Was blind, but now I see

 Recently I learned about a website, Craiyon, where you can type any word or phrase into the prompt, and it will create nine AI-generated images.

It's a lot of fun to play around with (if you have the patience to wait for the image generation). As you can see, you get a pretty good impression of what the images are supposed to be, but they are fuzzy and a little off-putting.

That's kind of how my vision has been this last week as I have been recovering from my PRK surgery.

Last Sunday was the worst day. Everything was blurry; it was too hard to read anything, and of course seeing from a distance was a challenge. I just "attended" church via Zoom—my parents were out of town, and I didn't feel like walking. I spent a lot of time napping and listening to game shows on TV.

On Monday, Moran Eye Center called me to reschedule an appointment, and when I said that Sunday had been the worst day, they said that was a textbook example. But my vision still wasn't good enough to go to work. My cousin Teresa and her husband and daughter came to visit for an extended time, which was nice, since we don't get to see them very often.

On Tuesday, I tried working from home, but my vision was still too blurry to be productive. That day, my parents returned from California with two of my three nephews to spend a month here. It's not summer without them!

On Wednesday, my dad drove me into work, because I wanted to meet some colleagues for lunch. I made the font really big on my computer and worked most of the day, but when I had to read a handwritten nineteenth-century letter, it kind of took away all my visual stamina.

Thursday my dad drove me into the office again, but my phone had decided not to charge. I walked into businesses in City Creek Mall, but they couldn't help me. That night I wanted to go to a T-Mobile store, but we were all going to Texas Roadhouse for my mom's birthday, and I couldn't drive myself. Why does everything happen all at once—two sets of company in town, recovering from eye surgery, birthday, phone dying, grandparents having COVID! While we waited at the restaurant, my dad took me to T-Mobile and suddenly my phone was charging like normal again. That was a relief (emphasis on was).

Friday I had an appointment to remove the contacts in my eyes, which were functioning as a bandage over the laser incision. They had told me that I would be able to drive at a week, but I still didn't see well enough for that, so my mom took me in. It was a quick visit, but I did find it uncomfortable as they took out the contacts. My mom dropped me off at work, but my vision was even blurrier than it had been the previous few days. But I still worked a full day. Then I took my nephew Franklin to get a smoothie from the food trucks that were set up for NSL's car show.

But Saturday—I could see! Still not perfectly, but I could see decently. We went to Walmart, and I was able to see as well as I needed to. I made cherry omelets, cherry salsa, and cherry dessert topping. In the evening I took my nephews up to the fireworks. I watched people jump out of a plane, and then it struck me that I could actually see them! I wore a flag hat, flag sunglasses, patriotic shirt, flag shirt, fireworks socks, and flag shoes. The kids said something about my outfit, and I asked them if they were embarrassed to be with me, to which Franklin responded, "No, it's like we get to hang out with America himself." Then he said they should stab me with a pin to see if I bleed red, white, and blue.

Now that I don't wear glasses, I can wear sunglasses!

Then on our way back home, I was able to see not only the crescent moon but also the dark, unlit portion of the moon. I can see!

Today I wore my flag suit to church, which I love wearing. I taught the youth Sunday School class, and I had a very specific dream last night in anticipation of the lesson. [Cue the wavy screen to indicate a dream sequence] I was attending some church event in West Jordan, but I worried about parking, so I took the bus. Then I needed to take the bus to get back in time for my lesson. But the bus was going slow, and then I missed a bus, so I wasn't going to make it. But luckily, my mom texted me that my cousin Shane and his wife were visiting and they were going to take over the lesson. I found myself in some Church-related sites in West Jordan. One building had evidently found an 1880s meeting program (handout) that was riddled with mistakes, and the people thought it was so funny that they enlarged it and put it on the wall. Instead of "How Firm a Foundation," it said, "How Buern a Foundation." It talked about a hymn called "The Christmas Fountain," even though the program was from March. I was really disappointed that I had missed teaching my lesson. My parents happened to be there, and I began to suspect that it was just a dream, so I told them, "If this is just a dream, then as soon as I wake up, we need to drive straight home so I can teach my lesson!" [Cue wavy screen indicating the end of the dream sequence]

But once again, my phone is not charging. I have turned it off so that it will have some charge to make it easier to transfer data in case I need a new phone. If you need to contact me, find another way. Sigh. Why do we spend all this money on devices that are not built to last?