Shifting Focus

Here is my son as a toddler sporting his Alligator Farm tee-shirt from Hot Springs.

The way I see now is pretty darn near exactly as I saw during the last eye exam. No change in prescription is necessary, though I ordered an additional pair of glasses. A recent bout of knee vs. lens, with lens losing to a pop-out, convinced me I don’t want to waste even five minutes in a search for a pair of dollar-store glasses stashed in supposedly handy corners to aid in such emergencies. The second pair will also help me drive in the dark, which I have avoided doing as much as possible.

Which means my opportunities will expand, since infrequently having to drive back from Poplar Bluff after sunset has been an invitation to anxiety to come on in and sit a spell. I just celebrated another birthday, so expanding opportunity has much more appeal than anxiety, which visits too often and stays too long these days.

This year’s birthday adventure took me to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Years ago I pushed a stroller up and down those hills to a tower and through an alligator farm trying to be brave for my toddler, fueled by fast food and ice cream. Later, a former college roomie and I chose that spot to reconnect and catch up and... shop...in every store along every downtown street, again fueled by fast food and ice cream, so as to have more dollars... to shop.

No fast food meals this time, and only one small taste of ice cream to go with a birthday dessert of molten lava chocolate cake - the finale to a fine Latino meal different from Missouri Mexican fare I’m accustomed to. Strolls through the historic district and museum tours were fueled by sampling new dishes in novel dining settings - a true celebration of another year with all my senses.