Going Blind

So the body is doing fine, on the whole. But what, I am asked, about the recent news that I am going blind (yes, I have come to terms with it and have started using that phrase, because that is what is happening to my eyes)? Yes, I may have to have a white stick, to wear protective goggles and to learn Braille.

I will completely lose my central vision and will be unable to read. There are further eye hospital appointments when we get back to France, to measure the rate of attrition. I know the rate is significant because there are things I could do only a few months ago, which I am not able to do now. For instance, I recently snapped the high E string (the thinnest) on my travelling guitar. Try as I might, I could not thread the string through the hole in the tuning peg. And yet only in November or December, I snapped the same string on a guitar at home and managed to replace it myself. This time I had to take the guitar to a music shop and get them to replace the strings. Bad news because of what it signifies about my eyes.

How is it affecting my walking? I have already mentioned that I can not see the walking tracks on any of the maps (total cost 700-800 Euros) which I have bought for the trip. Also, I am having a lot of trouble passing over rough ground or up and down steps, because my foot-eye coordination has gone to pot. In addition to that, I have to wear dark glasses to protect my eye condition from the sun. When passing in and out of light and shade, especially in wooded areas, I am having a great deal of difficulty.

As to whether the deterioration will be rapid enough to have even more effect on the walking and on VBW itself, only time will tell.