April 30 - Dark Glasses?

Some people have different ideas of what it “looks like” to be blind.  Once, when I was at a round table event with people I didn’t know, the man sitting next to me gave me a paper to read. I passed it back to him explaining that I couldn’t see the print. I was, in fact, legally blind. The man was genuinely astounded.

“You can’t be blind” he said. “Where are your dark glasses?” Then, peering under the table, and as if to confirm his suspicion that I was pulling his leg, he announced, “You haven’t got a dog! Where is your dog? You can’t be blind!”

I think that I have mentioned before that only a very small percentage of people who are blind own a guide dog, but we should all be wearing those dark glasses when we are in sunlight. My eyes are sensitive to light and I usually do wear tinted or dark glasses when I am outside. This is a good thing. Current research shows that whether we are blind or whether we can see, it is a good thing to protect our eyes from the harmful rays of the sun and wearing sunglasses is a good way to do this.

As an aside – I won’t be walking every day at the beginning of this month. Lyle will be working and it isn’t always easy for me to find other people to drive me to where I would like to be. However, I will still be posting on the blog, so keep checking. Thank you for the many page views for my birthday last week!

April 27 - At Home

Today is April 27 - my birthday and you have just given me a birthday gift! Let me explain.

I believe that the White Cane Connections project is important. It is my small contribution to bring about an awareness not just of the meaning of a white cane, but also an awareness of the challenges faced by people who are blind or partially sighted. I hope also to bring into focus the potential and capabilities of these same people. By my walks, my talks to groups, and by writing this blog, I feel I am making a contribution.

Now for your present to me. Each time someone joins me on a scheduled walk, or listens to one of my presentations, or reads the latest posting on the White Cane Connections blog site, I feel your support – support of me personally and also support of the project.

As you can see, you are this very minute giving me my birthday gift. Today’s posting is just to say Thank You.

April 24 - Red Deer, AB

Today I had an opportunity to speak with the Red Deer Private Eyes Support Group.  It was an opportunity to raise awareness about white canes by talking instead of walking. I talked to the Red Deer group about the courage they might need when they first start out with a white cane and the possible confidence they can build up by using their canes over time.

As an aside, some of the support groups in Alberta have given themselves quite imaginative names. For instance, there are The Visionaries, The Dimlights, The Eyelets, The Spectaculars, and even one small group calling themselves The Three Blind Mice.

During the month of May, I will be doing more talking and less walking. As a person who has less than optimum eyesight, I don’t drive and am dependent on others for transportation. During May, Lyle goes to work and this limits my ability to travel distances so my walks will all be closer to home. I am very much looking forward to walking in my hometown of Ponoka on May 15.

April 21 - Calgary, AB

The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and on Saturday, our little group joined the many, many other Calgarians who were out to enjoy a perfect spring day. There was a definite buzz in the air. There were numerous buskers along the promenade, but I was especially taken with a young girl who was twisting balloons into various animal shapes. I laughed when she offered to make me a balloon seeing eye dog to accompany us on our walk.

I am including a picture of my daughter and son-in-law with this post. They live in Calgary and walked with me on Saturday. I am so fortunate to have friends and family who support me. I like to think that I am independent and to a certain extent I am. However, if I am honest with myself, there are many times when I need to lean on other people to be my eyes. Jennifer has grown up knowing that there were things that I couldn’t do. I couldn’t drive like the other moms and I couldn’t see print. Jen learned to read early and knew enough that she needed to plan ahead if she wanted a ride further than our walking shoes would take us.  Jen always encourages me with my endeavours and gives me practical help when I need it. Andrew has been especially encouraging with the White Cane Connections project and it is thanks to his technology skills that you are reading this post.

In the picture, we are standing in front of the bright red new Peace Bridge, and yes, Jen and Andrew are also wearing the lime green White Cane Connections vests. Now that’s what I call support!  Thanks Jen and Andrew.

April 20 - Lower Okanagan, BC

The following two pictures are a follow-up to my walks in the lower Okanagan Valley.

Picture 1

This picture shows Al, myself and Mary on the promenade by the lake in Kelowna.  After the picture, there are also two links to articles about the Kelowna walks written by J. P. Squire of the Daily Courier.

