December 15 - Christmas

Nearly there! Only ten days and Christmas will be here. Lyle and I have had a busy and entertaining past ten days so I am glad that the next ten will be quieter for us.

Over those last ten days, we have managed to be part of an audience for five different concerts and musical shows. It has been great! The added bonus is that all five shows have involved local talent and the productions have all been in a radius of thirty kilometres. Two of the shows have even been within walking distance from our house. All have been excellent.

There has been one small drawback. None of the shows or concerts have had assigned seating. Because of my sight, or should I say limited sight, I like to sit at the very front of an audience. When seating isn’t assigned, this usually means getting to the theatre or facility well in advance of the curtain call.

While I could probably make a fuss about this and speak with the ticket sellers ahead of time, we usually just choose to go early. When we do sit at the front, I sometimes wonder if other people think that we have been given some sort of special privilege. If I know that the theatre is all on one level, I don’t take my white cane. I usually wear my ID badge instead, but that isn’t always visible in a crowd. I hope that people don’t think that I am just being pushy!

I have digressed a little from what I intended to say with this post. I want especially to mention the Christmas concert sponsored by our local funeral home and by other local businesses. This weekend was the third annual Christmas concert. The management team at the funeral home see the concert as a way of giving back to the community, and the performances are free of charge. Lyle and I find this an amazing concept and the quality of the performance is top notch. This year the three shows were performed for sold out audiences.

You can get a glimpse of this if you go to YouTube and check out:

YouTube – Wombold Family Funeral Homes Christmas at Home 2019 Saturday.

{Please note that sound does not begin until 23 minutes into the video.}

There are two pictures with this post. In the first I am sitting in the decorative sleigh outside the front door of the funeral home. In the second picture Lyle and I am standing inside the building in front of the fireplace. There were coloured lights everywhere inside with at least a dozen different sized decorated trees enhancing the Christmas atmosphere.

Lyle and I would like to wish all the readers of this blog a very merry Christmas!

Sue on a sleigh

Lyle and Sue in front of the fireplace

December 7 – Can’t See? Need Help?

This post isn’t about the big picture of not being able to see. Instead, it is about the smaller everyday picture of being without sight. In the big picture, there are optometrists, ophthalmologists, the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) and CCB (Canadian Council for the Blind). In the smaller everyday picture there can be friends and family members who can usually lend a helping hand.

Now, as I said, this post is about the smaller picture and the question is this. Who takes the first step in offering or asking for help? For me, it is a matter of balance. I don’t usually take offence when friends offer assistance but I am sometimes surprised by what is offered and the manner in which it is offered. For instance, the other day I was having lunch with a friend. Before the meal, my friend asked if I needed her to cut my meat for me. I was surprised because nobody had ever offered this assistance to me before. However, my friend had asked this in a caring way and I was able to respond that maybe she could just help by reading the menu for me.

On another note, I often walk with friends on a trail by the river. My friends will usually let me know if there is ice, rain puddles or other obstacles on the trail. I am quite pleased that they think to warn me of these hazards. I wouldn’t be as pleased if they grabbed my arm to pull me aside. I strongly dislike being pulled or even more especially, pushed when someone attempts to so called “guide” me. Pushing or pulling tends to make me lose my balance.

I know that I am a bit sensitive when others comment on my lack of sight. I also know that it must be difficult for other people when they are really just trying to be helpful. I do try to be gracious. I am most appreciative when the offer to help is just general. For example, “Is there anything you need?” Or, “Do you need any help?”

Finally, I recognize my own role in all this. If I need help, I must ask for it. It isn’t enough for me to hope that others will be mind readers. I need to say what it is that I need. In the larger picture, I am fairly passionate about advocating on behalf of people who are blind or partially sighted. I often need to remind myself that I need to also advocate for myself in terms of the smaller everyday picture.

November 28 – Nashville, Part 2

This is part 2 for Nashville – a positive spin.

There were many good things about a week in Nashville in the middle of November. For one thing, there was the weather.  There was no snow on the ground. There was no rain and there wasn’t any ice. The grass was still green and there were leaves on the trees. Apparently, Tennessee was going through a bit of a cold snap, but having just newly arrived from the freezing cold and snow of Alberta, the temperature to us seemed fairly moderate. We enjoyed the sunshine and spent a fair bit of time outside.

