Living with Color Blindness

I am color blind.  Not totally, but enough that I can’t pass the photochromatic dots test that they give you when they are testing you for color blindness.  I think it got worse as I got older.  I used to be able to see a few more numbers before I went “blind”.  Nowadays, it’s almost useless to even pull the little booklet out and flip through the pages.  I don’t even think I got more than 1 or 2 the last time I did it.  I was told I was red-green color blind, which is one of the most common, but I have trouble seeing other colors as well, especially shading. Browns and greens are confusing. Gray can be added to the list when we begin to work with shades.

I know I miss many beautiful things in life.  The fall is particularly bad.  Everyone talks about the changing of the leaves and how beautiful it is.  Only when it is vividly bright and sunny and the leaves have several different colors can I see them.  I can only imagine what it really must look like to people with normal vision.  Before the changes really get sharp I can’t really see anything; still a bunch of grays and drab greens and browns.

And let’s not even start to talk about wearing matching clothes.  I’ve always told people that a major reason I stayed in the Army for a career was that I never had to match clothes; it was done for me.  Class A’s were green coat and trousers with a blue-green shirt and black tie and black shoes.  BDU’s were green fatigues starting out, then went to camouflage which was even easier to match with anything if I had wanted.  Black boots were the only color I wore except during Vietnam when I did wear some tan ones for a while.  But I preferred black tanker boots with my Class C (fatigue duty) uniforms.

Wearing civilian clothes, however, was a different story.  I had to remember what colors went together and what colors clashed.  To me, clashing colors meant brightness.  Once I knew what shirts went with which trousers, I separated them in my closet.  I would hang my ties on dress shirts to ensure a matching appearance when I dressed for work after I left the Army.  My shoes and belts were easy – black with black; brown with brown.

At times, though, I sometimes think it would be interesting to see in only black and white.  I seem to remember that I read or heard that some animals see only in black and white.  I can’t remember which ones or even if that is true.  I’ll have to investigate that.  It will be sunset soon; I think I’ll go and enjoy it before it turns gray, then black.


(Gadugi 11 font)