Links to the Daily Courier articles:


http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/local-news/cane-walk-helps-public-see-blind.html

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/local-news/white-cane-walk-a-little-bumpy.html

Picture 2

This picture shows Sue, Pinta and myself in a coffee shop after our walk in Osoyoos.  Meeting with people after my walks is an important part of my journey.  On this particular day, Sue and I had lots to talk about.  On one section of the walk, we had switched guides.  I held the harness for Pinta and Sue used my cane.  Although I didn’t feel very comfortable with Pinta as my guide—I think she knew that I wasn’t her regular owner—Sue felt quite secure using my mobility cane.

I am looking forward to walking in Calgary tomorrow.  We’ll meet outside the Good Earth coffee shop and probably finish up by meeting inside the same place over coffee when the walk is over.

April 16 - Osoyoos, BC

It was an unusually cool day in Osoyoos for my walk on Monday. I was joined by Sue and Pinta. Pinta is Sue’s guide dog, a Golden Labrador-Retriever cross.  Pinta is almost ten years old and nearing retirement age. Did you know that guide dogs are a lot like humans in that they have a training period for a career, a long working life and then retirement?   Did you also know that only a very small percentage of people who are blind own guide dogs?

There are a number of different guide dog schools and each school has its own application form, rules and regulations. Generally speaking, the school will try to match a new dog with the owner’s personality and mobility needs. Sue’s dog, acquired from BC Guide Dogs, has a gentle and loving personality and does not seem to be distracted by the summer tourist traffic where Sue lives. Do you also remember Bill from Sechelt? Bill acquired his dog, Captain Midnight, through The Seeing Eye School in Morristown, New Jersey. The Captain is an 85 lb. black Lab, well suited to Bill’s long legged stride on daily walks around town.

If you want to read more about BC Guide Dogs, go to their website at:

www.bcguidedogs.ca

For more information on the New Jersey School go to:

www.seeingeye.org

I hope to meet more of these wonderful canine companions and their owners on future walks.  

April 15 - Oliver, BC

It’s been a busy weekend! Yesterday I walked in Summerland and Peachland, successfully managing to dodge the little rain showers that kept circling the area. Walking along the promenade at Peachland was especially pleasant. It was a flat straight walk and every so often I could hear the waves lapping against the pebbled beach.

Today, I walked in Oliver and that is the walk I would like to tell you about. The plan was that Lyle would drop me off at the north end of town at the park and he would drive to the south end, leave the car, and then walk back to meet me. It was a simple plan, a straight line from point A to point B. It was also the first time I was to walk totally alone and on an unfamiliar route. Would you believe I got lost!

I had started in the Lions Park and neither Lyle nor I realized that the beginning of this path veered off to the left, while the highway path I intended to walk took a very slight curve to the right. When I exited the park, I was apparently two blocks off course. I walked another couple of blocks before I realized that I had no idea of where I was.

Feeling confused, I stood at the intersection, wondering how Lyle would find me again. At this point, I discerned another pedestrian coming towards me. We did a little sidestepping. I think that while I moved from side to side trying to find this person in my field of vision, she was trying to get out of my way. Anyway, we finally connected. I explained my problem, “I seem to have lost the highway,” I said, and this new friend volunteered to guide me to where I needed to be.  We were nearly at the highway again, when Lyle came rushing up to meet us.

So, now I have the first time of being lost out of the way. I didn’t panic and hopefully I will be able to draw on the experience to add to my confidence in future walks.

April 13 - Kelowna, BC

As you already know, I have called my walks and my blog White Cane Connections. Well, today was definitely a day for making those connections. There were eleven of us who set off from the CNIB office in Kelowna, but I would like to tell you about just two of these people. I mention Al and Mary specifically because in our conversations today, they each expanded my awareness of the many capabilities of people with limited eyesight.

Al plays lawn bowls. He is totally enthusiastic about the sport and plays competitively at an international level. Last year, Al travelled with his wife Vi to an international competition in Melbourne, Australia. Next year they hope to go to the same competition in England. Vi travels with Al because she is also his coach and sighted guide.

