3rd Time's a Charm...

...or I don't see so well anymore...

OK, so perhaps a couple shots of single malt on a Sunday night with Raelin in bed and Kelly and Liam out of town is a sure recipe for abundant blogging...perhaps not.

Anyway, so I got these new fancy contacts on Friday that more or less correct my vision. In both eyes. At the same time. See, the last time I got new glasses was about 4 years ago. I went so far as to get another exam between now and then, though that little pesky move 3000 miles from the opto kind of got in the way of actually getting new glasses. Than and the fact that couldn't function without my glasses and I didn't want to spend the cash on a new pair and my self-employed vision insurance is shit...

Anyhow, so I finally saw an opto here in Maine. Turns out he's the most thorough of the 5 I've seen, and for all his prodding, drops, looking at letters on the wall through various types of lenses, and bright lights, he fitted me with these lenses that absolutely kick ass. And I can't even feel them. Incredible to see all the detail in the world that I just couldn't see with my glasses...until I looked in the mirror. Keep in mind that I haven't seen my face clearly since before I became a parent...twice.

So know I'm looking in the mirror at this face that really, I have a hard time recognizing...certainly ain't the same young rooster I saw 4 years ago. Nope. It's the eyes mostly, and cheeks. I'm getting older. Saggier. Kelly noticed the other day when looking at pre-Raelin photos how much grayer I've gotten since R was born. I guess I could sum it up in a word: tired. I look tired to myself.

It's still tripping me out...to see this face in the mirror that I don't really recognize, because photos don't show it, the deep tiredness I see there. The cumulative months of a sedentary life, of too many countless nights of not enough sleep. Of leaving the 20's firmly behind. And I look at this face and it's not me, not what I feel like. It's that age-old adage about old people don't feel old, their bodies just go to shit. I don't feel that different than I did 10 or 15 years ago. Well, I mean my world view is somewhat drastically shifted, but essentially I feel a lot like the same guy. Perhaps this is due to the subtle changes that shift over time, cuz if you told me when I was 17 or 22 that I would now primarily identify as a computer nerd family man I'd not have been too happy about it. Though if you threw in the nature-loving societal fringe part I'd have been pretty groovy.