Prior to today’s walk, I had a call from a town representative who wanted to welcome me to Innisfail, but also to warm me that two of the downtown blocks were under road construction. I appreciated the call. Road and sidewalk construction can be confusing and sometimes hazardous for people with little or no sight. Today we were forewarned, but the topic of conversation for our little walking group often returned to the theme of accessibility. We were forewarned about the road construction, which was enclosed in its wire mesh cage, but were there other obstacles?
When I walk, I use my cane to detect any obstacles on the path in front of me. This works relatively well. However, it does not work at all for anything that protrudes into my path at shoulder or face level. We found this today when several times two of our party with the least sight were struck in the upper body with branches and hedges that grew out onto the sidewalk. (Normally a sighted guide would warn of these, but I think that we were all talking too much to be truly observant.) So, while we were careful to avoid the larger hazard of the construction area, we were not so fortunate as to escape the obstacles presented by the vegetation at the front of some private homes. Mel told us that once when he had been walking alone, the end of a branch had slashed his face to the point of bleeding.
The first picture shows Mel, myself, Mary, Linda, Diane and Ron in front of the construction barrier.
The second picture shows three of the cane walkers – Mel, myself and Mary crowded on the narrowed sidewalk beside an overgrown hedge.
Mary, thanks for planning our route around Innisfail today. Thanks also to the Trekker Breeze pedometer, which recorded that we walked for 4.4 kilometers.
The following is a link to the Innisfail Province with Sylvia Cole’s article published on May 15.
It was nice Ron could join you on your walk.
ReplyDeleteDorothy