Eye have a Dream

I have been fortunate not to have been plagued with major illnesses or injuries in my life.  But when I do have medical issues they tend to be flukes, oddities, random.  Like when my eardrum ruptured in the 7th grade or when I got what I thought was hemorrhoids but turned out to be something called a fistula that required four surgeries on my back end.  This week I finally went to the eye doctor after two weeks of pain and blurriness to find out that I had a small piece of plastic embedded in my eyeball.  I am happy to report that my eyeball is now plastic-free, thanks to some numbing eye drops and the doctor’s quick and steady work with a small needle.  I sat in the exam chair while she held the needle in front of my eye and asked me to be “very still” and took note of how fast my heart beats when someone is standing in front of me  with a needle poised to visit my eye.  I think I almost had an out of body experience.  Luckily, I never even felt the needle and it was over fairly quickly.

I was so relieved that the problem was minor and it was such a nice day that I felt invigorated as I left the doctor’s office and decided to go shopping for flowers for the yard.  During one of my stops I visited the ladies room and glanced in the mirror to see this. 

And my first thought was: ”Whaduya know, I look like a CRAZY person!”  And from there on out I had an urge to cover my right eye with my hand when talking to strangers.  Since I’d never been dilated before I didn’t really know what to expect.  When Randy came home he immediately said: “Wow, you look really tired, sweetie.”  And then he took a closer look and didn’t stop laughing for a solid minute.  My pupil was dilated to varying degrees for the next four days and it was a source of much laughter for us.  I was trying to recruit Randy to join my legion of the undead.  As for the origins of the plastic intruder, the only thing we can figure is that some PVC dust flew in while Randy power-sawed portions of our almost installed fence.  I didn’t know fence building could be so dangerous.

Once the humor from my fence-induced injury wore out a bit we needed something else to fill the void.  Luckily I visited a new elementary school this week for work and came across a nice collection of student art displayed in the cafeteria.  One piece in particular caught my eye and was so charming and hilarious that I HAD to photograph it to post here.  I had an overwhelming need to spread the joy.  This is a colored pencil adaptation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in all his glory.

   

Notice the fine details – my favorite is the hangy-ball in the back of his throat.  Randy and I have been breaking the silence all around the house with a low, gurgly, zombie-like “ahhhhhghhhh”, which is the sound we imagine Dr. King might be making in this portrait.  Or maybe he is singing very passionately.  Or maybe he is at the doctor, opening wide, so she can find the piece of plastic lodged his throat that has been bothering him for the last two weeks.