The family settled into the new grandeur of the room. They all tried to look grateful and nonchalant at the same time. Red roses from the floral department at the grocery store filled the polished thrift store copper bowl on the coffee table. The TV was relegated to the glassed-in porch with the old couch and the old curtains. A small walnut-veneered buffet, refinished by the young mother, took its place.
The ceiling fan was replaced with a light fixture from the big building supply store. The young mother was almost comforted by the kinder light. Polished steel in Art Deco shapes of leaves and water lilies, the light was controlled by a rheostat. The dim rays were gentler to the pink walls, which were faded and overpowered by the deep rose curtains.
The woman’s husband had gladly given her the light fixture as an early birthday present, with the hope of cheering her. Her spirits were very low and the husband was about to suggest that she consult the family doctor. He did not know how to initiate such a conversation, however. “Hey, babe, you seem to have become nuts since you got that old couch reupholstered” did not appear to be a good starting place.
The little girl also worried about her Mama, but at four years old, what could she do? Well, she would be five in June, but that didn’t help much. If Mama could think of a way to fix this, how would she do it?
The little girl squeezed her eyes tightly shut and tried to think like Mama. The child remembered her Mama saying, as she had dyed the yellow brocade, “You don’t always get what you want, but sometimes you can make things look different, maybe enough to suit you. All you can do is try.” The child remembered how her mother had dissolved the dye in a pot of hot water before adding the crimson mixture to the hot water in the waiting washing machine. The child remembered how thick and lush the color in the pot. She imagined that color on the sofa. The little girl remembered that there was one packet of deep rose fabric dye left.
The little girl’s mother, having pulled herself together somewhat, had gone to the mall with a friend. The child’s father was in his basement workshop, whistling softly as he sorted his fishing tackle. It was a rainy afternoon and the suddenly-inspired child got busy.
She emptied a spray cleaner bottle. Standing on a kitchen chair, she mixed the dye in a pot of hot water from the faucet, and managed to fill the spray bottle by immersing it in the blood-warm liquid. She replaced the spray pump and rinsed the bottle under running water, admiring her crimson hands as she did so. This was a great idea! Mama was going to be so surprised!
Lowering gray clouds poured rain on the house as the child went to work on the unsatisfactory sofa. She remembered her Mama saying, “All you can do is try.”
She had refilled the bottle twice and she was nearly finished spraying the sofa when her mother came in the front door, packages in hand. The little girl’s father, having heard the car in the driveway, appeared in the hall doorway at the same moment. The child was just then standing back, contentedly surveying her handiwork. She had obtained rather startling effects by varying the distance between the shiny new brocade sofa and the spray nozzle. Although her little hand was very tired from repeatedly pumping the spray handle, she turned to her mother with a radiant smile. “Look what I did, Mama! It’s red like you wanted!”
The child was puzzled at her mother’s countenance. She turned inquiringly to her father, who was suddenly pale and sweaty as he leaned in the doorway. He was supposed to be watching the kid and he hadn’t heard any thumps or screams, so he had assumed everything was OK. Bad assumption. Very bad. He wondered where he would be sleeping tonight, and if the new arrangement would be permanent? At this point, he rather hoped it would be.
continued on Sept. 16th
by Kitty VanDuser
Sports Vision: See Clearly as You Protect Your Eyes
If you have ever played sports and worn glasses, you know the limitations in doing so. Glasses present obvious mobility and peripheral vision issues. In addition, glasses offer little protection and actually can contribute to damage to the eyes if glass lenses are shattered.
Contact lenses offer a safe, clear and comfortable alternative for the athlete on any field or court. Peripheral vision is not an issue with contact lenses. However, contact lenses don’t protect the eyes other than offer some protection for the cornea.
Winter and indoor sports like ice hockey, basketball, football, and gymnastics, along with water and pool activities, baseball, softball, racquet sports and golf contribute the greatest number of eye injuries.
Does one sport dominate when it comes to eye injuries? “The more contact that you have, the greater the chance of eye injury,” said Dr. Steven Elliott, of Volunteer Vision Center in South Knoxville. “However, the most damage is done when the orbital bone which surrounds the eye isn’t able to protect the eye – this means an elbow, stick, puck or ball such as a racquetball can penetrate the eye causing potentially sight threatening damage.”
“We recommend helmets and face shields approved by the U.S. Amateur Hockey Association when playing hockey and safety goggles for racquet sports and basketball,” said Dr. Elliott.
Sports eye injuries literally happen in the blink of an eye and affect professionals and amateurs alike. According to Prevent Blindness America, 90 percent of eye injuries can be avoided by following proper precautions. More than 40,000 people a year suffer eye injuries while playing sports.
What do you do if you have an eye injury? “Contact your optometrist directly for the fastest, most effective response,” said Dr. Elliott. “Optometrists are well prepared to diagnose and treat an eye injury immediately.” Going to an emergency room is a second option that may prolong treatment in some cases, as the hospital must locate an eye care specialist.
If you are questioning whether you need to seek medical attention, consider the following: • Is your vision blurred at all? • Do you notice discomfort or pain? • Do you notice double vision, as your eyes look either up, down, left or right? • Are you sensitive to light? • Does your eye look swollen, red or feel irritated?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, please seek immediate attention from your optometrist or your local emergency room.
