"The Trees Have Leaves!"

Ruby Vee · Post by **Ruby Vee** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:02 pm

I remember when I got my first pair of glasses. I was 16 and had just been bitten by a rattlesnake. (We were making hay, and my job was to ride on the hay wagon as stack the bales as Dad tossed them up to me. He tossed me a bale full of rattlesnakes and I got bit. When we had established that the snake was a juvenile -- no venom -- Dad wanted to know why I hadn't ducked out of the way when I saw that bale coming with snake heads popping out of it all over the place. "I didn't see the snakes, Dad." "Nonsense! You weren't paying attention!" So off to the optomistrist we went, Dad trying to prove I wasn't paying attention, me trying to prove I hadn't seen them and Mom hoping that my grades would improve if my vision were corrected. I was paying attention, I hadn't seen the snakes and my grades did improve. But I digress.) The first time I wore my brand new glasses, all I could think of was "WOW! The trees have LEAVES!" It wasn't that I didn't KNOW the trees had leaves -- just that I hadn't SEEN them in a long, long time.

I had one of those moments this afternoon, driving home and looking at the trees with their tiny little spring-time leaves. WOW! The trees have LEAVES! And I'm not too tired to notice or care! This CPAP thing must be working!

roster · Post by **roster** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:31 pm

Ruby Vee wrote: .......The first time I wore my brand new glasses, all I could think of was "WOW! The trees have LEAVES!" .......[/color]

I can relate. I had a need for reading glasses and waited for years before I stopped at the drugstore one night and picked up a $7 pair.

The next morning at breakfast, I said to my wife, "Look at the definition in this shredded wheat!"

roster · Post by **roster** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:39 pm

The first thing I thought of when I saw your post was:

Mark 8:23-25

22-23They arrived at Bethsaida. Some people brought a sightless man and begged Jesus to give him a healing touch. Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village. He put spit in the man's eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, "Do you see anything?"

24-26He looked up. "I see men. They look like trees walking." So Jesus laid hands on his eyes again. The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus.

Juliebove · Post by **Juliebove** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:15 pm

My mom said the same thing. Not about the snakes but the trees having leaves. She said she could see the leaves on the ground but couldn't figure out where they came from because when she looked at a tree all she saw was a brown trunk and a green blob.

In my case, it was worse. I came close to hitting cars. I simply didn't see them. My eyes don't adjust properly to light and dark and the worst time of day for me to see is when the sun is setting. This is when I was having the problems. I had been putting off the glasses, but I finally could do it no more.

Catnapper · Post by **Catnapper** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 11:55 am

Gosh, I got stuck where you were fussed at for not paying attention when a bale of snakes was thrown at you. Who was the inattentive creep who threw the snakes at you in the first place? There is something so wrong in blaming you. Who was the adult in that moment? Who was supposed to be responsible? How were you supposed to deal with the bale that was coming at you?

I have been involved in hay baling too. There are many things about catching the bales that can be dangerous and difficult besides the unlikely rattlesnake family.

At least you finally had your eyes tested. That was a good result.

whatrdreamsmadeof · Post by **whatrdreamsmadeof** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:10 pm

I'm with you Catnapper, what was Daddy thinking! Oh, another thing, being from NYC I thought "making hay" was so completely somethig else!

bearcatx16 · Post by **bearcatx16** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 1:01 pm

Greetings:

We don't know what we had until we find it again. After 40+ yrs of being aware of having a hearing loss and that it worsened every year I got my first hearing aids last June. I was a 63 yr old adult, having experienced the military and a career in law enforcement. I thought I was an adult in June until I walked outside and heard leaves rustling in the wind AND birds SINGING. This adult went back inside the audiology dept. with the tears rolling saying Thank You! Thank You!. I still am enjoying sitting outside listening to the sounds of nature.

Blessings

bcx16

OldLincoln · Post by **OldLincoln** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 2:06 pm

About glasses.... I'm a fan of Lifehacker and saw this article just yesterday Buying Glasses Online. I thought "yeah sure" but after reading it I thought it might be worth a few bucks to find out. For those who cannot afford the full treatment, it might be worth a visit to Costco for the Rx and the $10 for mail order glasses.

OldLincoln · Post by **OldLincoln** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 2:21 pm

bearcatx16 wrote: I walked outside and heard leaves rustling in the wind AND birds SINGING. This adult went back inside the audiology dept. with the tears rolling saying Thank You! Thank You!.

