Let's see. Hmm. 

A, B, C, D, E, F, G!

No?

C'mon Doc, at least give me an A for effort!

March 9, 2021 - Tuesday morning

24 degrees/clear skies/calm winds

Pentoga Road

Actually, the above caption is a gross exaggeration. I learned that since the last injection in February, the sight in my right eye had improved significantly, from 20/200, legally blind, to 20/40. 

The ophthalmologist had initially asked how my vision was doing and I told her I didn't know if there'd been much improvement. How little I knew.

She said it's not unusual to not notice such a change. I guess my left eye had been doing all the work previously and I didn't realize my right had taken over almost half the responsibilities.  

The good doctor pondered as to whether I even needed a second shot. Telling her the long journey to Madison was both expensive and time consuming, I wanted my money's worth. Give me the shot.

And she did.

Ouch.

I've developed a two-part system of collecting sympathy points for eye injections. 

A simple shot is worth 75 points and two clicks of the tongue.

A blood vessel shot scores the maximum, 100 points, looks of disbelief, and if one's in the right company, a hug and outward expressions of how bad ass the recipient must be in real life.

Yesterday's shot hit it out of the ball park. The needle nicked a blood vessel that resulted in a good case of red eye. My doctor told me it would result in the grand slam for sympathy points. I was set!

Yeah, well, in the end, I had to wear sun glasses all day so no one could see my eye and stop to gawk and feel sorry for me. 

Hugs from strangers? None.

Looks of fear/admiration that only John Wayne and Clint Eastwood could garner? Zilch.

Then there was Sargie, the former optician who worked with eyeballs for years.

Help? Tons of it. 

Sympathy points from my bride? Dream on Tommy P.

My life story. Sigh...

Sargie piloted our super charged Hyundai from the tentacles of the UW School of Medicine to the farmlands of central Wisconsin where we made several stops for household goods and groceries.

 

It's amazing how less expensive groceries are in more populated areas, especially at discount chains. 

We filled our cart full, mostly with fruits and vegetables at greatly reduced prices.

The last stop was made at a Sam's Club in Wausau. After that, it was clear sailing all the way back to Pentoga Road.

About to leave Sam's, I noticed Sargie bee bopping to a lively song spewing from the speakers overhead. Life didn't get any better.

Shake it baby!

We arrived home well before dark last night. Sargie unpacked and put the groceries away while I got a fire going and delivered goodies to our neighbor.

Last night was a quiet one. With the numbing medication completely worn off, I had some discomfort and was happy to climb the stairs to bed. All is back to normal this morning.

Sunday's sunset from our hotel room in Madison

Sargie has a Milligan sister gathering in Iron Mountain today. I'm going to begin getting the maple equipment ready. Rain is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday with colder temperatures to set in after. My general aim is to begin tapping trees sometime next week, but then as you know, the best laid plans tend to go awry.

Time to strap on the hikers and head out the door. This burgeoning belly of mine isn't going to go away on it's own.

After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

The ophthalmologist's assistant told me to look straight ahead. 

I asked, "With which eye?"

Laughing, she replied, "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to look cross-eyed?"

About that time, I swear, I felt a slap alongside my head and Mom's voice telling me to knock it off.

Some people have no sense of humor.