Home is where the toaster is...

Life, aside from the medical complications, is a little nomadic right now. Two homes or none?
Two places to live at least, but which is home?
Kallhäll still has all my furniture - all but the basics - and music, videos, books and most of my clothes, but with packing started it has an air of impermanence. Hornstull has enough to get by and being here, camped on the floor, means thoughts & plans for the future (albeit mostly things needing decorating or repair).
Each trip back here I bring a little more... This trip a cookbook, a candlestick, my tea cosy, toastrack and toaster. Breakfast at least belongs in town..

The world is flat

It's true, it's official! The world is flat. At least it is in my eyes!
Stereo vision lets us see the world in three glorious dimensions but to get it needs two eyes and right now I can't muster much more than one. Monovision. Depth disappears and the world is flat.
It's an unexpected handicap. My spatial judgement is up the creek. I go to close a cupboard and miss the handle, misjudge the depth of a step.. and stand like drunk at the door, the key circling in on the keyhole. Pouring from the kettle? Cutting veg. Just shaking hands. New challenges.
I'm taking drops that dilate the pupil and relax the eye.. which means no focus regardless of what my eye might otherwise manage. Looks like I am going to have to get used to it - this flat earth.
Excuse me while I - carefully - pour a beer...

You should have seen the other guy...

It's Tuesday and I'm home after an unexpected stay in hospital. Strange goings on with my sight proved to be a detached retina so they kept me in to have it operated on the following day.. and I then spent all night lying just so so that it wouldn't get any worse beforehand.
Yesterday they wheeled me away to fix me up with lasers and elastic bands and now they've let me out again. Not that I have my sight back. It will be about a month before I get back to something like normal - so if I walk past you on the street without saying hi it's just that you're on my blind side... Right now my right eye is just a blur..
And for now, no lifting, driving, swimming, flying - or dancing. (Wot no salsa?)
So it goes...

BIG thanks to the staff at St Erik's. It's nice to be in good hands!

Out of sight

We take it for granted that how we see life tomorrow will be pretty much how we see life today, so it's an unpleasant surprise when from one day to the next one eye just ain't doing all it should.. Blurred and out of focus, and missing bits round the edges. That's how on a Sunday I come to be sitting here in the waiting room at St Erik's Eye Hospital.

We forget how wonderful our bodies are, the things they do for us day in & day out. .. And we mostly take it for granted that when it's broken it can be mended - I'm kind of hoping my faith is not misplaced on that one.

Room with a view

It was a lovely sunny afternoon when I finally got back to the flat with the keys - after rushing around town for a customer meeting. Just a short visit to get a feel for what I've bought.
Two rooms and a kitchen as they say.. I've seen it all before but this for real. Home to be. :-)
Sunshine floods across the boards, a warm welcoming amber glow. There's good light and air. But the big echoey empty rooms are still just that bit smaller than I remember... or more probably, than I'm used to. The memory plays tricks.
There are cracks here and there, and seen naked the living room paintwork looks tired and in need of a refresh. Jot that on the list.
And the floors slope. I've never lived in a house where the floors slope. Not a lot, but it takes you by surprise.
The kitchen is a treat.. I'm looking forward to getting back to a gas hob and a proper drainer.. New inspiration at the table, and then dinner with guests? Though maybe that will have to wait till the furniture gets here?
Kallhäll has been beautiful these last days, and starting to pack sad, but today I get to taste a new flavour of things beginning.
It tastes good!