Posts Made By: Christine Canelos Welsh

Never saw any like this before. About 8 inches tall. Edible?

Hmmmmm.....where did that hookah smoking caterpiller come from?

I know that lasik eye surgery has been occasionally been a topic of conversation here so I thought I would share my experience with a different kind of vision correction. Two months ago I started doing corneal refractive therapy. I wear rigid gas permeable contact lenses that are designed to reshape my corneas while I am sleeping.

I was dubious at first, but I have to say, it has been something of a small miracle. After only one night I was seeing so clearly I couldn’t believe it. For the first few days, the effect would wear off by the end of the day, but now, it has really dialed in. My vision is 20/20, all day and all evening. I walk out of the house in the morning and my whole field of view is in focus. I can not tell you how marvelous it is to look up at the stars and the whole sky is tack sharp, not just the little window through glasses that are constantly getting scratched and smudged. It almost seems surreal.

I had not been willing to do lasik. I know it works very well for many, if not most people, but when two people close to me had lasik procedures with poor (and permanent) results, I was a little too leary. The risks of corneal refractive therapy are outweighed by the fact that if you have issues with it, you eyes will return to your pre-therapy state within a few weeks of discontinuing use. No harm, no foul. However, because of this you do have to wear the lenses regularly.

I had initially resisted c.r.t. because after all the years I had worn contacts in the past, I didn’t want to mess with it. I had a lot of problems like dry eyes, airborne irritants, etc. Finally though, I got tired of glasses too. I was reaching the point where my rx was getting pretty strong, I couldn’t adapt to bifocals, getting headaches, etc.

Although the contacts are not as comfortable as soft lenses, I don’t have any of the irritating issues as with daytime contacts because I’m asleep! This is a piece of cake. I don’t know why more people aren’t doing this, especially people who are already contact lens wearers.

Anyone else out there tried this?
Regards,
ccw

Boy meets Girl.

Boy falls in love.

Boy relentlessly pursues Girl, even though she is totally disinterested.

This exhausts him.

In Louisiana, MO, there is a nice little park on one of the bluffs over the Mississippi. We always stop there whenever we are passing through. Note the railroad bridge - it has a section that swings away to let barges through. Quite the view, you can see for miles.

ccw

Sunrise at my dad's farm on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Quite a lot to be thankful for.

ccw

Yeah, I like sunrises. We were up in Sheboygan, WI for a friend's wedding in October. Got up early the next day and headed for the beach. Got there just in time.

ccw

Probably oversharpened but I was going for the reflections.

Christine (trying not to be jealous of beachfront observing) Welsh

Anyone using heavens-above to track the ISS & Shuttle? If I've got the most up to date info, the shuttle will be docked on the ISS through the 17th. However, heavens-above shows separate passes for my location on the 16th.
Curious,
ccw

This young squirrel hung out on the sunny side of the tree, trying to warm up his nose, for quite some time.
ccw

One of my hibiscus plants is not very prolific to start with, but this past summer it didn't even bloom at all for some reason. I finally got a bloom on it even though I'm keeping the plant semi-dormant in the house for the winter. Go figure! Anyway, here it is - it's a dark pink and quite pretty.
Cheers!