I definitely relate to this one. After my tour in the USAF I left the service with good hearing. It was 10 years later when first one ear, then a few months later the other, had a loud "POP" and started ringing. The audiologist said I had perfect hearing up to a certain point then was deaf for a range then returned to perfect. He said it was nerve damage caused by my air force experience but there was nothing they could do for it.

Here it is now, 40 years later and they do have hearing aids that will help, but I cannot afford them ($2100). I got an audio test and the very nice lady let me take a pair home for the weekend even though I told her I couldn't afford them. She wanted to give me the experience for a weekend and of course hoped I could come up with the money. I too heard sounds I didn't realize I had missed for all those years and loved it. My wife was overjoyed as we could actually converse with the TV going. I hated to give them up. Believe it or not, the nice lady even told me that if I got a job interview, to call her and she would set up a pair I could borrow for it. Some people are simply wonderful!

I'm going to try to get help from the veteran's admin but have read on veterans blogs that they don't give them out because at this point I cannot prove it was military related.

bearcatx16 · Post by **bearcatx16** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 3:14 pm

Old Lincoln:

Check PM

Ganesha · Post by **Ganesha** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:30 pm

Rubu Vee -

Did your Dad have is eyes checked too?
Surely he would not have thrown a bale full of snakes at his daughter if he had seen them
(unless he was just not paying attention).

Mark

kteague · Post by **kteague** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 10:36 pm

Similar experience with the first time getting glasses. When my 3rd pair broke after several years, I began picking up thrift store prescription glasses. Had to kiss a lot of frogs to get a prince, but I found 3 pairs that were perfect for my vision. Wore them for years. They were a convenient excuse to not visit the eye doctor. Till a sudden vision problem exacerbated by Prednisone sent me to the opthomologist only to find I have glaucoma and my pressures were dangerously high in the 40s. My 2 cents for the day is if anyone wants to keep seeing the leaves, keep seeing the eye doctor regualrly.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 05, 2009 10:42 pm

Are these some kind of super special hearing aids? Because I've seen you can buy hearing aids OTC for $20

OldLincoln wrote:
bearcatx16 wrote: I walked outside and heard leaves rustling in the wind AND birds SINGING. This adult went back inside the audiology dept. with the tears rolling saying Thank You! Thank You!.
I definitely relate to this one. After my tour in the USAF I left the service with good hearing. It was 10 years later when first one ear, then a few months later the other, had a loud "POP" and started ringing. The audiologist said I had perfect hearing up to a certain point then was deaf for a range then returned to perfect. He said it was nerve damage caused by my air force experience but there was nothing they could do for it.

Here it is now, 40 years later and they do have hearing aids that will help, but I cannot afford them ($2100). I got an audio test and the very nice lady let me take a pair home for the weekend even though I told her I couldn't afford them. She wanted to give me the experience for a weekend and of course hoped I could come up with the money. I too heard sounds I didn't realize I had missed for all those years and loved it. My wife was overjoyed as we could actually converse with the TV going. I hated to give them up. Believe it or not, the nice lady even told me that if I got a job interview, to call her and she would set up a pair I could borrow for it. Some people are simply wonderful!

I'm going to try to get help from the veteran's admin but have read on veterans blogs that they don't give them out because at this point I cannot prove it was military related.

Bearcat42 · Post by **Bearcat42** » Wed May 06, 2009 2:21 am

Wow, that was the first thing I noticed too! I could not believe how green leaves were until I started cpap about a month ago. Then I started noticing how alot of things just seemed a little more crisper, more in-focus maybe. I am starting to judge my therapy by how things around me look and how I feel and it is really interesting to see how others have the same experience.

LinkC · Post by **LinkC** » Wed May 06, 2009 8:16 am

Catnapper and others wrote:Who was the inattentive creep who threw the snakes at you in the first place?

For those who have never had the privilege of baling hay: The "creep" was likely the baler (a machine that cannot see at all!)

Balers have a chute on the back, extending to the hayrack which is pulled behind. The completed bales aren't really "thrown" but pushed off the end of the chute, where the least senior member of the crew catches them and stacks them on the rack. I say "least senior" because that's the hardest and dirtiest part of the operation (and prone to snakes, apparently!) You can't really dawdle and inspect each bale as they keep on coming, ready or not (picture Lucy Ricardo working the assembly line...).

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