The dangers of NOT wearing contacts

So you've all heard crazy stories regarding contact lenses, right? Maybe some of you have experienced the irritation of awaking to the realization that you slept with your contacts in. Your eyelids were somewhat sticky and reluctantly to open and your contacts seemed suctioned to your eyeballs. Or maybe you've dealt with the pain only true contact-wearers know of having a contact somehow crawl up your eye ball, under your eye lid to the tip-top corner of your eyeball, like it's trying to see what's on the other side. And, then there is the occasional eye infection due to lack of oxygen - no I'm serious. My eye doctor told me I had to stop wearing my contacts all day long because my eyes needed oxygen. So, on to the point of this post which has very little to do with contacts and very much to do with how inconceivably freezing cold it is in Minnesota. (I know. I know. We were warned.)

So, I've been wearing my glasses at least 3 or 4 times a week to give my eyes all the oxygen those little pupils can eat up. Today I discovered the dangers of wearing glasses. It was SO cold my breath froze on my glasses creating a thin layer of ice - not just fog - ICE. I thought it was bad enough that my defroster/heater decided not to turn on as I drove to work this morning and my breath created hundreds of ice droplets on the INSIDE of my windshield. But, no, I had to scrap, not just rub, SCRAP the ice off my glasses. Imagine me looking like this guy in the picture, except add a coat, a scarf, a hat, some hair and ditch the beard and mustache.

I found a quick solution of lowering my scarf to only cover my chin so it didn't detour any breath up toward my glasses. So, in the end, yes, my nose hairs froze together (quite an awkward sensation), but I could see past my glasses through the mostly iced-over window to the wind-blown, snow-covered streets of St. Paul, Minnesota. And, I arrived at work alive.

The lessons of the day:

1. Wear contact lenses on really cold days when you have to drive to work - NOT Glasses

2. Be grateful, once again, that I'm not a pioneer

3. Southern California, Baby!