To My Sunglasses

I recently itemized the glories of my wraparound blue block sunglasses to a friend:

• Cool colour saturation
• Block out glare
• Cut sun coming in from sides
• Easily convert to headband so I never have to comb my hair again

Unlike the eighties when these sunglasses were more readily accessible, the wrap around blue block is now scarce.

My first pair I bought from a TV shopping channel -- the first and last time I ever did such a thing. I loved them dearly and took them everywhere with me.

I took them on a trip to Montreal one January, when I had wrangled a trip to a trade show my company was attending. It was a bit of a boondoggle, but every now and then I was thrown a bone. We stayed in the luxurious Queen Elizabeth Hotel and went out for expense account dinners at fancy restaurants every night. Enough of my coworkers were partiers, and Montreal brings out the partier in even the most repressed, so it was a great trip and lots of fun.

It was also extremely cold. I grew up in North Western Ontario and I know cold. But this was blasting wind off a large frozen river freezing cold. It rained at one point and then instantly froze, so the whole city was coated in a thick layer of ice. It was treacherous to walk and people were sliding and tumbling down all over the place. One morning walking to the trade show hall, I had my sunglasses in the top front pocket of my inadequate Vancouver Gortex coat. I clutched the binder I was holding to my chest for extra insulation and heard the sickening crack of my sunglasses, frozen to brittleness, breaking in two. Along with my heart.

Many years later I was camping on Pismo Beach with my husband and son. We were out exploring the town's shops and discovered a little sunglasses shack near the beach. The proprietor was an older, friendly woman. She had on sale wraparound blue blocks for next to nothing. I was so thrilled to replace my old friends. I know I should have bought several pairs right then and there, but I opted not to for some reason now lost to me. She gave me a "Schwarzenegger buck" with my change. Funny, she didn't look like a Republican.

In between the periods of wearing my wraparound blue blocks, which I only could wear when also wearing contact lenses, I resorted to clip ons, round circles on my John Lennon style wire frames that I thought looked groovy, me by now at an age where being currently cool was no longer really an option. There comes a time when you mostly give up on being cool, or just revert to the look that was cool when being cool was still possible for you.

Then the wonders of laser eye surgery, and now I'm happily back in my blue block world. The colours are more saturated so everything looks twice as exciting as it should and I can see without being blinded by the glare. In fact, on a sunny day, with my blue blocks on, I have perfect vision, something I have never experienced before. I am still periodically stunned when I can read street signs from half a block away instead of pretty much needing to drive up onto the sidewalks at intersections to figure out where I am.

I wonder if they sell them on eBay?