August 29 - Vulnerability and Crisis

I am sure that over the past weeks, many Canadians have been following the news stories of the recent devastating wild fires.  So many people have had their lives changed. There are many aspects of loss and destruction but I have especially been thinking of people who have needed to evacuate their homes...and especially of those people who are vulnerable in even the best of situations.

We often tend to identify with people who are in similar circumstances to our own and I suppose that is why I have particularly been thinking of people who have sight challenges. For myself, I often find it confusing when Lyle and I move temporarily to different accommodations. Nearly always this is because we have chosen to do so. When this happens, for instance when we are on a holiday, I find myself relying strongly on Lyle as I get used to different kitchen appliances, strange bathroom fixtures, even different arrangements of furniture.  Of course, all this occurs when we are doing this voluntarily and have time on our hands to adjust to the new circumstances. Mandatory evacuations because of an impending disaster such as flood or fire, are an entirely different situation.

In an evacuation, people need to leave their homes and most of their possessions behind. For those of us who rely on assistive devices, this is an additional hardship. Many of the devices we use on a daily basis are not easily portable. I imagine that this is even more so for folk who have mobility challenges.

In times of crisis we need to reach out to each other. Most people do this. I hope that this blog serves to bring an additional awareness in times of crisis to those people who are more vulnerable than the general population.

 

August 20 - Sight and the Dentist

I am going to a new dentist and it has been an interesting experience. I think that I was a little surprised by how accustomed I had become to my former dentist and to the staff at his dental clinic. Not only that, but they had become used to me as a visually impaired patient. Over the years we had both adapted fairly well. Now with the change  in dental care the journey will start over.

So far, things have gone well. On my first visit to the new clinic I indicated that I had vision issues and Lyle made a note of this on the required paper work. Dr. Mike was great. After evaluating just how much I could see, (or should that be just how little I could see?) he proceeded to explain verbally what needed to be done with my teeth. Instead of visually pointing out my x-rays, he explained it all verbally. If he gestured with his hands, he also explained everything with words. I was impressed.

On my next visit, I had my teeth cleaned and the dental hygienist gave similar verbal cues. Before she thrust any instrument into my mouth, Nancy alerted me as to what she was about to do. There were no sudden squirts of water or unexpected probing instruments. My initial anxiety gradually diminished.

Of course, as with most things, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. On Day 1, when the technician came to lead me to the back, the receptionist called out, “be careful...” Her voice drifted off in some confusion as to what to say next. Then she added in a stage whisper, “Sue can’t see!”

I know that she was trying to keep this information confidential but I’m sure that everyone in the waiting area heard the warning. I felt like explaining that it was no secret that I couldn’t see but my poor vision didn’t also mean that I couldn’t hear.

On my second visit, I was transferred from one room to another. I said that I could follow the person in front of me – something that I can do in a narrow hallway. However, my guide kept zig zagging from side to side and I finally called out to ask her to walk in a straight line.

“Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry, I thought I might try to walk beside you but I couldn’t decide which side to be on.”

New dentists, new doctors, new personal interactions - all of these are opportunities for new learning experiences. Both sighted and blind, we need to learn from each other.

August 6 - Holiday Pictures

Lyle and I don’t take many pictures when we are on vacation, but we did take a few on our recent trip. I hope that the following will give you a hint of what it was like on our travels.
As I wrote in a previous post, our trip started with a few days in Amsterdam. The highlight of our time in that city was time spent in the house of Anne Frank. Pictures weren’t allowed on this tour and on our walk to the Frank warehouse from our hotel, I was too busy trying to dodge bicycles and other pedestrians to think about pictures. So, it was on the following day when we took a train to Zaanse Schans that we turned the phone to camera mode.

In the first picture I am standing on a bridge with a row of traditional windmills in the background. When I think of Holland or the Netherlands, windmills are one of the symbols that comes to mind.

 

Windmills at Zaanse Schans

From Amsterdam, we cruised to Oslo. We did our own walking tour and ended up in the palace gardens. I wanted to stand beside the young guard who was on sentry duty but he warned me that I was standing too close to him. Still, in this second picture you can see us both. The guard was wearing a blue uniform with shoulder scales. His helmet was blue with a plume of black feathers. He was wearing white gloves, and holding a rifle with an extended bayonet.

 

Sue with palace guard

From Oslo the cruise ship sailed on to three smaller fjords. In Flam we took a tram tour from the centre to the old town and then around the harbour. I was surprised at just how busy this small town was in tourist season. I gather that in the winter months it settles down to its year round population of just 450.

The third picture shows me sitting on the bench of the little tram with our cruise ship, the Rotterdam, in the distance across the harbour.

 

Sue in front of the Rotterdam