This story happened about 15 years ago. We were competing in the mixed playoffs at the Royal Kingston Curling Club.

Just before the game was to start, I cleaned my glasses like I always do, but today the Curling Gods were not with me. My frame broke right where the lense connects, an impossible place to Macgyver them with tape or glue. As my teammates know, I can only see maybe fifteen feet without my glasses.

I was the skip because I was the most experienced curler on the team. I had never tried to curl without glasses, so I knew this was going to be an adventure. Throwing the rocks was not as bad because I could line myself up and just trust in the Curling Gods. I actually made quite a few shots. The hardest part was calling sweeping. I couldn’t see anything until the rock was well past centre ice, and my sweepers waited for me to call them on. To make a long story short, I made enough shots to win the game even though I was curling basically blind. I didn’t trip over anything, and I survived the event.

My teammates told me that I curled better than I usually did with my glasses. Maybe I was concentrating more but I’ve never tried to relive the experience.

Signed a curler for over 50 years.