December 28 - Audio Books

Last night as I watched the news, there was an item announcing that Annette, the last of the famous Dionne quintuplets had passed away. I was interested on two counts. The story of their 1934 birth was the subject of widespread publicity. The turn of events that followed was also the subject of national curiosity. Amidst much controversy, the Ontario Government made the unprecedented decision to “rescue” the quints from their birth parents. The reason given was that the parents were poor and unable to give the girls the benefits that the government could. Later in their lives, the girls sued the government claiming that they had not been rescued but rather kidnapped. They won the lawsuit. I don’t have all the details down pat any more, but I remember the gist of the story, as it was the topic for the first audio book I ever listened to.

That audio book was a gift from the CNIB Library and was recorded onto a series of cassette tapes. The tapes were sent by post from the CNIB Library in Toronto. They were cumbersome but also easy to operate. You simply plugged them into your own cassette machine and pressed play. This was back in the late 1980’s. This was my introduction to audio books. Prior to this audio books had been played onto 78 RPM records.

The next innovation came from the library in the 1990’s when books were recorded onto CD’s using a digital access or DAISY recording system. To listen to the CDs, you needed a special player.  One book could be recorded onto several CDs. The advantage was a stop/play button. If you needed to stop listening to a recording mid-stream, you could press that stop button and continue again when it was more convenient. I liked the system and again, the books were sent free through Canada Post.

Moving along with a rapidly advancing technology, the next audio book came with a complete book recorded onto a single CD.I still find it quite amazing to think of all those pages recorded onto one little disk. There was also a more advanced player with more functions. I purchased my Victor Stream early on and as the technology continued to advance. I am now using my third device.

The Victor Stream has more features than just a device for listening to audio books, but I tend to use my machine mostly for that feature. I love that I can stop and restart the reading at any time. I like knowing how much time has passed in the recording and what time in hours and minutes remain. I especially like the feature where I can speed up or slow down the voice of the narrator. I often use this feature. I especially appreciate the sleep function. When I listen to my book before falling asleep, I set this function for 15 minutes. I am usually asleep by that time and by morning I don’t have to search back and forth too long before I find my place again.

This year the CNIB Library (CELA) has moved to a new system bypassing Canada Post. Instead of waiting for my audio books to arrive in the mail, I can now go online, choose my selection, and after pressing a series of keyboard commands on my computer, my selection magically will be added to the bookshelf on my Victor Reader. I say magically because I really have no idea of how this technology works. I just know that it does.

These days, many people listen to audio books. It isn’t just people with a print disability. If a person can keep up with the technology, access to print materials in audible format is becoming more readily available. Technology is leveling the playing field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 9 - Comment on Blindness

The elevator was nearly full by the time it reached the ground floor. As Lyle and I stepped out, I heard a man behind me say, “At our age, I think that all of us are going a bit blind.”

Say what! What did he mean by “at our age”? Did he mean people in their 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or 80’s?  I wondered if I fell into his particular age demographic. I turned my head to see if I could guess at the stranger’s age, but he was already walking off in the other direction.

Also, what did he mean by going “a bit blind”? I wondered if I fit into his particular definition of blindness. Did he mean blind as to not being able to see print? Perhaps he meant not being able to drive at night, or even not being able to drive at all. I know that yesteryear’s definition of blindness has evolved from total darkness to the current version. We no longer think of being blind as not being able to see at all but rather a point on a curve from full sight to gradual degrees of vision loss. I wondered what the stranger’s version of vision was when he spoke of being “a bit blind”.

In this instance, the stranger’s comment on age and blindness was random for me. I didn’t hear any part of the conversation that led up to his remark. Nor did I hear any discussion that followed it. It was just one of those out of the blue comments that gave me pause to think.

 

 

November 16 - Vietnam

For the past week Lyle and I have been on a cruise ship sailing down the east coast of Vietnam. The ship had three ports of call - Halong Bay (a UNESCO heritage site), Da Nang (a coastal city), and Phu My (a port and little over an hour from Ho Chi Minh City better know to us as Saigon). Of these, my favourite stop was Da Nang.

At Da Nang we took a four-hour land excursion. This was absolutely great and well worth the time and the money. We left the port on a comfortable bus with a guide. The guide explained the points of interest until we reached the Cham Museum. It was here that our adventure really began. We took a rickshaw ride for half an hour around the centre of the city.

Each rickshaw had a single passenger seat on the front. There was space for me to put my white cane beside me. The men who pedalled the bikes must have had extremely strong leg muscles, and also nerves of steel. With seemingly casual nonchalance we weaved our way through heavy traffic of thousands of scooters, some cars, buses, and occasional trucks. We were in a line of some fifty or sixty rickshaws.  The street intersections were most interesting as we turned corners with little regard for any traffic coming from every which way possible. The traffic seemed to flow seamlessly around us, although at times was very close our rickshaw. I found it exhilarating, and loved it all. 

Back at the museum our guide gave us a brief history lesson and then left us free to roam around various statues and displays. Because of my limited sight, I did not find this part as quite as interesting, but we did discover clean restrooms. That is always a plus!

Back on the bus we drove on to China Beach. This is the beach where American GI’s would often spend their R & R time during the time of the Vietnam war.  By the way, this conflict is referred to here as the American War. The beach was a long expanse of white powdery sand. We could see the tall white Buddha on a mountain in the distance. That was final stop of our tour. The bus dropped us at the Pagoda at the base of the Buddha statue.

By the end of the tour we felt we had had a glimpse of the various aspects of Da Nang. Still, for me, the best of the day was our rickshaw ride.

There are three pictures with this post. The first picture shows Lyle and I in our rickshaws at the beginning of the ride. The second picture shows me en route with the traffic in the street. The third picture shows the two of us on China Beach.

