Blog archive
April 2024
Tulsa reparations, Religion and Politics
04/09/2024
March 2024
Trumps War with Black Women
03/31/2024
Addressing The Needs of Older Adults Through Pasadena Village
03/25/2024
Coming Soon: More Resources for Older Americans, Online and in Person
03/25/2024
Community Building Locally and Nationally
03/25/2024
Preparing for the Future with Ready or Not
03/25/2024
Volunteering is at The Heart of the Village
03/25/2024
Women's Liberation: Then and Now
03/25/2024
Writing Memoirs Together
03/25/2024
Current Views on Current Events
03/20/2024
Unchained
03/18/2024
Rumr of Humor issue # 2409
03/10/2024
Blacks Portrayed by European Artists
03/03/2024
Rumor of Humor #2408
03/03/2024
February 2024
Caring for Ourselves and Each Other
02/27/2024
Doug Colliflower Honored
02/27/2024
Great Decisions Connects Us to the Worldwide Community
02/27/2024
Letter from the President
02/27/2024
Pasadena Village's Impact
02/27/2024
The Power of Touch
02/27/2024
Villages as a New Approach to Aging
02/27/2024
Addressing Gang Violence in Pasadena-Altadena
02/21/2024
Rumor of Humor Issue 2407
02/19/2024
Thank You For Caring.
02/12/2024
Rumor of Humor 2405
02/11/2024
Curve Balls
02/10/2024
Sylvan Lane
02/10/2024
Rumor of Humor 2404
02/09/2024
Larry Duplechan, Blacks in Film
02/03/2024
January 2024
Pasadena Village Joins Community Partners in Vaccination Campaign
01/29/2024
Rumor of Humor #2403
01/28/2024
Pasadena Village Joins Two Healthy Aging Resource Projects
01/25/2024
Decluttering: Do It Now
01/24/2024
Village Volunteers Contribute to the Huntington Magic
01/24/2024
Villagers Creating Community
01/24/2024
Villagers Reflect on Black History Month
01/24/2024
Walk With Ease, 2024
01/24/2024
Wide Ranging Discussion on Current Issues
01/22/2024
Wide Ranging Discussion on Current Issues
01/22/2024
Rumor of Humor # 2402
01/21/2024
Rumor of Humor # 2401
01/15/2024
Re- Entry Programs, a Personal Experience
01/08/2024
Alphabet, a poem about experiencing vision loss
By Sally AsmundsonPosted: 09/22/2020
I have moved to Altadena as of Sept 15 and have been rather busy with the move and getting settled. Having emails to write and things to read are helpful in getting me to pace myself and not unpack and organize until I am over exhausted.
I wrote the poem after the second surgery on my right eye, first to reattach a torn retina and second to try to save some of the retina after the development of a very fast growing epiretinal membrane or puckered macula.
The second surgery was 9 hours and I had to spend 24 hours a day on my stomach or with my head down for a month so that the gas bubble would hold the retina in place while it healed. All the while not knowing if I would have any vision in that eye. The first detachment was in February 1999 while I was working full time and also in the second year of a masters program.
I was able to complete the degree, a M.A in Mytholgical Studies at the Pacifica Graduate Institute. I was never able to return to work and was on disability until I reached retirement age in 2005. I continued to have visual hallucinations of flashing lights in both eyes for about three years and double vision for close to 10 years. Both reading and using the computer could only be done for about 15 minutes at a time.
I wore a black contact lens if I hiked or drove for most of that time. I am grateful that my vision is now stable and I haven’t yet developed some of the issues which would decrease my vision further. I have learned to live with compromised vision and it does not limit me at this point. That’s the main reason that I haven’t participated in the VIP group.
- Sally Asmundson –
Alphabet Poem
A Apprehend with aplomb, apples, arches, aches even agony.
B Basic billows, beautiful blue, now black with no
C crackle of cacophonous crystal clarity.
D Instead dark, not dank but deep with despair; or dwindling delight?
E Euphonious elephant, eecking, elegant or elephantine
F fracturous, fraught and frazzled;
G gray, gargantuan, grungy with grime. Or grim
H helpings of hellish heaven huddled under
I the unseen iridescence of icicle illusions.
J Jabberwocky of jewels jealously
K kept klose even though not klear.
L A lovely lens looms almost luscious
M marred, marked and murky but not murdered yet.
N No, nothing, not, nada, nondescript. Noble
O old oak outgrowth oppresses and also opens;
P peeps, peering at precious, priceless, pupil with its
Q quintessential quest for the quotidian quantity;
R restless, resolute, resolved, red, roiled and rotated. Don’t ridicule the retina.
S See, saw, seen, sight, soulful, surreptitious
T Two, top, tallow, twist, and trouble
U Up, but under, uxorious, undulate
V Vac, vacuous, victorious, not vicious or viscous, but vital. Virtual vision not a version.
W White, all color, no black none, white with whorls and whirls and whoops.
The warrior
X Xena, with xcellent, xcess
Y Yellow macula, yells at me to be to see
Z Zot and zap; I want to sea — to zee — to see