I learned that I have a cataract in my right eye. At the time my ophthalmologist, Dr. Jackson, said it wasn’t bad enough to warrant cataract surgery but at some point it would need to be done.<\/p>\n
Thursday of this week<\/span>:<\/p>\n I was puttering around in my kitchen when I felt something get into my right eye. At the time I had my reading glasses on so I was surprised that something got into my eye, but it did. That eye was irritated for the rest of the evening.<\/p>\n Friday<\/span>:<\/p>\n By noon the next day my eye was still sore and quite irritated so I called Dr. Jackson’s office for an appointment. Thankfully he took me in almost immediately. I was relieved to not have to go through the weekend with my eye feeling like it did. He never did find anything in my eye (it feels mostly better now) but he told me that the cataract in that eye had quickly become much worse. He said that he rates cataracts on a scale from 1-4, where 4 is the worst, and mine was a definite 4. He recommended cataract surgery relatively soon.<\/p>\n I was in no rush. In the back of my mind I decided to do some research on cataract surgery and ‘probably’ get around to having it done at some point in the future. Or maybe not. After all, I seemed to be coping. Life went on.<\/p>\n Saturday (yesterday)<\/span>:<\/p>\n I made a birding trip to the west desert, in part to check up on the nesting Great Horned Owls I’ve been following in recent weeks. I was hoping the chick(s) would still be there, but half-expecting them to be fledged and already gone. I arrived at their cliff nest soon after dawn and the nest was empty. I was hugely disappointed but I fired off two quick photos of the nest, just in case I could see something in the photos later that I hadn’t noticed through my viewfinder.<\/p>\n That afternoon, after I got home and was reviewing my photos on my computer’s big screen, the first words out of my mouth when I looked at the first photo of the nest were “I’ll be a son of a bitch!”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n An adult (probably the female) and one of the chicks were right next to the nest but I hadn’t seen them in the field, even though I was looking hard for them. I have to use my bad right eye to look through my viewfinder (they don’t make left handed cameras).<\/p>\n To be fair, with their cryptic plumage against that cliff they’re very well camouflaged but still, I simply cannot believe I didn’t see them. In my mind I was positive they weren’t there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here’s a full frame (uncropped) version of the same photo to show you exactly what was in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n It hurts even more to realize that it’s very possible that there were more chicks that were ‘branching’ somewhere on the cliff and maybe even the other adult owl. And I just drove away, thinking there were no owls anywhere nearby.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Next week, barring potential complications, it’s my intention to get the cataract surgery ball rolling. I wonder how many other wonderful opportunities I’ve missed in the past because I’m damn-near blind in my “shooting eye”.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/great-horned-owl-5920-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"great-horned-owl-5920-ron-dudley\\"")
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