May 29 - Guide Dogs Walk

It’s May 29 and this is the day for the walk to raise funds for Guide Dogs. The walk is sponsored by the Lions foundation of Canada and is an annual event. Many communities across Canada will have participated in fund raising walks today. I know that I will be part of one of them.

Guide Dogs – sometimes referred to as dog guides or service dogs – are provided free of charge to Canadians with a disability. The disability isn’t necessarily vision loss as dogs can also assist people with hearing loss, people with autism, diabetes, and other challenges to daily living.

I don’t use a guide dog myself, but once a friend encouraged me to take her dog for a short walk. Of course, the terminology of this last sentence is completely wrong. It was the dog who took me for the walk. I can still recall the sensation of the pull on the harness and the strength and purpose of the dog who was my guide.

This little experiment wasn’t necessarily a good test to show my suitability to be matched with a guide dog. In reality, dogs are selected carefully for their future tasks and then undergo special training to prepare them for their working lives. When they are deemed ready, they are then matched carefully with a new owner. Both dog and new owner also go through an intensive training period together. The entire process and cost of training just one dog guide is around $35,000.

You can check out more about guide dogs by going to the following web site:

www.dogguides.com

If you have missed out on the walk today, you can still donate during the year. Next year’s walk will once again be on the last Sunday in May.

May 16 - A Quick Trip

We are home again! It certainly was a quick trip but I am ever so glad that we went. For us, it was just over two years since we had seen family but it seemed a lot longer than that. I know that Lyle and I are very fortunate to be able to travel as we do and I often remind myself of that fact.

We were also fortunate with the weather. Australia has had its share of rain and floods in the last few months but while we were there, the weather was mild with sunny days and somewhat cooler evenings. The rain began again on the day we left. Climate change is a global concern but in recent years, Australia has seen many of the adverse effects of this trend.

This past trip was really a family visit, but on our last day Lyle and I caught the train back to Sydney. We wandered around the Opera House and Circular Quay area. We just couldn’t get over the difference from the last time we were there in March, 2020. Then it was the beginning of the pandemic and Sydney was virtually a ghost town. Now the crowds are out again and things seem to be getting back to normal.

That afternoon, I had one incident with my white cane. At the Opera House, we had climbed the multiple exterior steps where I intended to use the clean washrooms on the inside of the building. This area is usually open to the public but on that day we were stopped at the door by a security guard. The doors were locked in preparation for a show that night when all the attendees would need to go through a security check and scanning process. It was still another couple of hours until show time, but the two security officers, decided not to turn us away. They unlocked the door, personally escorted us inside to the required facility, and out again using a lift (elevator) so that I didn’t need to climb back down the multiple steps. I’m not sure but I think that the reason we had this privileged treatment was because I was using my white cane. I try not to use my cane to gain sympathy or extra unwarranted privileges, but on that occasion I was grateful to accept.

This brings me to a point...if you go to Australia, do spend some time in Sydney. There is so much to explore there. The Opera House on Benelong Point is just one of Sydney’s many attractions.

There are two pictures with this post – both from our quick trip Down Under. In the first picture, my sister Jill and I are standing on a new boardwalk by the beach where we usually stay. The walk is built out over the rocks and at high tide, the waves splash right under it.

 

Sue and Jill on the boardwalk

Lyle also took the second picture. I am standing on the walkway around the outside of the Sydney Opera House looking over the water to the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge at sunset.

 

Sue at the Sydney Opera House looking onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge

 

May 11 - Making a Difference

As we sat watching the waves break against the rocks, Lyle happened to notice a small plaque in the cement at our feet. The plaque was unusual in that while it showed a short quote and a name, there wasn’t any date.We were curious enough to check this out on the internet when we arrived home.

The name on the plaque was Nathan Gremmo. Nathan was only thirteen years old when he was critically injured as he was crossing a busy city street. The next day Nathan’s family made the emotional and difficult decision to say goodbye to Nathan and donate his organs. This decision made a positive impact on the lives of six people who were waiting for organ transplants.

Now for the saying on the plaque. You might have heard it before but it obviously meant something to Nathan, who had posted it on his Instagram page not long before the accident:

”You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

While I hope not to encounter the kind of heartache and tragic circumstances faced by the Gremmo family, I do hope to make choices and decisions that will have a positive impact on others. I would like my life to make a difference.

The picture below shows the rocks and waves where I sat and thought about Nathan and the Gremmo family.

 

Rocks and waves while thinking of Nathan and the Gremmo family

 

May 5 - Australia

Australia!  Yes, we are here.  Although the trip might sound like a grand adventure, the truth is that we have come to only one small corner of one small part of this vast continent. We are here to visit family and to catch up with old friends.  The bonus is that our stay has been at a lovely seaside town an hour north of Sydney.

In this trip, I was pleased to reconnect with Peter. Peter is a fellow white cane user, and in fact, it was our white canes that sparked our initial friendship. Now, after many years, we discovered that we have more in common than just our vision loss. Lyle and I both admire Peter’s confidence in the use of his white cane. He is very independent and has excellent mobility skills as he navigates the streets of town and even as he walks the beach at low tide.

Lyle and I will be heading back to Canada soon. I will post a few pictures one we have returned. Our holiday and family visiting time is coming to an end.