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Saturday, March 16, 2013

"Eye Glasses"

When I was in elementary school, a girl came to school with a patch over one eye.  It didn’t give her a pirate’s rakish appeal; she looked like a poster child for not running with sticks.  She explained that she had a “lazy eye” and felt self-conscious, but I don’t think any of us other kids did anything other than show curiosity.  I secretly thought blue eyes must be weak, but the prettiness of blue was worth some sacrifices.

My classmates and I crowded around the little girl and listened to her explain about her doctor visit and prescribed treatment.  It was kind of exciting to the rest of us.  We weren’t as worldly, and a trip to the big city for a genetic anomaly was kind of cool.  And then we forgot about it.  She was a nice girl and we all played with her like we did before we found out about her laziness.  The patch was eventually replaced with thick pink glasses, and we all kept playing on the playground, trying to bump each other off the teeter totter or jump from the swing at the highest point or spinning ourselves to puking on the merry-go-round.  Life was good at recess.

We had a similar curious huddle around Sandy after she broke her arm on the cement at the bottom of the monkey bars.  How did they put the cast on?  How long did she have to have it?  How were they going to get it off?  Eventually each of us got a turn at being the center of attention in the huddle because this was in the days before kids wore helmets and knee pads and the playgrounds had cushioning under the monkey bars.

Kids don’t get enough recess these days, and they don’t get enough free time to play after school either.  Getting hurt is part of life, and it’s better to get hurt when you still bounce and heal fast.  Instead, kids stare at the tv and computer too much and end up getting glasses too early.  It seems like kids are too well behaved these days and therefore less interesting, even to themselves.

I went to dinner with a friend last night who made me laugh so hard that Chinese tea went up my nose and I ended up in a coughing fit.  I went to lunch with other friends today, and we laughed about my lawless youth.  I almost had another coughing fit, and one of my friends snorted decaffeinated coffee – which resulted in more laughter.  Do today’s kids ever laugh that hard?  I’m not encouraging law breaking, but c’mon, it is funny, especially when you consider that I’m working for The Church these days.  I’ve never been arrested, so you can’t prove anything against me anyway.

Every week I write something for this blog, and after doing this for a while I’m noticing that I’ve actually lived a life.  Some of it was tragic, some of it was hysterically funny, but it’s all mine.  I want everybody else to feel the same kind of ownership in their lives too.  We can’t all be rich or famous or the top in everything – or maybe anything – but we can snort a hot beverage up the nose in laughter.  All we have to do is be in the moment, and appreciate our moments.

In dog news… Penny got her stitches out today.  Yay!! She’s still a conehead because she’s not allowed to lick her boo boo yet.  She’s off her drugs, and now all I have to do is swab her belly with antiseptic 3x/day for the next week.  I’ve been calling her “Flower” lately because she looks so sweet with her head popping out of the cone.  The vet people love her.

25 comments:

  1. Good news about Penny! Hope when she was in stitches nothing went up her nose... Another wonderful post and love the Groucho glasses illustration. It's fun to talk about kids and what they're amazed at. And fun to read about it too. Thanks!

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  2. Thanks Rand! Guess I'm in a silly mood today. I think I should be in a silly mood more often!

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  3. This post made me sigh a happy sigh. I love good writing.

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  4. Great post Linda and you most certainly have lived your life. Keep on living it too...and keep that glass half full ;0) Your illustration today really made me giggle I think I might sneeze if I had all that hair tickling my nose and eyes. It looks great in black and white. I am so glad Penny is getting rid of that awful cone soon,imagine if we put them on our patients post op...there would be a riot! Hope work is sorting out for you, Jane x

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  5. Hear! hear!! Oh man how refreshing was it to read your blog!! I'm totally with you but what I find even wierder is the parents who are so overly protective and paranoid. My grandmother once told me she never got sick because she was never allowed to play in the house and every day they ran wild. She lived till she was 97! My son has a lazy eye and I've seen the same thing...no bullying, just total intrigue.

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  6. Oh and I LOVE your illustration too!!!!

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  7. Love your blog post! It's so true, life is about how we live it (and how much we enjoy it), and not about how much is in our bank accounts, etc. I really love your blog post, and great illustration! Just keep on living, and keep on laughing.

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  8. Lovely drawings!

    As for your story: I hope that next generations will cope with this in their own way, boosting their imagination and problem solving abilities to outsmart their overprotective parents somehow. I seriously do hope so. Otherwise they'll all turn into some weird limp dolls.

