One’s eyes may be open, but they still may not see.
My dear readers—we haven’t seen other for a long time! Over the past year, I have had regular visitors to my proza.ru page—they read my posts with interest, sometimes even reading 2-3 pieces at once. I got to thinking: what if I run out of stories and lose interested readers? They’d get bored of my stories and read others’ works (though I have nothing against that).
Our current global situation, COVID-19, has made everything difficult for everyone. The other day, I someone wrote on one of my posts: “Raisa, you be smiled me!” In my forty years of teaching Russian, I’d never seen such a word—but it was nice nonetheless! I was so excited that I could lift up someone’s spirits in this difficult time. I wanted to write about two things: human eyesight and women’s earrings. You might think that these are two totally unrelated things. But, as one proverb says, “Everyone has two eyes, and they sit behind the nose.” [Ed. Note: This apparently just means that everyone has two eyes and a nose between them, according to Kim.]
I found a few interesting things about the eyes on the Internet; one of the most interesting was a passage from a third grade textbook titled “The World Around Us:”
Eyesight
“Most of what we know about our environment is thanks to our vision—more than other senses. Sight allows you to determine the color, size, distance, and shape of objects—and whether it’s stationary or in motion. Thanks to our eyesight, we can read books, watch TV, and admire the beauty of nature.”
We all know the importance of having good vision—and we especially notice it when it becomes hard to see distinguish between close and distant objects! If you have bad vision and are a driver, you might not be able to pass a vision test. Oh dear, oh my! I know this all too well.
I had to go to the ophthalmologist once to obtain a waiver for the driver’s license vision test. Nowadays, all you have to do to renew your driver’s license is just pay $25 every 8 years. I also had to undergo two cataract operations. Everything turned out OK. As the saying goes, “Everything passes with time—and this, too, shall pass!”
But, unfortunately, over time, one’s vision deteriorates—and despite having glasses, they still might lose their way, stumble or even fall. Reader, I have fallen in such ways—and so have my friends.
You know that I am an older woman, with certain flaws; but, like all real women, I love jewelry. An old friend of mine used to say that the best jewelry for women is earrings: they can be seen right away and they adorn the face, no matter how pretty it is.
Before meeting my husband, I had no idea how great it was to wear earrings! But he convinced me, so I went to the hairdresser and got my ears pierced. I won’t describe what torments I had to endure to get my ears pierced. After our wedding, my husband saved up money from a part-time job and gifted me some earrings. On the way to the jewelry store, we met a group of gypsies, one of them had golden, leaf earrings. Without thinking twice, I said that I wanted exactly those. Kim and I stopped into a nearby jewelry store, and to our delight, we saw those exact earrings on display ones on the shelf, exactly the same as those seen on the woman on the street. We bought them, and I still have them! I try to wear them as little as possible so I don’t lose them. My family says that they remember these earrings from their childhoods—I’ve had these earrings for more than 50 years!
Currently, I spend a lot of time home during quarantine, so, naturally, I think about my favorite earrings. I love wearing them often and continue to admire their beauty and grace.
And then, one evening, while watching TV, I decided to remind my husband of the aforementioned event that took place about 50 years ago and told him that it was nice to wear jewelry that reminded me of a happy youth. My husband carefully looked at my ears and said that he did not see any earrings! I was indignant and frustrated, and told my husband that he should check his eyes. And in general, that he needs to be a more attentive husband and appreciate my attention to my beauty! He repeated again that did not see any accessories on my ears. I became indignant again.
I decided to check my left ear first. No earring! I felt all around my ear… no earring! What a pity. But the one on my right ear should have been preserved! But it was there not! How could this have happen? I had had them for decades and suddenly, they were gone! Tears started welling up in my eyes. What was I to do?
Suddenly, I remembered! I had worn my favorite earrings the day before, but on this day I’d forgotten to wear them! I had forgotten and had blamed my husband in vain!
And this is how vision and jewelry are connected… ha-ha! Even the eyes can be deceived.
To see stars, you must simply open your eyes.