day 20. eyes

all the better to see you with

I have really terrible eyesight. I've worn corrective lenses since I was in the third grade. Sitting on my feet and leaning into my desk, I still couldn't see the blackboard even from the front row. I would come home with horrible headaches from squinting all day. I remember the day I received my glasses very well. On the drive home, I could read the street signs and exclaimed to my parents "there are leaves on the trees!" I was unable to see them from a distance. My world had come into focus. I had chosen Dorothy Hamill glasses. Remember her? I had a poster of her in my room. I thought it was super cool that her signature was on the inside arm of my glasses (I had to show everyone). The fun soon wore off though. I also remember my glasses flying off my head, getting stepped on while at summer camp, and the frames breaking when getting hit with a dodge ball. Ouch. 

I started wearing contacts the summer after 8th grade. I had just made the high school dance squad and wasn't about to wear glasses while whipping my head around during a routine. I had had enough of wearing glasses. I only wear them now when it is absolutely necessary. I definitely prefer contacts.


I'm also fascinated with the genetic determination of eye color. My parents have green or hazel eyes and my sister's are very brown. I'm the only one with blue. My husband's eyes are hazel (more green than brown). My daughter has light blue eyes, and my son has a gorgeous mix of blue and brown. They will sometimes look gray. 


I think it's difficult to capture the color of someone's eyes in a photograph, which is why I chose the picture above for today's photo a day.  The one here of me turned out pretty well though. The lighting was just right.