Nothing makes me madder (well not much, anyway) than to see someone doing any kind of work without eye protection. So today I am going to throw out a plea to everyone reading this:
PLEASE PROTECT YOUR EYES!
I started wearing glasses due to near-sided vision and astigmatism when I was 7. My prescription changed about every 6 months and by the time I was 12, the eye doctor warned my parents that without the help of contact lenses I would be blind before I reached 18. Contacts cost an arm and a leg back then. Although they had been around a while, I had never met anyone who wore them. Gas permeable and soft contacts hadn't even been invented yet. Hard ones were the only option. Fortunately I was able to get those when I was 16 and my steady decline in vision was slowed greatly. But I remember the fear of losing my sight altogether. It's something that too many people take for granted.
Just yesterday, I was feeding the buck goats and Dilly decided I wasn't dumping the feed in the trough fast enough. He showed his displeasure in the typical goat fashion by butting me. Normally a head butt from him doesn't actually come into contact with me. But this time he butted up just as I leaned down- and he caught me in the left lens of my glasses. If I hadn't been wearing those glasses, he could have punctured my eye with his horn- not a pleasant thought! Sure I have another eye, but having family who has lost an eye to glaucoma and one who has amblyopia, I know that I'd rather have 2.
So here it is, April Fools Day. I planned to make up a story and fool everyone with the black eye I thought I would get from my glasses rim being rammed into my face. But the injury wasn't that bad after all. So I take the opportunity to share this lesson- all joking aside- please, protect your eyes.