Mary loves kayaking and tandem bike riding. She is able to participate in these sports with her involvement in CRIS (Community Recreation Initiatives Society.)  CRIS operates mostly in the summer with an influx of student volunteers and the blossoming of summer weather in the Okanagan.  Mary loves the outdoors and is an eager participant in many sporting activities.  Currently, she is on the Board of Directors for CRIS.

While I learned from both Al and Mary, I was fascinated to see them connect with each other. In the near future I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear that Mary had begun to play lawn bowls, and perhaps Al and Mary both will join a dragon boat crew. Many thanks to Ayn from CNIB who lent her support to the White Cane Connections walks and to the support she and the other staff at the CNIB office give to people in this area who are either blind or partially sighted.

April 8 - Pictures

My sister has told me that some people might be interested in seeing pictures on my blog. If you are one of those people, this post is for you.

Dipping my white cane in the Pacific at the beginning of my journey.

This picture was taken on March 23 in Sechelt. From left to right,

Lynn (member of the town’s accessibility committee), Bill Conway and CaptainMidnight, Mayor John Henderson, Sue Boman and Margaret (President of Sechelt White Cane Club).

This photo is of several of the walkers at Mile 0 in Victoria. It was a beautiful sunny day there on March 25.

 Here we are in Nanaimo with Carolyn and other members of NOVI (Nanaimo Organization for the Visually Impaired)

 In Vancouver on the seawall with Jim and Anne  

Lyle and myself wearing our lime green White Cane Connections vests.

On Tuesday, April 10 I will be speaking to the Wetaskiwin Twilighters, a peer support group for seniors with vision loss. I am looking forward to meeting the members of this group as we share our common challenges and successes in coping with the experience of vision loss.

April 8 - Links

Lyle and I are at home this weekend, but I wanted to share two links with you. The first is to the District of Sechelt where I began my walks just over two weeks ago. The second link is to the Coast Reporter, Sechelt’s newspaper. As you can see, March 23 was an exciting beginning to my journey.

District of Sechelt homepage:

http://www.district.sechelt.bc.ca/CityHall/CurrentNews/tabid/359/Article/168/mayor-john-henderson-welcomes-sue-boman-as-she-launches-her-cross-canada-white.aspx

Coast Reporter:

http://www.coastreporter.net/article/20120331/SECHELT0101/303319997/-1/sechelt/cross-country-walk-starts-in-sechelt

March 31 - Vancouver, BC

Ahh! Vancouver! What can I say? If the truth be told, I have many observations about my walk in this west coast city, but I’ll restrict myself to just a few.

The downtown core of Vancouver has expanded greatly since my last visit there a number of years ago. The newer buildings reach skywards shadowing the streets and sidewalks below. I mention this because of the effect this had with both our vehicle GPS and my personal Trekker Breeze. When satellite coverage was momentarily lost for each of these, Lyle and I were also lost! Fortunately, my White Cane Connections walk took place away from the high density of the city core and on the seawall along the edge of Stanley Park.

From English Bay to Second Beach the walkway is designated for pedestrian traffic only, and on a Saturday morning there were many, many pedestrians. Our little group attracted no more attention than any other group. We were visible with white canes, but at the same time quite anonymous.  Perhaps this is what happens with the diverse population of big cities. I’m sure that there is some philosophical statement I could make about this, but at the same time, I’m not quite sure what it would be.

Although having the pathway restricted to pedestrians provided a measure of safety for anyone with low vision or mobility, the grill of semi-open bars on regularly spaced manhole covers did prove to be a hazard for our canes. At one stage the pointed end of Anne’s cane stuck between the open bars. I have heard of other white cane users who have had similar experiences with open and unanticipated ground covers. One acquaintance claims that his cane entirely disappeared down one such rainwater opening.

The second section of the walkway between Second and Third Beach was divided by a raised curb. This meant safety, but it was also a bit disconcerting. Pedestrians walked in a clockwise directions while bikers and skateboarders traveled anticlockwise.  There were a number of times we were startled to hear the whoosh of motion so close by.

On a personal note, thank you to everyone who is checking this blog. Lyle and I have come back to Alberta for the Easter break, but I will post a schedule of my next walks within a few days.