Optometrist Steven Elliott has been serving the eye care needs of patients in Knox and Anderson Counties since 2002. Dr. Elliott practices primary eye care, including routine examinations, glasses and contact lens fitting, refractive surgery and laser vision correction consultations, surgical pre- and post-operative care, and the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and injuries, including infections, diabetic eye monitoring and glaucoma care. His local office, Volunteer Vision Center, is located at 4300 Chapman Hwy, South Knoxville. He is accepting new patients and may be reached at 577-2020 or visit www.volvision.com.
by Dr. Steven Elliott
Gridiron Tradition
We’ve just now crossed the threshold into one of my personal favorite times of the year. The sun’s not so hot nowadays, and everything feels just about perfect. That’s all fine and dandy, but not even the comfortable East Tennessee fall weather can compare to what really makes these next few months so enjoyable. Staying true to Southern tradition, football is king, and it rules Friday and Saturday nights around these parts. Finally, it’s back. Or maybe this phrase is more appropriate...”It’s time.” Football season has arrived. Ah, the excitement is in the air.
Friday nights at South-Doyle has become a kind of tradition, a ritual if you will. We meet in the front parking lot around 5:00 or so, the senior girls paint a letter on the senior guys’ chests, we tailgate, grill some burgers, throw a pigskin around, and then head in the game around 7:00. Then we’re cheering our team on for four quarters no matter what the scoreboard reads. We’re the loudest, most rowdy student section I’ve seen or heard, and we take pride in that. God help any referee that walks within earshot of us whether or not he’s made a good call or bad call. If it affects our team negatively, the correctness of the call on the field doesn’t really matter. It gets disputed nevertheless. We support our friends out there with all the spirit and lung power we can possibly muster.
The next day is an even sweeter treat. My grandfather, my dad, and I have gone to every University of Tennessee home football game that we could make it to as a type of family tradition for as long as I can remember, and I’ve loved every minute of it. When someone mentions Saturdays in the fall, the first thing that pops into my head is a mental image of the view of Neyland Stadium and Shield-Watkins Field as you first walk out of the concourse and look out at the huge field and the mass of orange and white in the stands all around you. That picture truly is breathtaking. It has yet to fail at amazing me every time I’ve witnessed it. There’s no place I’d rather be on a Saturday than at Neyland cheering on my Vols.
Even for someone that doesn’t appreciate sports or football in particular, there’s one thing that surrounds football season that anyone can appreciate. There’s a very palpable sense of tradition that goes hand in hand with the gridiron. Football brings out-of-town or state family members together just to sit down in front of a television and cheer on their respective teams. There’s a strong sense of camaraderie when 100,000 people are belting “Rocky Top” along with the Pride of the Southland at the top of their lungs after the Vols make a trip to the checkerboard. Just that thought sends chills crawling down my back. How long until the weekend again?
by Truman Melton
"The Best Kind of Therapy"
That’s right. The best kind of therapy for anything that might be bothering you is to spend some time camping.
I took Janet camping for 2 weeks up on Douglas Lake on the 27th of May and we stayed until June 14th and we had a great time just sitting around relaxing and enjoying some of the great wonders that GOD has created.
We sat in the shade during the day watching a mother cat and her three babies. At first you could not get within 30 feet of them because they were wild but as time passed we would feed the mother dry and canned cat food and eventually the mother was getting a little closer and she would sit high up on the bank and as soon as I put her food down and got about 10 feet away she would come and eat, then finally the kittens would come within 10 feet of us also.
We enjoyed watching the kittens romp and play on the bank right behind our campsite. Janet’s favorite thing to do was watch those kittens. If Janet had been there another two weeks she would have had them all tamed and would probably brought all of them home with her.
At night we would sit by the fire and drink coffee until about midnight then we would go in and play rummy until about 2 or 3 a.m. then finally go to bed. Of course sometimes our quiet times around the fire would be interrupted by a raccoon wandering by looking for something to eat.
The main thing about our camping trip was the therapy that it was providing for Janet, while we were there she never even had a hint of having a seizure and that was the greatest thing about our trip. At home she could not sleep all night and she would be up anywhere between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m. and on the lake she would sleep until 10:00 am. or 12 noon. Now that we are back home and have been for a week now I am ready to take Janet back to the lake as soon as she will give in to go. It appears that she is worried about the expenses of going camping since her short-term disability has run out at her employers, but where else can she be so relaxed and enjoy the great things that the great outdoors has to offer for $10.00 a day? We have applied for her Social Security Disability but that could take months (mine took 18 months to get approved).
While we are at home she has the opportunity to sit and dwell on all our problems such as financial, medical, etc. Up on the lake she seems to forget them so I am very much ready to take her back up there. I will admit these things worry me too but my main concern is for Janet’s well being and I think camping is one of the best medicines that Janet can get. I am afraid if I don’t get her away from the house then the seizures will start again from the depression of our problems.
I will say this, while we were up there I did not even take a fishing pole. I enjoyed my baby’s company much, much more. I was told that they were slaying the crappies on the lake but I just don’t have a desire to fish right now. As a matter of fact I even have my boat up for sale. I am afraid to get Janet out in a boat and I would rather be with my baby than trying to catch fish. Even if I went with someone I would be way too worried about Janet to enjoy myself. After you have been married to the love of your life for 32 years and you love them as much as I love Janet then naturally they are your top priority in life.
So in closing for this month the only thing I can say is get out and go fishing or better still take the love of your life camping and enjoy life just being with them. I promise that it will give both of you a whole new outlook on your marriage and life itself.
Larry Noe loves to fish in the Three Rivers area. Contact him with any comments via e-mail - larry4fish@comcast.net, phone - 387-0961, or regular mail - Larry Noe, 2511 Wayland Rd., Knoxville TN 37914. Send stories, fishing tips, pictures and tall tales along with your name and they will be published in the next available edition.
by Larry Noe
Past Articles: Dr. Steven Elliott, Volunteer Vision
