The Eyes Have It
By Jim Turner
Cassie was downstage left very near the apron, and if I were to jump up quickly and
run eight or ten rows really fast, I could rescue her when she stepped off the edge. I let
my eyes travel the full length of her stocking-clad legs and finally realized that she had
eyes as well. They seemed to be focused right on mine like one of those weird portraits
with eyes so real they seem to follow you around a room. She was singing something sad
and meaningful to the storyline, and I was captivated by the whole experience. This was
my first ever Broadway play. “A Chorus Line” in New York City was everything I ever
imagined, and more.
The eye phenomena didn’t end with “Chorus Line.” We have attended many live
performances over the years and there always seems to be some eye-to-eye connection
with someone or something. It was with the donkey in “Man of La Mancha.” The
creature had big, sad eyes and seemed to implore me to get that heavy goofball Sancho
off his back. ■
Oscar, too,, has eyes that follow me everywhere I go. In case you have not had the
misfortune of meeting him, Oscar is my new granddog. His eyes and his four little legs
and his little whiskered face seem to always be within inches of my nose. Now what is it
about my eyes that make them magnets for other eyes, especially when the other eyes are
experiencing some kind of discomfort?
There has to be a reasonable answer to this mystery. Without asking permission of
The Shoreline editor, I sought the opinion of the paper’s chief ocular correspondent. Dr.
I.M. Special. I have heard of him and his particular skills from others, but this was my
first opportunity to meet him. He squinted, stood uncomfortably close to my face and
PIKSCO Happenings
By Ches Garner
The PIKSCO Board is pleased to give special recognition of donors who contributed
to the kayak access/floating dock project at Garner Park. A grand total of $8,850 was
donated, which covered approximately 70% of the project cost. Based upon feedback
to date from many within both PIKSCO and PKA, this is one of the most well-received
projects completed in recent years. Many thanks to all those who shared the vision
and wanted to ensure this project would be successful for all to enjoy, including an
opportunity for the town of Pine Knoll Shores to better accommodate more participants
in future Kayak for the Warriors events. Names are listed in the order that donations
were received.
• Allen and Darlene Smith
• John and Jamella Everhart
• H.H. “Dickie" and Jeanette Newsome
• Park “Buzz” and Jeanette Jenkins
• Town of Pine Knoll Shores
• Thomas and Susan Toms
• Bill and Joy Taylor
• Clark and Betsy Hutchinson
• Daryl and Michelle Moore
• John and Donna Fountain
• Ches and Judy Garner
Building the volunteer list. We continue to meet with prospective volunteers,
providing information as to duties and time requirements so more people will be in a
better position in the coming year to help cover our three parks. If you are interested and
have not yet been contacted, please email me at cgarner@pulcrachem.com and.I will be
happy to discuss volunteer opportunities available, and will work with yOu to find a time
convenient for your schedule.
It is almost time for our Nominations Committee to begin gathering a list of candidates
for the PIKSCO Board as these director positions open up in the next couple of years. If
you think you may be interested, beginning as a volunteer is a great place to start.
PIKSCO contact. For questions, concerns, to express a willingness to volunteer or to
provide feedback, contact Erica Reed at 247-4818, piksco@ec.rr.com, through the website
at piksco.com or by mail at P.O. Bok 366, Atlantic Beach, NC 28512.
stared deep into my eyes. They began to cross. He said, “Your eyes appear to be normal,
though you do have somewhat concentric pupils. I beheve the phenomenon you describe
is iiot attributable to your eyes, but rather to the general human fixation on eyes and the
somewhat common feeling that they represent a window into one’s soul.” He went on
to cite the propensity of song writers and poets, among others, to, feature eyes in their
works and to attribute some almost mystical characteristics to them. He made a valid
point. There must be a bucket full of hit songs that talk about eyes. I know of at least one
country-western song that gives too much detail about someone’s nose. I am not making
this up. I saw the video on my iPhone. As the performers like to say when introducing
their next ditty, it goes a little like this; “If my nose was runnin money. I’d blow it all on
you.” But I digress. I was talking about eyes, not noses.
An internet search for songs with the word “eye” or “eyes” in the title took me to Weird
Forum. I don’t remember having researched on this site before and am not sure if there is
some hidden agenda attached to my being directed there. Anyhow, I found some oldies
and goodies. Here are the first of a long hst: “Brown-eyed Girl,” Van Morrison; “Betty
Davis Eyes,” Kim Carnes; “Private Eyes,” Hall and Oates; “For Your Eyes Only,” Sheena
Easton; “Don’t it Make My Brown Eyes Blue?,” Crystal Gayle; “Angel Eyes,” Jeff Heasley
Band; “Eye of the Tiger,” Survivor; and my personal favorite, “Blue Eyes Crying in the
Rain,” by Willie Nelson.
Poets, of course, are more eloquent than we average folks in expressing eyes in a way
both beautiful and sad at the same time. I, for example, might say, “Wow, she has purdy
eyes.” In “Prometheus Unbound,” Percy Bysshe Shelley uses more words when he declares:
Tliine eyes are like the deep, blue, boundless heaven
Contracted to two circles underneath
Their long, fine lashes; dark, far, measureless.
Orb within orb, and line through line inwoven.
His contemporary John Keats wrote in “Admiration Blue Eyes”:
Forget-me-not,-the blue bell,-and, that queen
Of secrecy, the violet; What strange powers
Hast thou, as a mere shadow! But how great.
When in an Eye thou art alive with fate!
And how about T. H. Reynolds’ thought:
Dark eyes are dearer far
Than those that made the hyacinthine bell.
That is some pretty heavy stuff. Keats and Shelley are two of the major EngUsh
Romantic poets, and I have certainly enjoyed reading a line or two of their writing over
the years. I like romance. Its right up there with oatmeal cream pies and double stuff
Oreos. I suspect I might hear more about that last statement from my spouse. Cathy
Guisewite, the American cartoonist who gave us the comic strip “Cathy,” provided a little
different perspective when she wrote: “When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the
eye.” I always enjoyed reading her comic strip. She is just a little evil like me and a couple
of folks I know.
I must briefly explore the issue of eye color before I blink off. America’s singing idol
of the ’40s, Frank Sinatra, was affectionately known as Of Blue Eyes, probably because
his eyes were, in fact, blue. Paul Newman was another heartthrob .with eyes of blue, but I
don’t think anybody so nicknamed him. Then there is that thing we call “The Green-Eyed
Monster.” The “thing” in question is jealousy. So, is green an evil color? There have been
songs written about green-eyed ladies, and I doubt the song writers intended to disparage
the woman being swooned over. And one final frightening thought; “The Eyes of Texas
Are Upon Us.” Yikes.
Our friends from “Car Talk,”’the zany call-in show popular for many years on NPR,
always closed their program by telling the audience they had wasted another hour of their
lives. I’m pleased to report to you that I’ve only wasted about a thousand words of yours.
A few days ago I won a bet on the golf course, and as I pondered whether to frame the
dollar or make a'down payment on a,diet Coke, my disappointed playing partner offered
a profound thought. He actually said to me, “You represent a regrettable turn in human
evolution.” Those were strong words worthy of much more than one dollar. As he spoke
to me, his face was obscured by his hat. I wish I could have seen his eyes.