Jeremy was out for his usual evening walk
He always went for a walk along the bush trail just below the mountain. If he left early enough he would just get a glimpse of the sunset while he could suit and enjoy the vista from the top of the waterfall.
He did like this spot. He could sit for hours here, overlooking the valley below, the sound of the birds settling for the evening, the water rushing past him and cascading over the lip of the escarpment. He could hear the rush of the water as it hit the pool below and could sometimes feel the mist as it rose and dropped.
It just depended on the season and how much water was running of the mountains behind him.
This was a glorious spot.
However over the years he had found it increasingly difficult to navigate the pathway home, It was always dark as the sun had set and he had learnt the pathway like the back of his hand, but as age became a reality he would often find some of the trickier parts a little difficult and sometimes even got a bit afraid he would fall and never be found.
This aging thing is a bit of a nuisance he thought.
But not only that, he was also finding it more and more difficult to see where he was going. He kept convincing himself that it was just getting darker, but in reality his eyes were getting old as well and couldn’t quite see as well as they used to.
This particular evening, Jeremy got to the waterfall, and just as the sun was setting he decided that it was time to go home, before it got too dark.
Jeremy reached a particularly difficult part of the track; where he had to sort of shimmy his way around a boulder with a drop just below him of about 40 feet. He had carved hand holds in this boulder many years ago so that he could just swing one hand to another as he went, the path was probably about 12 inches wide here and so the extra hand holds helped him enormously.
This day he struggled, he had been struggling here for a while. Not because his body wasn’t up to it, after all he had been doing this for years and his body was as primes as it could be for his age, but because he was having trouble seeing the Hand holds.
In the past he wouldn’t even have had to look for them, he could just reach out and there it would be, but as he was getting older, his arms, for some reason, seemed to be getting shorter and he would have to stretch out a bit further to reach them, this is when he was trying to see where they were.
Jeremy navigated the boulder, not without trepidation and continued on his way
He could see the light of his house just half a kilometre away and knew that he would be home soon.
As Jeremy walked through the door, his wife Doris said.
Jeremy, do I always have to remind you that you need to take your Glasses with you these days.
Jeremy smiled, he looked at the hall cabinet and there on the top of the cabinet was the pair of round glasses that he had purchased a couple of years ago from a thrift shop.
They did work quite well but Jeremy was a stubborn old fool and often refused to wear them, not out of vanity but out of a denial that his eyesight was worsening.
Daily 5 minute #freewrite, prompt provided by @mariannewest
Ahhh declined vision is hard to accept. Great job. Love the descriptions.
Yes the biggest curse to my eyesight is the computer screen lol :)
😭 I just remember looking at my grandparents and other elderly people and being grateful that I can see. Oh, you are never ready for this.
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