Six Eyes

It was my birthday last week and I have to say it was a top five day. Nothing flashy or dashy. No surprise parties or fancy cakes or city proclamations. It was just a day awash with love sent my way. It started with texts from my siblings reminding me to enjoy a day of cake and fun. Then, my former co-workers sent me a picture of them celebrating my birthday with doughnuts and smiles (and a puppet, but that is a story for another day). One of my nieces joined us for lunch and conversation. I attended church with my mom at her assisted living home and we enjoyed tea and cookies in celebration of the day of my birth. When I returned home from mom's assisted living home, a package filled with birthday goodies from my sister-in-law awaited me. She knows I love Cheetos more than cake and my fingers soon glowed with neon orange dust. The day continued with phone calls sharing birthday wishes with me.

My day ended with dinner out at a favorite eatery. As we neared the end of our meal, my husband suggested we go to the sports store next door for a present he had spotted for me. I nearly choked on my bacon as I tried to process what in the world I would want in a sports store. I balked a bit and reminded him that I have yet to wear out a pair of sneakers and expensive sport clothing is lost upon the likes of me. He smirked and said it was nothing like that and he was pretty sure it was something I might enjoy. I still had visions of hiking boots and heavy duty socks as we entered the sports store, but sometimes one has to just let go and trust that one's spouse may be right. We took the escalator up to the second floor and I followed my husband to a corner niche filled with binoculars. He looked at me and said, "You always say we need better binoculars, so let's get a good pair." I broke into a smile of relief and let him know that he was indeed on to something with his birthday idea.

We own an array of hand-me-down binoculars of varying degrees of ineffectualness. One pair has no option for adjustment, one has an adjuster that provides blurry or blurrier views and one pair is a big beast from many decades ago. I fuss every time I use them but I am too cheap to do anything about it. Making the purchase a birthday gift solves the problem. My husband had done his homework so the selection was fairly simple. We did not purchase a pair from the locked display case filled with the serious bad boys of the binocular realm. We settled for a modest pair based on the answer to the clerk's question, "What do you want to use them for?" I replied that they would be used for birdwatching. And the neighbors, occasionally.

We returned home with our new toy ready for action. Oh my, what an improvement. I still need some practice, especially in light of my myopically challenged eyes and trifocal glasses. But I'm sure six eyes are better than two. And birthdays should always make you smile.