The eyes have it

I’m in my seventies now. That’s not a complaint. It’s a privilege to get so many years under the belt, lots of people never get a chance. Mind you, it helps to live in a First Word country with good healthcare. Even so, looking back, I can think of at least one occasion when, if I’d been born a few decades earlier, I might not have made it this far. Medicine has come a long way.

But the down side of being in my seventh decade is that bits start to wear out and need replacing. I’m fortunate that my knees and other joints are fine. I have osteoarthritis but it’s not bad and I’ve only just had to start taking cholesterol and blood pressure medication. What does need fixing, though, is my eyes. Everybody (I’m told) ends up with cataracts as they age, some worse than others. Mine are bad enough to warrant removal. It’s like I’m looking through frosted glass, the right eye worse than the left.

(I find it fascinating that a cataract can be an eye condition and also a large, powerful waterfall. English is often a very strange language.)

Anyway, back to the eye condition. Next week I’m going to have the cataracts removed. Left eye one day, right eye the next. It’s a simple outpatient procedure. I’ll be glasses-free for the first time in a couple of decades. That’ll be nice – but the bad news is those bags and wrinkles, currently hidden by the glasses frame, will be on display for all to see. Ah well. They’re souvenirs of years well spent.

If all goes well, I’ll be able to share the New Me next week.

Meanwhile, the election campaign drags on. Neither side is proposing anything stellar and I do get very tired of the name-calling and character assassination from both sides. However, I have an inkling that if Labor gets in, there will be a change of Prime Minister within a year.

The Ukraine ‘Special Military Operation’ drags on with more and more war crimes being uncovered. It doesn’t take much for the veneer of civilized behaviour to flake off. Far from the quickly achieved take-over he expected when he invaded, Putin is having to deal with a whole slew of unexpected consequences. He didn’t want Ukraine to join NATO. What this war has done is push neutral Finland and Sweden, as well as Ukraine, to apply to join. Hopefully, those closest to him will understand what a shambles this has become and get rid of him.

We live in hope.

Here are a few cataracts.