 

 

Sue and Lyle on their rickshaws

En route in the rickshaws amid traffic

 

Sue and Lyle at China Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 14 - Hong Kong

Hong Kong was a new destination for us.  Because we didn’t know the layout of the city, by chance we booked a hotel smack dab in the middle of the old city markets.  The hotel entrance opened quite literally, to street vendors selling meat, pastries, flowers, fruit, vegetables, and fish.  The smell of the fish was almost overwhelming.  In a way this was good.  Once when we became disoriented (slightly lost!) it was the smell of the fish that led us back to our hotel.

While the stalls occupied one side of the street, down the centre of the street were tram tracks.  Every so often, a Ding Ding (a tram) would scatter the local shoppers with their bags and wagons as they scampered out of the way.  We were surprised when on the day of our departure our taxi was able to make its way through the chaos to pick us up at the hotel door.

Taxis were plentiful and relatively cheap.  We were surprised the taxis we took only accepted cash for payment, not credit cards.  The Metro or subway, was easy to navigate.  Our major tourist activity was taking a tram to The Peak.  Every first time visitor to Hong Kong should do this at least once. The tram ride was both good and disappointing.  The steep incline of the ascent made the high towers along side look as if the were leaning at a forty-five degree angle.  The view from the summit was spectacular.

The disappointing part were the constant references to Disney and Mickey Mouse.  There was even a statue of Mickey at the summit.  In the background, Disney music played over the speaker system.  I found the number of up and down escalators in order to reach the summit was quite daunting.  They were steep and moved quite quickly.

 

Our night time excursions with our friend John were super relaxing.  We took a ferry across the harbour, followed by a harbour cruise to view the nightly 8:00 p.m. laser show.  Next we walked through the lobby of the famous Peninsula Hotel and finished up with a meal at an Irish pub.

All in all, we very much enjoyed our few days in Hong Kong.  

View of city markets with tram tracks

City view from The Peak

Sue with Mickey and Minnie at The Peak

November 10 - Good Friends

Old friends are like diamonds -

Treasures and rare.

Those two lines are from a poem I know.  I was recalling these when Lyle and I reconnected with an old friend.  We met John nearly thirty years ago when he came to Canada as in Australian exchange teacher.  What a great year that was as we watched John exploring and enjoying the vagaries  of his first cold Alberta winter.

When John returned to Australia we kept in touch.  We stayed in sporadic contact when he moved to Hong Kong.  In fact, our son even flew to Hong Kong and spent a week with John.  From there, we almost lost touch as we went our separate ways - but the best thing about really good friends is that you can pick up again at any time.  That’s what happened this past week when Lyle and I finally made it to Hong Kong.

Our stay in the city was brief but John made it memorable.  In spite of his own busy schedule as an artist and teacher, he made time for us.  He opened his heart and showed us a glimpse of this bustling city.  It was if the intervening years hadn’t existed.  That’s what it is like to be “good friends” with someone.

Now, because I am writing this post to White Cane Connections, I want to add in addition to being an excellent tourist guide, John was also an excellent sighted guide.  He seemed to know by instinct not to push me or try to steer me.  Instead he allowed me to hold his arm as he led the way.  He alerted me to the beginnings of steps and escalators, of which there were many, and guided me around obstacles on the footpath, of which there also seemed to be many.

John, thanks for your generosity, your hospitality, and for being such a good friend.

There is a picture with this post of Lyle, John, and myself. I am holding my white cane.

 

Lyle, Sue, and John

 

October 25 - Blind Trust

I am sometimes fascinated by the various meanings and connotations of the word “blind”. I remember when we were having new drapes and blinds fitted in our home. We needed to make an appointment with the blinds person. This was all at the same time I was having issues with my sight and was expecting an appointment with a blind person in a totally different context. I have since learned to put the person before the adjective. These days, I would arrange to meet either the person who installed blinds or the person who was herself blind. It’s always an interesting distinction.

I have titled this post "Blind Trust". Somehow or other those two words fit together so well. As a person with partial sight and who is sometimes referred to as being blind, I often need to put my trust in others. It is a giving up of control. For instance, when I am walking with a guide, I trust that guide to lead me safely past any obstacles. When I pay for items at the store or wherever, I optimistically expect that I will receive the correct amount of change. When I ask for directions, I have confidence that I will be pointed in the right direction. There is a definite measure of trust involved.

During the course of a day, there are many times when I need to put my trust in others. Generally speaking, I have found that when people recognize that I am in a difficult or confusing situation because of my sight challenges, they will go out of their way to be helpful. I find life easier when I can relax and depend on the kindness of human nature. It is a matter of blind trust.

October 11 - Who Is Here?

I belong to a support group for people who have sight challenges. Each month we gather around a large table. There are often around twenty of us and apart from the person sitting directly beside me, I can’t see enough to identify the others. That is why I find it so helpful when the meeting begins and the mic is passed around for each of us to say our name. I like to know just who is there.

This practice of saying aloud the names of other people in a group is fairly common in a group of people where most don’t see well. It is part of describing our surroundings and especially helpful when we would like to interact with the other group participants. The voices also give us a clue as to the size of the group. It’s more helpful than the leader just announcing the attendance or reading a list of names. Even on a zoom meeting, the personal identification of others on the call is helpful.

I also go to a drop in chair yoga class. Last week was my first time back after my stroke. The class usually spreads out around the auditorium and although I know that I know some of the others by name, I can’t see any of them. I was so pleased last week when for the first time, someone suggested that we go around the circle and each person said their name. That way we would all know who was there.

Because I self identify as someone with limited vision, my friends know that they need to say who they are when they meet me – especially when the encounter is unexpected. I appreciate this. It is equally as helpful when I am part of a group. I like to know just “who is there”.