Dog Eared and Possum Eyed

Taking care of Gracie and Basco, my two 65+ pound doggies this weekend. Their other human is away, so, for three wonderful days they are in my care. It's canine contentment.

Even better, I have a buddy visiting me from Portland this weekend. Marykate, or Kate as most call her. I've known her since highschool. She knows me all too well.

At some point between playing with the pups and eating too many Gummi Bears, I commented on a painting hanging in the house. Said it was crooked, hanging with left side way up, right side down. I thought she bumped into it. She looked at me like I had forks growing out of my ears.

"It's not crooked."
"Yes it is. It's all askew. Just lean over and push it up on the right."
"It's not crooked. Do I need to take you to the hospital? Your perception is all off."
"No it's not. Yours is." (Good comeback).

Later this morning, I moved a couch about six inches in one direction. She saw this and asked me why I did so. Repeat above interchange. She grabbed a tape measure to show me how wrong my view was.

I laid down on the floor with Gracie and Basco and sighed. I listened to them gently snore and thought about how soft their ears were. Their hearing and their sense of smell are the core of their perception. Basco is totally blind. Yet he's completely adjusted to a non-visual life: sniffs & smells the cool air more, can hear the snap of a deer's hoof on a twig outside the house at night, feels the vibrations of Gracie's thundering paws racing on the floor as she bounds up to greet him -- he wags and barks at her.

We are not at the hospital nor are we planning on going. This whole visual meltdown is grating on my nerves, obviously. On top of it all, if we go anywhere, MK's insisting on driving my car because my acuity is off. Worried I might drive into something or perceive that a vehicle or object is actually farther than it actually is. I think she may be on to something and I might have to consider this option while she's here.

At least I can see the snow falling outside. Beautiful even if it is mixed with rain and not sticking to the ground. Hard to believe I'm seeing all of this during the day from my Oakland home. At least, with my double vision, I get to see twice as much of it.