Blue
One of my favorite pastimes, if not my most favorite, is walking aimlessly in nature on my own. I enjoy letting my mind wander as I observe my surroundings — the green trees, the blue sky, the colorful flowers. Although not obvious to many (or perhaps everyone) because I’m a city girl who doesn’t travel and who has never watched the sun rise or set, I truly love nature and often dream of being outdoors. If only I could live near the ocean, go to monthlong nature retreats or see the Swiss Alps.
Twelve years old was when I started wearing prescription glasses, and I don’t really remember a life with twenty-twenty vision prior to that. In school, I would often request to be seated at the very front row because I couldn’t see the board. I thought not having the ability to read what’s on it was a normal thing. But years later I was at the doctor’s office, reading, or trying to read, letters off of a chart. When I finally wore my prescription glasses, I was in shock. My first words were, “The sky is so blue!” (No, I am not kidding.)
Don’t get me wrong, I always knew leaves were green, tree trunks were brown and oceans were blue. But I never knew they were that colorful and bright. I’ve never seen green so green, brown so brown and blue so blue. I once told a college friend about this, that until then I never thought the earth was so beautiful, and while she laughed aloud, she also said it was a nice reminder to appreciate and notice the simple things around us, the things we normally forget about.
Sometimes, in my college classes, I would sit by the window and just stare at the leaves of the trees, chin resting on my palm, as I listened to the lecture, amazed I could see the outline of each leaf, whereas before, leaves, to me, were just one big blurry lump of a dull green atop a stocky, textureless brown branch, just like my childhood drawings. Sometimes, when I’m in a sulky mood, I’d remind myself of how I felt when I was twelve — how when I put my glasses on for the very first time, I looked up at the sky in awe — to be appreciative of the little things and in general.
Unfortunately, since I’ve been wearing glasses for a very long time now, I admit I don’t feel this way anymore about the earth’s colors. The blues, the greens and the browns now look common to me. The sky isn’t as clear, the days aren’t as sunny, and I sure don’t bother looking at the outlines of a leaf (we’re all too busy for that, right?). Sometimes I wish I could replicate my feelings from when I first wore them. Here’s to hoping I’d go back to this piece every now and then to recall the moment I saw the earth as it truly is — vibrant and amazing.
One-word prompt: Blue
