I’ve been wearing prescription eyeglasses for a number of years now, ten, fifteen, something like that. I wear bifocals.

Just yesterday a new pair of eyeglasses arrived by mail. I have an eye doctor who has always done well with my prescriptions and, I like him. 

Now, I have a standing protocol for new eyeglasses. I adjust them so they’re comfy and, once I’m sure the distance and reading lens are good to go, I order another pair of eyeglasses consisting of just the reading lens.

Reading has been a sanctuary since childhood and the midline of the bifocals makes reading for any length of time a drag. As for Progressive lenses? Not me. Tried them once and thought I was looking out of a fish bowl.

And so, this morning I put on my new glasses and stepped out into a beautiful sunny morning. My glasses were great! Distance vision was incredible. Who knew you could see birds in the trees? 

I was minding my own business and looking at a bird’s nest when the day began to darken. I looked at the sky to check for clouds that were nowhere to be found. At this point the day was a bit darker.

When you get older and something like this is happening to you, if you’re anything like me, you might wonder what might be going wrong medically. So, I sat down on a nearby bench, felt a breeze, took off my glasses to allow the breeze to caress my entire face and wouldn’t you know, it wasn’t dark anymore. 

It never was. Fact was I’d forgotten I’d gotten transition lenses, those lenses that darken in the sun.

Like the late, great actress Bette Davis said, “Old age ain’t no place for sissies.”