At the tender age of 8, I was holding my own against my dad at a game of lawn darts, that is, until my dad sent me to pick up the stray red darts. Standing right over them, I couldn't find them. At first, my dad thought I was just being my usual troublesome self, but the next day, the optometrist gave him the bad news.

"I'm sorry, but your son is color blind."

My parents dissolved into tears, and I did my best to comfort them. They thought of all the things I would never be able to do. I thought of all the things I had already done and how much I still had to do. I told them I was the same kid from the day before.

As grownups, they had already been confronted by many things they had come to realize they could never do. As an 8-year-old, anything I couldn't do was just a matter of getting a bit older.

My first observation related to the flash cards with the colored dots that the optometrist showed me. I wasn't very interested in the number he could see that I couldn't. I was much more interested in the number I could see that he couldn't. I had discovered that I was a member of a secret society.

Had I been older and wiser, I might have bought into my disability, but a kid is not that prone to listen to his elders. Of course I was reminded of my limitations, but at that age, it was fun to yell throughout our house, "I need a colored person" when I was matching socks. I liked the attention.

My greatest disappointment related to all this was when I was told by the US Navy that I couldn't enlist as a fighter pilot. Of course that may have kept me from taking a dirt nap in Vietnam.

I've learned to compensate, such as approaching traffic intersections carefully, ready for one of the "white" lights to turn yellow. But I've also grown convinced that I can see more shades of blue and yellow than "colored" people, particularly at the hour before sunset.

You may have noticed my post-processing choices diverting into strange regions as I pursue photographs that look good to my eyes. But with all the weird effects out there, I have somehow found mine.

Had I learned that I was color blind as a grown up, I would've been sensible enough never to pick up a camera.

So, the next time you're faced with an insurmountable obstacle, ask your kid what to do.