It's all how you look at it.

Today saw me and the hubby take a little trip up north. Off the dirt road, up through the Falls and then onto I-91. Then about an hour north, off to I-89 and down to exit 19. From there it's just down the road a bit, a place called Dartmouth-Hitchcock. From the outside it looks like some great shopping center. And it is one of sorts. Your really have to look at it for a moment before you realize that the 'shoppers' going in and out of the main entrance do not have shopping bags. They have wheelchairs or walkers, worried looks on their faces, sometimes tears. Some just look like you and me going about their daily business. Off to their jobs or to appointments. But this place makes a difference in lives. Sometimes a big difference.
I first went there in 2002 to see an eye specialist. My hubby says he sees the world differently because I am always pointing out to him stuff to look at. My world is very visual. I love colors and shapes. I was an art major in college and have been doing stuff that required my eyes all my life. From pen and ink drawings, to painting, crocheting, knitting, welding, or reading, my world is what I see and I have a disease in both my eyes that changes my world. It is called Macular Degeneration. My right eye is a bit worse than my left. It starts as seeing a distortion in the middle of your vision. Over time it can cause you to lose that portion of your vision. The good news is you still have peripheral vision and with the help of modern technology can still do the majority of things that you could do before but not all.
I have lived with this for quite awhile. Fortunately my vision has not deteriorated. But it is different. If I close my left eye and just look with my right, peoples faces look odd. Heads elongate and features distort. There are also some very small spots where there is nothing at all. My left eye is not quite as bad. There are a couple of spots but between both eyes I still can see pretty well.
You may wonder what this has to do with my dirt road. It is the fact I try not to take for granted every season that occurs here. Every storm, no matter how sick I am of rain or snow I try to see the beauty that is there. I really look to see what I can see.
So when I look at Dartmouth-Hitchcock I try to see the possibilities. That maybe this place will if not find a cure, be able to help stop this disease. Not just for me but for others who have it. I see the fact I have lived with this for over 10 years and am able to do most of what I love. I try not to miss what is harder for me to do. I can't read like I use to. My eyes tire out after a while. And although audio books are great its not the same as holding a book and turning the pages. I can no longer depend on seeing straight lines when I do things. One of my small gifts was being able to write a straight line or draw a straight line. But my world now has no really straight lines. Everything has a slight dip to it. Maybe that is one reason why I love this road. It has lots of dips, there are no straight lines to it. But it is all good. Really, I mean it. Gardening doesn't require straight lines just a stubborn persistence, a shovel and some know how. There are rulers and tape measures to make sure I cut a straight line with an exacto knife or a saw.
So it is all how you look at it. You can see the end of the road and just focus on that or you can take your time and look at the road, the sides of the road, the trees, the sky. Keep looking around you. Don't take for granted it will all be there tomorrow, it may not be.