While we were in the process of moving from the Midwest to the desert, my mom kept saying, "The sun is different here."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," I thought. How could it really be that different from Missouri to Phoenix? From Canada to the equator I understand, but straight west and slightly south?

She wasn't kidding. Even when it's cool -- or cold (yes, it does happen!) -- outside, the inside of my car bakes. The brightness is insane even when it's overcast. My skin has gotten pink as if it were slightly sunburned while I had clothes over that portion of my skin.

For a long time I've had trouble seeing in the dark. Trying to see street signs at night is difficult, movies that are visually dark are a challenge for me to watch, even with my prescription glasses on I prefer to be close to things I'm reading or watching.

So, I haven't worn sunglasses in years. Partly because I felt like it made it more difficult for me to see. And partly because I felt like I could see better without sunglasses. It didn't help that I wear prescription glasses, so I either had to find a pair of sunglasses that went over my regular glasses or get a pair of those clippy sunglasses.

I did the clippy glasses for a long time, and then they got old and scratched. And kind of made me feel like an old man. I would occasionally look for a pair of sunglasses to go over my prescriptions, but that made me feel kind of cheesy, too.

But the last few days driving to work have been very bright. The reflection off cars in front of me is blinding and I find myself putting the sun visor down more often just so I can block some of the light (not the sun) coming in.

So after looking at $20 sunglasses for several weeks that I was not willing to buy (I'm cheap), I finally found some this morning for under $10, that cover my glasses, that are sort of fashionable and that I think look kind of cute on me. And when I walked outside with them the first thing I noticed was that everything didn't look black. I felt like I could still see very well and the tones of everything weren't off. The brightness was just toned down enough that I didn't feel like I was being blinded.

Wearing two pair of glasses is going to take some getting used to, but I think it's worth it. While I get my eyes checked once a year as recommended, I think this is something small I can do to help things in between.