For the Sake of Science

Thanks to the wonder that is LASIK, I can now see very well. I had the surgery done about 18 months ago when I had horrific vision. It brought me to 20/25 vision, which was a decrease from my contacts. Over time, my vision deteriorated a bit, which is normal, especially for someone as young as I am, and it got to 20/40. I decided to have it redone (at a reduced cost) recently. I am now at 20/15 vision. The difference is unbelievable. Everything I see is far more beautiful. The road as I drive is aesthetically pleasing right now. The details of trees are better than ever. Hell, retail stores looks great to me. I hate big box stores. They hate their employees; people are not their concern, just an expense. It’s no wonder so many support Republican causes. But if they’re going to be there, I’d rather be able to see them than not.

But what I’ve missed most of all, lightyears beyond everything else (quite literally), is the night sky. I arrived home last night. No one left the outside light on. The moon was hidden behind Earth’s shadow. I’m not in the middle of a city. The sky was intense. I stared deep into the Milky Way. Just a week ago I shied from doing this because I was so actively disappointed in the blurry edges of the stars. I could hardly identify planets anymore. Everything was dull. Now life feels fundamentally different. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to capture that deep feeling of physical spirituality. The night sky is where it’s at for me, but it’s been missing for some time now. Science has finally recaptured it for me. It turns out all that namby-bamby empirical evidence actually means something. Who knew.

Looking at the sky last night was stunning. There was pinpoint accuracy in the stars. Everything popped. I cannot wait to go back out.

Quintuplet Cluster

Filed under: Science | Tagged: hubble, LASIK, NASA, Night Sky, Pistol star, Quintuplet Cluster |