My mother had cataract surgery last month and needed to get her glasses prescription changed. We also take them once a month to the Temple so that mother doesn’t have to drive there. We decided to do this all at once. Her appointment with the eye doctor was on Tuesday, so I drove over to Soda Springs and brought them back here for that. She had her appointment with the eye doctor while I took dad shopping … to the usual places: Harbor Freight, Lowes, and Home Depot.

They spent the night here and Wednesday we drove to Idaho Falls to take them with us to the temple. After that, and some shopping at Sams Club, I drove them back home to Soda Springs, getting back to Pocatello in time for some dinner before going to the Performing Arts Center for the Idaho State Civic Symphony concert.

It was a couple of busy days, for sure. We had a lot of fun. Mother has been seeing double since her surgery and has to drive with one eye closed (!!). The optometrist told her that she would have been seeing double before the surgery, but because she wasn’t able to see through the cataract, she just didn’t know. Her new glasses will have prisms in them to correct her vision:

Q: I have double vision and would like to know how prism in glasses helps to cure this. Also, is there any way I can wear contacts to correct this? — Tina, Florida

A: A prism bends light. Prism in glasses can kind of fool your eyes into thinking they are working together without strain. Prism can also help with double vision by aligning the two images into one. I prescribe a lot of prism for my patients, with excellent results (allaboutvision.com).

The new glasses will come to her in the mail, so she won’t have to come once again to Pocatello with one eye shut….

Wednesday, as promised, was cold and windy. We never-the-less had a good drive to Idaho Falls and an enjoyable session in the Temple. We had lunch in the Temple cafeteria, which has to be one of the best Temple cafeterias in the Church. We did some shopping at Sams Club and came back to Pocatello.

Sometime this fall a Costco will open in Pocatello … a welcome addition to the sparse shopping in town. A couple of days after Costco made their official announcement, Dillards announced that they would be closing their store in the mall here in town, leaving about 75 people without a job. The new Costco will employ more than that, but the store has just started construction and won’t be open for several more months. We’ve had a Sams Club card for more than ten years but won’t be renewing it next time. Costco will now have our business.

Wednesday evening we went to the Idaho State Civic Symphony concert at the Performing Arts Center. The program included Four Norwegian Dances by Edward Grieg, Piano Concerto #1 by Chopin, and Beethovan’s Symphony #1. The guest artist for the piano concerto was Peter Frankl and his capability at the keyboard was definitely amazing. The orchestra sounded wonderful. It was definitely their best performance of the year. Next year features a new Music Director and we’ve bought our season tickets.

That brings me to today … a cold, windy, wet day. We’ve had occasional rain, occasional snow, lots of wind, and a high of about 44°. I’ve gotten caught up on most things, except for 331 unread emails. I’ve still got four bolts and one fairing piece to finish up on the motorcycle. Maybe tomorrow?