July 19 - Face Masks

In recent days, there has been some debate about legislating the mandatory use of face masks inside public spaces. The proponents of such legislation state that if we were all to wear face masks, this would help prevent the spread of the virus. Those opposed say that this legislation would infringe on their human rights. Others seem to waver between the two extremes. On the one hand, we would be told what to do for our own good. On the other hand, there are those who claim that they live in a free country and nobody can tell them what to do.

So, face masks – yes or no? Face masks can be hot and uncomfortable to wear. They can be inconvenient to take off and put on. It has been said that wearing a face mask can aggravate certain skin conditions.

What I really don’t like about wearing a face mask is that the mask seems to limit my field of vision. To see anything looking down, I need to move my head in that same direction. I am reminded of a young woman I met on my white cane connections walks back in 2012. This woman could only see out of one side of her eyes. It was as if a vertical line was drawn down the middle of both eyes and the left side was a complete blank. Apparently this same condition could affect the sight as if a horizontal line were to be drawn across the middle of the eyes and the field of vision would be only the top half or bottom half of sight. In a temporary way, this is what I feel like when I wear a face mask.

Those are the negatives. What about the positives? There is really only one. It is possible that wearing a face mask might help in preventing the spread of the virus.

Would I wear a face mask? Absolutely! Would I need to wait for legislation in order to put on a face mask inside public spaces? Absolutely not! Knowing that health authorities claim that if we were all to don face masks, we might help in preventing the spread of the virus - that is reason enough for me.

Our daughter had an interesting comment. Face masks really protect others from when we sneeze or breathe out air vapors. Jen wondered if attitudes might change if the face masks actually protected the wearer. Are we such a selfish society that we would need this as an encouragement? I would hope not. Let’s be smart and do all that we can to protect our friends and families.

 

 

 

July 7 - Fifty Shades of Green

Last week we drove our friend, Jo, to an appointment. She sat in the back looking out the car window. It was a beautiful day and one of the few times that Jo had been out on the road since the onset of the pandemic. As we drove along I heard her say, “Have you ever noticed just how many different shades of green there are?”

Truthfully, I had not! When we are whipping along in the car, I am lucky if I can discern a tree from a horse or a large rock. On some days and in some lights, I find it difficult to see the horizon and the difference between land and sky. Colours...well, they belong in the realm of people who have more vision than I do.

I remember at the beginning of my sight loss journey, I was trying to explain to a friend what I could and couldn’t see. My friend asked, “Well, can you see colours?”

“Oh, yes” I replied gamely. “For instance, I can see that you are wearing a green sweater.”

My answer was followed by a brief silence before my friend informed me that the sweater she was wearing was blue, not green at all.

I know now that I do have problems telling the difference between blue and green, or black and brown, or grey and...well, you get the drift! Almost all muted colours are difficult. Perhaps that is why I like primary colours. I like to wear bright vivid colours myself. I also like it when Lyle wears a brightly coloured shirt or sweater so that I have a better chance of picking him out in a crowd.

In spite of all this, I did take Jo’s comment to heart and next time I went walking, I resolved to pay more attention to what I was seeing. As I walked down the river trail, I stopped to look more closely at my surroundings. Indeed, when I looked with greater care, I could see that there was a difference in the shades of green. I could see that there was a difference in the shades of the trees and the green of the grass. I could see that the evergreens were a dark, almost black green. The grass was brighter and in some places almost a lime green, while in other places a muted mossy green. Some of the green leaves on the ground were already tinged with yellow.  I tried walking the same trail at different times of day and noticed that sunlight or shadow also made a difference to what I was seeing.

So, many shades of green – perhaps not fifty, but so many shades that it would be difficult to count them all. My favourite of all the greens was the close up view I had of the milky green of some sage bushes. I like this spot on the trail particularly because of the scent of the sage in the late spring.  

 There is a picture with this post of the milky green of the sage.

Milky green coloured sage bush