Sunglass Follies

Many years ago, we took a family vacation with my husband’s parents, his two siblings, their children, and our son. It was a wonderful trip – one which we each enjoyed for many reasons.
One of the days, the four adult women went shopping at local mall. Typical for the region, it was a warm spring day and we all wore loose clothing, sunscreen, and sunglasses. We walked around the mall, laughing and shopping and at one point, encountered a jewelry-cleaning kiosk. The nice young woman cleaned my rings and then cleaned my mother and sister-in-law’s rings. Since they sparkled so nicely, I bought a jar of the wonderful pink cleaning fluid. (Let me digress to say that nearly 20 years later, a half jar of the product is still in my cupboard. Somewhere.)
We purchased a pretzel or some other treat and made our way back to the sunny parking lot. I was sitting in the back seat with my mother-in-law and we were all chatting away as we rode back to the condominium. Suddenly, mom sat up straight and said with concern, “That lady turned my ring pink!”
She held out her hand with her diamond wedding rings and waved it frantically. Now nearly teary-eyed, she kept saying, “That awful liquid is making my ring turn pink.”
Truthfully, I didn’t notice any pink tinge or color to her ring. They looked fine to me, though a little dull, considering they’d just been cleaned.
My sister-in-law was about to turn the car around and head back to the mall, when the last adult in the car started to laugh. She said, “Mom. Take off your sunglasses.”
Mom did remove her sunglasses, as did I. Then it was evident that the ring was absolutely fine. And clean!
Flash forward twenty years, and it seems I may have turned into my mother-in-law. On one of the amazing, warm and sunny days we have had in February, my husband and I were driving home on a country road. We were passing beautiful farms with fields, rolled hay, cows, and ponds. One pond after another were on this particular road.
I noticed the first pond was exceedingly blue. It was cobalt blue colored and stunning. I commented to my husband on this and he said, “It’s likely a reflection of the sky.”
When we passed the second pond, I said, “No, the sky is blue, but not this blue. It’s so bright!”
The third and fourth ponds were just the same. I finally decided that they must be adding some chemical to the water to make it so blue. But why would anyone do that? I asked my husband.
He glanced over to check out the fifth pond that was on my side of the road and began to chuckle. “Take off your sunglasses,” he said.
I dutifully removed them to see that the pond was clear and blue – reflecting the sky – but just a normal blue.
So I’ve become my mother-in-law. Makes me wonder if I shouldn’t find that jewelry-cleaning solution and clean my rings.