ARMD – THE FIRST UNDETECTED SIGNS
The first signs of ARMD came and went without any red lights, sirens and that sort of thing. It was after I had been
diagnosed that I recalled three incidents, each on their own were insignificant. All three combined confirmed what the specialists had found. They were such everyday events that, even then, I wasn’t in the least concerned.
So what, you may ask, made me see a specialist?
That is a chapter on its own, and we’ll get there shortly.
The first of the incidents was one night when we were driving back to Caledon from Cape Town. I wanted to overtake a slower car and saw one coming toward me. I knew he was far enough away for me to safely overtake the slower car. What a mistake. Fortunately, the road was wide and the others were fast enough to take evasive action. Not a nice experience. The second event was also at night, on a gravel road.
Freda says to me “That was close”.
“What?”
“The porcupine”
“No, never saw him”
“He was almost in front of you”.
We both, Porcupine and me had a narrow escape.
The third incident was so innocuous that it was almost overlooked. I was working on a painting in the Art Room and had to paint in a thin horizontal line. I dipped the brush into the paint and painted the line. Except it wasn’t a line but a big blob of paint. So, I wiped it off and redid the line. The second attempt was a little better, but still not thin enough.
On the third attempt I saw that I was pressing down so far, that the bristles were at ninety degrees to the ferrule and handle. I remember looking out the window and refocusing. I also shut up talking for a moment and got the job done at the fourth attempt. This all happened in 2017 and early 2018.
Why Winnie the Pooh? He plays an important part in this story, but much later in the game. Besides, Pooh and Piglet teach the value of someone to talk to.
I built this diorama out of modelling clay, cardboard, sea-sand, some foam rubber and a kebab stick. It was for my first great grandson. It had lights, powered by a 12volt transformer built “underground” behind the house. In the slot under the cricket field housed a CD of family photographs.
