Seeing It Is Optional

Now that I am officially in the "middle aged vision" category of the population and awaiting the arrival of prescription bifocals that will allow me to navigate the world without the aid of a helpful canine, I am grateful for the fact that seeing things isn't always a requirement. There is lots of stuff you can assume. Assuming is good, especially when you can't necessarily make out details anymore.

For example, when a truck shows up in the parking area and a dude with tools starts wandering around, you don't need to see what he is doing to know that he is a plumber. You can assume that fact when the water gets turned off. Repeatedly. All day. Without warning.

You also don't need to see what he is doing to know that bathroom trips will need to be carefully timed for the remainder of the day...

When you finally get running water back in your life and decide that a nice hot bath would be a good reward after such a dry day, you aren't able to see everything that goes on in the manse. You are relaxed and your less than perfect vision is even more limited since you've taken off the useless glasses. But when you hear the sound of growling, howling, yowling and thundering paws, you can be pretty sure that the resident felines have gotten into yet another tussle.

I've seen enough of these altercations to know how it goes. The Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty (always the instigator) will charge the Big, Fluffy Kitty, merrily ignoring all warnings to cease and desist. He will persist through the first couple of swipes, ever hopeful that this will be the day she gives in to his displays of affection. She will not. Ever. On a good day, she will make a break for it and hide until he finds something else to do. On a bad day, she will defend herself to the end.

I always know when it's over because the AGK wanders around crying piteously, broken hearted and wanting the world to know of his despair. Then he has a snack and watches some television because he is, at heart, just a dude.

Frankly, "seeing" isn't all that helpful in this situation. These two are beyond mismatched in terms of physique. The BFK is big only in name and fluff. She is a feline optical illusion. Underneath all the fur, I doubt if I have a quarter pound of cat. The AGK, on the other hand, is the very model of truth in advertising. He is huge and has the advantage of youthful reflexes. The BFK is somewhere in the vicinity of 17-19 years of age.

Going with what you see will not predict the outcome in this case. Not one little bit. When the BFK says, "no" she means just that. And AGKs who ignore this, do so at their peril.

She gots me rite on mah snooty!!!!! I cryd 'n cryd. Then mama gived me chikenz 'n I wuz OK.

See? You don't have to see stuff to know stuff. It's optional sometimes. Which is good for me since I can't see these days, but still need to know stuff. I know that, if the cats aren't cooperating and the water isn't running, that I am going to need a distraction or two. Happily, I happened to see some dishcloths yesterday. They were posted by the delightful April and crocheted...crocheted, I tellya! I can crochet! I can crochet faster than I can knit, truth be told. And that means I can whip out a leaf stitch version of this household essential in an hour or so!

By God, I can even craft up a lopsided border of sorts if I put my mind to it!!!

Now that I can't see, I can do stuff all lopsided and not feel badly. No one can say anything mean about it. Everyone has to be nice, at least to my face. And at close range since anything anyone does outside my abbreviated field of vision is not something I'm going to catch anyway. I rather like this dishcloth, in spite of the border issues. It's very squooshy and we all know how important the tactile element becomes once the sense of sight is lost.

Lastly, there is one more thing you may or may not be seeing in the coming days. I am experimenting with the idea of blogging when I have something to say rather than the 6 posts per week I've been doing for the past few years. I truly do love to write and blogging has allowed me to do just that. I also love connecting with others out there in the fiber world, not to mention keeping up with family and friends. However, the word well sometimes runs a little dry and material isn't always easy to find. I think I do fairly well with crafting posts, but it's felt more like work lately and that was never my intention going into this.

I'm not done. Far from it. Pulling back a bit isn't about letting go of the blog. It is about holding onto it. I think that giving myself permission to not blog will keep it from becoming an obligation. (Blogligation?) It's a hobby and something I do to challenge myself in a fun way.

So if you don't see me, don't panic. It just means that I took an extra long nap that day and missed good blogging stuff. Or that I'm busy breaking up a kitty battle. Or crocheting a dishcloth. Or patiently waiting out the lack of water situation.

Or I can't see well enough to find the laptop...

SA