I’ll never forget being nearsighted as a kid and getting my first pair of glasses. Suddenly, I could see leaves on trees from a distance.

It was an awakening. At the tender age of 10, my glasses were quite ugly, but the optometrist promised they would withstand the beating an active child could administer. We probably got them from Woodall Optical over on Beckham Street in the red brick building in the middle of the two big hospitals.

Over the years I used contacts and loved the freedom they provided but still couldn’t read the numbers on the clock on my bedside table. Finally I got Lasik and my vision woes were solved, except for one little issue.

As time marched on my need for reading glasses emerged. Now I have a pair in the car and others in my desk and all over the house.

The one visual aid that seems to help the most is my iPhone if I forget reading glasses. The flashlight app on the phone helps me read menus in dark restaurants. One day I’m sure the menus will all be on our phones eliminating the need for printed forms and offering diners advice on how others have rated things. Is that what Yelp does?

Speaking of vision, something struck me recently. My routine takes me to the same gym around five mornings a week. Several of those days a stretching regimen leaves me flat on my back next to a bank of windows.

The trees are backlit by the rising sun and if I pay close attention at this time of the year the new buds are visible. In researching when the buds form I learned that they have been there for some time, forming in late summer when the sun’s energy gives the tree the power source necessary to create next year’s showcase.

It’s good for my soul to watch the buds change in the spring but I have to make myself lie still long enough to catch the show. Even though the trees look stark and bare the new life stored in its branches is waiting for just the right moment to literally spring forth.

So in case you find the cold days of winter disheartening try finding some trees to stare at and pay close attention to their transition. It’s a better show than most of what is on at the movies these days.