I Can See Clearly Now...

The new year has dawned on us and already ushered in some changes.

We had been hassling Grif about not always copying his homework assignment from the blackboard at school. One day his teacher asked him if he had copied it and watched as he squinted toward the front of the room and asked her if the assignment started with the letter "M." "Hmmm," we said, "perhaps an eye exam is in order here." As it turns out, Grif is joining the distinguished congress of the optically corrected. Many before him have sought relief from blurry blackboards. My very first memory of a celebrity with glasses was Captian Kangaroo's side-kick Bunny Rabbit. I thought his specs made him appear rather intelligent.

Of course, American patriot Benjamin Franklin not only wore glasses, but invented bifocals, something Grif may learn to appreciate and curse all at once some day. In Franklin's time, balding men did not shave their heads, but tried to make up in length for the lack of volume








How can we consider glasses and not remark on Joseph Smith and his notorious pair of giant spectacles used to translate the golden tablets? Just the thought brings back warm memories of room #219 in New Dorm: "Good evening. We are from the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. With what religious organization are you most familiar?"

At any rate, the glasses depicted here don't seem to be so big, but they were reportedly so large that Joe could look through only one side at a time.











Having mentioned Joseph Smith, also note the famous and influential British-American theologian and vicar, The Right Reverend Ronald K. Garner, who's choice of eyewear is disticntly reminiscent of a few other gifted and noteworthy individuals listed here.





We hear a lot about Marx and Lennon, and rightly so, because they, along with The Reverend Garner, had the same eye for ocular fashion:























And speaking of musicians, glasses are big in the arts. Here are just a few of the musical icons who are famous for their specs:
















And how can any survey of glasses omit the great alien crime-fighter who, disguised as glasses-wearing Clark Kent (mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper), fought a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way?

I believe we can admit that my earlier assertion is correct, i.e., Grif is joining a distinguished and celebrated group as today he dons for the first time, his corrective lenses. May the vistas of distant vision open up to him.





So here is the man himself, looking rather jolly with the stylish new specs.
































Grif does his best "Old Curmudgeon" look. That's my boy!