One site that I would recommend to others who might want to travel to Nashville is the Hermitage Andrew Jackson Museum. This stop included a guided tour of the mansion, the former home of General Andrew Jackson, and access to the grounds. I must admit that I couldn’t see into the glassed rooms of the mansion but the commentary was informative and we thoroughly enjoyed walking around what had once been a huge plantation. Jackson was a more interesting character than I remember ever reading about in history books. He was a soldier, politician, and as president, a leading figure in the beginning democracy of the United States. Those were the good points. On the other side of the coin, as a young man, he eloped with a married woman and ran his plantation with the assistance of around 350 enslaved people. I found the tour very educational.

Another spot that I would recommend is the Gaylord Hotel and Convention Centre. At first, I couldn’t imagine spending more than twenty minutes in a hotel lobby, yet Lyle and I wandered around for close to two hours. Once past the actual lobby reception area, the building opens up into a massive horticultural centre under a domed ceiling. The variety of tropical plants is truly incredible. Because we had arrived at the beginning of the festive season the area was being transformed with an abundance of Christmas lights and of course, poinsettias were everywhere. There were waterfalls and a short canal cruise. In an adjoining building there was a huge water park. In November, the outside slides were closed off but the inside area was all systems go. The Gaylord was truly remarkable and worth a visit in any season of the year.

So, there you have it. Although I doubt that we would make Nashville a destination point for future trips, I could certainly see spending time in the surrounding area.

There is one picture with this post. It is of a tree made up entirely of poinsettia plants. The larger plants were placed around the base with the size of the plants becoming smaller towards the top. I am standing in front of the tree to give some perspective as to its height. I would estimate that the tree was at least four times taller than I was.

 

Sue in front of poinsettia Christmas tree

November 22 - Nashville, Part 1

Lyle and I have just spent the past week in Nashville, Tennessee. It was a good break although I’m not sure that we would contemplate a return visit.

We arrived there on the eve of the Country Music Awards, a huge event for Nashville. That night in the comfort of our hotel room, we watched on our TV screen as the commanding and glittering presence of Dolly Parton introduced the awards celebration. It was kind of neat thinking that here was this Country Music icon only a few miles from where we were watching. That feeling of excitement didn’t last. On the weekend, we ventured into downtown Nashville and it was a different experience entirely. 

We caught the hotel shuttle to the Ryman Theatre, a must stop if you are in the Nashville area. Indeed, Lyle and I both enjoyed the Ryman entertainment that night – in spite of the hard pew style seating. The theatre used to be a church but was renovated and converted into a centre for country music entertainment. The jolt came when we emerged from the theatre to experience Saturday night on Broadway.

It was after midnight and the main street was crowded with party-goers. The vast majority were young people – I would estimate in their twenties or early thirties, and the vast majority of them were highly inebriated – or at least acting in a manner which strongly suggested that they were under the influence of something or other. The noise was raucous. Every second establishment seemed to be a bar or similar drinking establishment. Most had open doors and windows and the noise – I don’t think I could call it music – throbbed and echoed onto the sidewalk. I found the jostling of the crowds and the hubbub of noise disorienting. My cane was almost ineffectual in the throng of people. I was glad when the shuttle arrived to take us back to the hotel.

We tried again on Sunday afternoon. This time we took the hop on/hop off trolley around town. The tour itself was very interesting and our guide was informative about the various sites and history, both old and new, of Nashville. However, when the trolley tram again entered the downtown area, the noise emanating from the honky-tonks was almost deafening.

Both the Ryman Theatre and the trolley ride around Nashville were highlights of our time in the area, but I did feel somewhat jaded by the explosion of noise and drinking revellers. Perhaps we were just in the city on the wrong weekend. There was the climax of the CMA and I believe that there was also some big sporting event happening.  Nashville might be a good place to go if you are a country music fan, but for us I don’t think that it will merit a repeat visit. My intention is to write a second part to this post with a more positive spin on our time in Nashville. Stay tuned for the next installment.