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  9. I came thisclose to drawing some Groucho Glasses this week, but the idea left me uninspired. Yours, however, are perfect! Nice accompaniment to your thoughts on life, playgrounds, mishaps, beverage through the nose...

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  10. Great drawing and post! I couldn't agree more about children not getting enough time for playing outdoors. Most schools today don't even allow tag at recess!

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  11. You are all so kind. We should all keep laughing and playing! Thanks for the comments and thanks for the follow Claire!!!

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  12. Yay for Penny the flower..who is a harbinger of Spring. : ) I hope she recovers well. Love to read your posts, Linda! I'm so conscious of making sure that my kids get those kinds of laughs like you mentioned. Yesterday, we were tumbling on the grass outside..a perfect day after bicycling. It's easy to get bogged down indoors with the computers and gadgets and the internet..you are so right! Wishing you a very happy Spring ahead with lots of hearty laughter sans liquids in the nose. : )

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  13. I'm so glad your kids get to laugh and roll around outside Shirley! Yay for all the parents who let their kids get dirty! Happy Spring to you too :)

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  14. Hee hee! Groucho glasses make me laugh, as does the infectious sound of other people laughing. Wishing all of us more levity (and of course, a pat for Penny for being a good girl!) :o)

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  15. I totally agree with you. Part of growing up is getting hurt, and learn to deal with it. And it's also part of the richness of life. By contrasts we live. Ups and downs are equally important. Does the kids have less of a life today? It's hard to say, and in some ways I believe this is the classical disparate dialectic process between two generations. Our parents never really understood us as we don't really see what life is for the generation after us.

    On a different note, it's good to hear that Penny is slowly recovering. Wishing all the best for her.

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  16. I love the Penny sketch, so funny! And so glad to hear she is recovering nicely. As for snorting things up one's nose, I've only done it a couple times and it was not pleasant! But pretty funny later on. :)

    Yes, not enough recess, for sure. I remember in Connecticut after a rain the puddles would have worms in them so we would gather and look at them. Or I would throw them at a boy and then the boy would tell on me. :D

    Beautiful silly glasses drawing too, particularly the soft fuzzy part. It looks really great!

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  17. Now that you mentioned the lazy eye I wished my brother could have gone to school in Willoughbyhills when he was diagnoised with it. Most of the bullies wanted to torment him and I had to fight them to get them to back off. He also had blue eyes. Mine are green so I have to agree with you people with blue eyes have some physical flaws. I wouldn't give up my childhood no mater how hard it was because we had imaginations and had more fun than you can have on a computer or watching T.V. The reason you were never arrested is because you were not with me the day I was arrested for walking to school in the wrong direction. The cop didn't by my story about getting breakfast at the Bob Evans and hualed my ass to Willoughby Jail and kept me in a holding cell for a few hours. Did I mention he took me on some of his calls that day and then told me if I lost some weight how pretty I would be. Yah miss those days (NOT).

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  18. Sometimes I wonder if some of my thoughts are the classic generational thing, but I doubt any generation before this has every had so many toys to keep them inside and passive. I guess time will tell how it all works out. I'm still wondering how/why a cop would take a kid to jail for truancy or say such a thing about weight to a girl. What a jerk! Thanks for the comments everybody!

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  19. Beautiful drawing, Linda.
    I love the revelations about your childhood. During lunch today, I was reminiscing about a pedal car I had as a child while lamenting how children today spend their time indoors on computers and video games. We have memories to look back on...what will children today recall when they are older?

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  20. I soooo wanted a pedal car when I was a kid! Here's to wishing every kid a happy childhood!

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  21. I immediately thought of Groucho Marx, when I saw those eyeglasses! :) It's funny, how I don't remember recess...I know we had it, but I can't remember anything significant about it. Hmmm...hypnosis might work, but do I want to remember...LOL! I'm loving that Penny drawing. :)

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  22. writing about things in your life is very cool.

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  23. Maybe your recesses were just sitting with the other giggling girls Indigene? That's pleasant enough in itself a lot of the time. Thanks for the comments!

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  24. Very nice drawing, Linda!

    And fun post to read! It made me think of the times that I just lose it. Most of those times are when I'm home and something that's not even "that" funny happens, but I get one of those deep belly laughs anyway. I think it happens when I feel that we take life way too seriously combined with a little exhaustion. When my kids see it happen, it becomes a laugh fest.

    May you continue to inhale Chinese tea up your nose and laugh long and hard, which will add more time to your life. :)

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  25. Oh, I'm very happy for you and your little Penny.

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