Last year at this time I was not wearing eyeglasses.
I’ve spent most of my time complaining about the glasses. They don’t bother my nose anymore, but they’re progressive lenses, so I have to remove them to use my binoculars.
What could have changed to make me like them enough to consider recommending that people who do not need glasses add them to their pocket survival kit? Two words: Pollen Barrier.
Since the maple pollen has been coating every surface with yellow dust for the past several days, I realize that eyeglasses are useful for keeping the wind from blowing the pollen into my eyes. The glasses also are terrific gnat and mosquito barriers - the little insects just bounce off the glass and fly away.
There’s no real reason to purchase expensive eyeglasses. The dollar store kind at the lowest level - 50 or 75 - is probably enough to shield your eyes.
I have not tested this out with plastic lenses or sunglasses. I’d still rather not have to trade off glasses for binoculars. But at this time of year, I’m not blinking excessively or rubbing my eyes - and that’s a relief.