It was a good run. Over the last 25 years I have relied on my eyes to do the reading, research and writing that have meant so much to me and fashioned a self-identity as someone who uses words and reason to try to change the world.
Last week I woke up to discover that I had lost 30% of the sight in one eye, a lavender colored cloud at the bottom half and a slightly blurry top half. Today that percent is closer to 60%. It's apparently a nerve disease that can have any number of causes.
Because it is quite taxing to write, my plan for now is to sign off Civilization and Its Discontents and keep these posts around — just in case there is some change in my vision or reading & writing becomes less exhausting. There is an archive below which includes not only these blog posts but other letters and essays I've written over the years:
https://precaf.github.io/essays/
In my post-retirement I have counted myself among the very fortunate, as numerous friends and acquaintances have been afflicted by all manner of health problems that visit us at certain ages in our lives. I won't lie — losing your eyesight is terrifying and the grief of realizing your world has just become several sizes smaller is a bitter pill. But life is an adventure we never leave in once piece. For now my main focus will be to accept and adapt, and find other things less visually taxing to do instead.
In my absence I will count on all of you to give the bastards hell.
David