So I'm sitting at my desk staring out the window with my Slinky at my side and my kaleidoscope in hand when in walks my department chair, who says, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."
But it is important! I'm resting my eyes! Trying to ameliorate the symptoms of presbyopia--the blurriness that occurs when I do a lot of close-up work and my decrepit eyes can't quickly adjust their focus to anything in the distance. Spend an hour reading small print and I walk into a classroom to find the desks inhabited by blurs. How am I supposed to learn my students' names if they exist only as "blue blur in the back row" or "blond blur up front"?
So I'm trying to give my eyes regular breaks, for which my office window is the ideal facilitator. There's nothing much to see out there--a hedge, a brick wall, passing cars, some blowing snow--but it doesn't matter what I look at as long as it's farther away than my computer screen. I lean back in the chair, pick up the Slinky, and look out the window, and before you know it my eyes are rested. (If they're still open.)
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