- thick, wet mud — brown, uneven
- a small black something on the side of the path — a hat? a bag? a bag.
- voices above me — one high, one low
- 2 people standing by the fence near the 38th street steps looking out at the river
- 2 walkers bundled up — winter coats zipped, stocking caps, gloves
This morning, I made an appointment to be evaluated for a vision study at the U of M. They’re developing virtual reading glasses that can move words out of a person’s blind spot. Will I qualify? Is my central vision too bad, my blind spot too big? Or, is it not big enough? Whatever happens, part of the evaluation is a vision assessment, which I’m hoping will give me more information about the status of my central vision. Talking with the scheduler, I recall her saying, there are no cures for many of the central vision diseases so we’re focusing on developing helpful tools instead. I like that approach.
My motivations for signing up for this study are (in order of importance):
free eye exam — free, as opposed to $500-$`1000 exam
connecting with people working on vision loss
curiosity about new technologies
It’s great that these selfish motivations could also lead to the development of a tool for enabling people to read with their eyes (as opposed to with their ears).
I’d like for reading to be easier, but I’m adjusting to and enjoying audio books, so I’m not devastated by this aspect of my vision loss.
I just came across this old Twilight Zone episode — I had saved it in my reading list. It seems fitting to add it to this conversation about reading and vision, as an example of how fully sighted people imagine vision loss as a nightmare.