I’ve been frustrated.

I’ve lost my close-up vision – two years ago, from a position of 20-20 vision, I found myself needing reading glasses. I had been told that I would by an optician about twenty years ago when he said “oh, you’ll probably find you need glasses to read by the time you are about 40 or so”. I felt dead smug when it didn’t happen until I was 47!

Since I got my glasses for reading, I’ve spent more than a year at home….so my glasses have always been on the coffee table for when they were needed. In those days, I’d find myself in a restaurant holding the menu at arm’s length and squinting thinking “why didn’t I put my glasses in my handbag when I left home?”

When I started at Uni, I put my glasses in my rucksack and have been too terrified to get them out at home ever since because of the worry that when I REALLY needed them to see to write my notes, that I’d not have them and that would constitute a disaster in my world. In the autumn term, it didn’t matter because I was so exhausted each evening that I did nothing more than sleep at home.

Over the Christmas break, I was able to have them on the coffee table for knitting, reading or whatever else I wanted. It was luxury of a kind I’d forgotten! Two days before the start of term, they were returned to my rucksack to make sure I didn’t forget them on my first day (you see how anal I am about them?)

In the last couple of weeks I’ve missed being able to knit, read or anything else I wanted for fear of forgetting to put the precious specs back into my bag. This is good from the point of view that I am clearly not as exhausted as I was before Christmas and have WANTED to read at home. On the other hand, it’s been extremely frustrating and I’ve missed my knitting practice, can’t see a recipe book or a letter or even finish one of my notoriously cack novels at home.

You see, it’s all a big blur.

So, I’ve decided it’s time I got my act together and got my eyes tested again so I can have two pairs of glasses – a pair at home and a pair in my college bag…….oooohhhh the luxury – I can’t wait. I am beside myself with thrilldom at the thought I can do stuff at home again.

Oh and by the way, I decided on a shot of a page of Nigel Slater's wonderful book, Toast (note the lack of specs) where he talks about looking in on couples in parked cars in Lovers Lane while eating Walnut Whips which shows a different sort of frustration if you get my drift!