I wonder if I’m on drugs.  No, I don’t think so.

On Thursday I had cataract surgery on my second eye.  So the right started the process that the left had a head start on.

What would be a good word to describe my head?  “Vacant” will do.  My distance vision is wayward.  I often stumble on the cobblestones and have trouble estimating the distance between me and objects, such as people.

After the surgery, my near vision was useless, so I bought cool orange-framed reading glasses at a drug store.  So I can see this screen.

The visual bottom line is that I will have excellent vision, with glasses for near and another for far, by August 15.  That’ll do nicely.

I woke up on Friday morning with my world feeling like an abstract painting … everything soft and blended.  I had a decision to make: go to Salvatore’s in the evening and sing … or stay home and lick my imagined wounds.

The ticking of the hours wasn’t bringing me closer to an answer.  I could feel passivity creeping over me … a yearning for the couch or bed.  But there was also a tiny spark: I want to sing!

What an excellent dilemma to be in.  Small or big.  Slumbering or alive.  Weak or brave.

I chose

Yes, I was worried about forgetting the words or singing out of tune as I sat talking in Salvatore’s before the eight or nine performances.  But I also smiled.  I’m here!  I didn’t give in to mediocrity.

I sang well … actually a song about singing.  I looked into the eyes of the fifteen souls in attendance as the words flowed from my mouth.  Many of them got the beauty of lyrics such as these:

When tyrants tremble sick with fear
And hear their death knell ringing
When friends rejoice both far and near
How can I keep from singing?

Afterwards I had a lovely conversation with a young woman.  We talked of life, about our shared sadness of often not being seen as the divine beings we are.

She was both spiritually and physically beautiful.  I had the strangest thought as we spoke – one I didn’t share with her:

She’s like The Elephant Man.  Many people only see the body … not the soul inside

***

Now it’s Sunday.  I’m glad I’m writing again

There is much to express