Happy Hanukkah
Merry Christmas
Lyle and I send you all our very best wishes for the Holiday Season.
There is a winter scene picture with this post. The snow covered trees look very pretty with the blue sky in the background. However, I must hasten to add that on the day we took the picture, the temperature was minus 29.4 degrees Celsius.
snow covered trees!
I think that I can safely say that trudging through thick snow isn’t easy for anyone, but it is especially difficult for people with little or no sight. I don’t have much depth perception and so find it almost impossible to tell the variations of the height or valleys in snowdrifts. It is difficult enough walking on uneven surfaces when the ground is bare but snow is randomly inconsistent in texture. My boot might sink to ankle depth in mushy softness or I might stub my toe against a hard piece of ice. It all looks the same to me and even my white cane isn’t much help in such circumstances.
The other challenge with winter snow is that the path in front of me takes on a particular sameness. Without the snow in the other seasons of the year, I can rely on the contrast of, for instance, the black asphalt of a walking path and the border of green grass. Because I do have limited sight, I can see enough to fairly easily follow this shoreline. It is also easier to detect the difference in the ground surface with my cane. After a snowfall, the path ahead is merely a white blanket with no defining edges.
So that is my “woe is me” story for the day. I will now try to put on my Pollyanna face and look for the glad stories of winter. I like going to the outdoor rink to watch our granddaughter on her skates. I’m glad that we live in an area where there are opportunities for cross country skiing. I’m glad that I have enough sight to appreciate the outdoor coloured lights of the Christmas season. I’m glad that technology enables us to have zoom visits with our family in Winnipeg and when we can coordinate time zones, even with our family in Australia. In spite of my white cane and white snow challenges, there is much for which I can be thankful.
Helen Keller was both deaf and blind, and being unable to hear her own voice, had only a partial grasp of speech. In spite of living in this cocoon of silence and darkness, Helen was highly intelligent, amazingly well read and politically active. She was a bit of a contrast in that although she relied heavily on the financial support of several benefactors, she despised capitalism and was a self admitted socialist. She communicated mostly through brail and by having words spelled out to her on her hand.
Some years ago I spoke to a support group for people who were either profoundly deaf or visually challenged or both. It was just a tiny glimpse into their world of astounding challenges. The group was arranged in a specific seating pattern for my presentation. I did have a signing interpreter by my side as I spoke but I was encouraged not to speak too quickly. One young man sat immediately in front of me and concentrated on lip reading. Another member of the group sat beside a care giver who typed my words in large print onto a computer screen. Still another woman listened to my speech as her carer spelled the words onto her hand...a sort of finger Braille in the same way that Helen Keller communicated.
Over the years I have spoken at many support group meetings but that afternoon stands apart. The young man who rose to thank me for coming signed his message. I could read the emotion in his face as he spoke of the hard journey his life had taken. I left the meeting feeling both exhausted and humbled...exhausted from the effort of concentrating to communicate and humbled by the fortitude and determination of the people I met.
As I am reading about Helen Keller, I wonder at her own courage in facing a life of personal adversity. Keller was a national icon and also well known in international circles. The manner in which she lived her life is an inspiration for us all.
