Do Overs

Would love to say that I slipped on my boots, but that’s a younger man’s term. The reality of doing anything smooth or with grace is not in the cards after reaching a certain numerical number. They make better products that give me the perception of being smooth. Little things like better shoelaces and eyelets. I even have that shiny Omni lining in my boots that looks like a fancy bright golden shirt that should be worn at a disco, but I now have to sit to put them on. Boots on and ready to make my way on my morning hike on our property. It has become one of my favorite moments since I retired. Mondays are even more joyful. Leaving the house using my boots for transportation instead of driving into town to work brings a smirk that I can’t seem to wipe off my face for most of Monday morning. It’s the same sideways smirk you see me dancing in public; again, not smooth. Flipped the outside light on, and as this time of year brings a plethora of different weather. Light snow was evident as it passed in front of the outdoor barn light. Spring snow that you can’t at times tell if it’s just thick rain. Chores are done, and the morning light is beginning to peek through the clouds from the east so I can start. Sandhills and their constant scream proclaiming that they are here. The birds, despite the precipitation, are putting on a concert that I felt as if I had been transported in time compared to the tranquil subdued winter mornings. I headed west into the wind and the falling almost snow. The first crystals had hit my glasses by the time I made it a hundred yards. It even made a sound when it hit the right lens of my glasses. It became liquid, Immediately running down the lens. Another they then another, they just kept coming. My vision with glasses was impaired to the degree that I had to halt movement and look for something to clear the mess. I have issues with stuffing things into my pockets and leaving whatever lingering for years. I think that someday thousand years from now, they will be doing an archivable dig and find one of my coats and in my pockets, they will find all the answers to all the questions of our species and time on this planet. receipts, license plate screws, caps from bottles and tissue paper, and more. This spring morning, not a thing in my pockets to clean my goggles. I had cleaned out my winter coat two weeks earlier after three days of above fifty degrees. It had been done with the request from Kathy, and having plenty of time now that being retired, compliance was in order. I have been wearing glasses since 2nd grade: no glasses no vision. I wonder about John Muir when he traveled through Glacier Bay with tremendous weather challenges, and here I am only a hundred yards from my house, blind at a standstill Being a resourceful man, I weighed my options very carefully and decided to go with plan B. I lifted up my coat and took off my glasses. I gently cleaned the moisture off both lenses with my cotton sweatshirt , and immediately, my vision was returned. I shifted my face to the southwest blocking dangerous quater-inch rain-snow from impairing my vision. I continued my spring walk-about and returned home moist but filled with satisfaction.