October 24 - White Cane Practice

Instead of White Cane Practice, I possibly should have titled this post White Cane OUT of Practice. Over the past eighteen plus months, Lyle and I haven’t really gone anywhere, and so I haven’t been using my white cane much either. Instead, when I have walked the familiar river trail in our local area, I have often used a pair of walking sticks. The sticks are just like the poles used for cross country skiing. The sticks are good for arm exercise and balance. Also, when my sticks hit the dirt at the edge of the asphalt, I know that I have ventured off the trail itself.

The downside is that being blue the sticks don’t alert anyone else to my vision issues.  This is when I need a white cane – not just to alert other walkers on the trail but also to give myself a heads up if there are obstacles in my path.

I was reminded of all this last week when Lyle had an appointment in the city and I decided to go along for the ride. When we arrived in the parking lot, and as it was some distance from the office building, I had half thought that I might use my walking sticks. However, I had only taken a few steps away from the car when I realized the error of my ways. What had I been thinking! The walk in the city was definitely not my familiar trail by the river.

The parking lot had those cement blocks separating parking spots. On the street, there were fire hydrants and sloping driveways. The sidewalk was also obstructed by little decorative trees and the latest horror for someone with limited sight – electric bikes or scooters parked at random intervals and not necessarily pushed off the sidewalk. I always have my cane with me in the vehicle, and boy was I glad that I had it with me that day!

So now I had had an instant refresher course in white cane use. The experience has reminded me that I should continue to practice using my white cane. I am looking forward to the time when I will once again be able to travel beyond my own familiar area and for that I will need the use of my cane. Hopefully, next time I write of this, the title, White Cane Practice will be a legitimate subject line.

 

 

 

October 15 - Spaghetti and Meat Sauce

One of our favorite “go to” meals while Lyle and I are travelling is spaghetti and meat sauce. It is a relatively simple meal and the ingredients seem to be fairly easy to come by wherever we happen to be. Together we have cooked this particular meal in various spots around the globe – Stuttgart in Germany, Nice in France, Inverness in Scotland, Darwin in Australia, Reykjavik in Iceland, Sorrento in Italy, and so on. I smile as I remember the different kitchenettes in all these places. Some have just provided hot plates, such as the ambulance style RV we rented in New Zealand, and other have had combined stoves and ovens that have been far beyond my sight capabilities.

Last week at home, Lyle and I cooked up a batch of spaghetti and meat sauce. No biggie, you might say. Actually, for me it is always a biggie. It has to do with frying the meat first. I simply don’t see when it is done. This is why I say that it was the two of us doing the cooking. I nearly always call on Lyle to check the doneness of the meat.

When I think back, I know that Lyle and I have made a number of accommodations in the kitchen. For instance, I like to prepare meals that I can time in a casserole dish in the oven. I also like to use a slow cooker. Lyle and I both like the taste of barbeque meat and it usually falls to Lyle to stand outside at the barbeque and to me to prepare the vegetables. Learning from another friend who is totally without sight, I have found that I can tell when a potato or a carrot is peeled by running my fingers over the outside. The original skin is usually rough to the touch while the peeled vegetable is smooth.

I am fortunate in that Lyle is willing to accommodate my visual challenges. I have also learned that for me to be successful in the kitchen I should take my time. Even with simple meals like spaghetti and meat sauce this is important. I do remember the surprise on our granddaughter’s face when, in a rush, I broke the spaghetti over the boiling water only to miss the saucepan altogether.  Most of the pieces landed on the floor, but some managed to get between the rings of the burners. It was another lesson learned!

For someone with partial or no sight, the kitchen can be a dangerous place – cuts, burns, spills, etc. even when the meal is simply spaghetti and meat sauce.

October 8 - Happy Thanksgiving

Last Thanksgiving, Lyle and I ate our Thanksgiving dinner out on our back deck. Our family from Calgary had come for the weekend. Because of the restrictions that were in place at the time, Lyle and I camped in our motor home on our driveway and our kids stayed in the house. We ate all of our meals outside. That included the turkey dinner. Fortunately, our daughter and son-in-law are very adept in the kitchen and Lyle and I simply waited outside at our separate table waiting to be served. Fortunately also, the weather was mild, although I seem to recall that we were wearing our jackets while we ate. None of us dreamed that there could be a similar situation one year later.

Still, here we are again! At least this year the adults are all vaccinated. We will continue to be cautious and to look for responsible ways to celebrate Thanksgiving 2021.

My best wishes to all of you for a happy, safe and healthy Thanksgiving weekend.

 

 

September 28 - Virtual Walking

Finally! At last I have crossed the Scottish border on my virtual walk in the United Kingdom. Back in February, I remember being quite excited as I began this walk at Land’s End on the Cornwall coast. These days I am dragging my feet a little as the real walking time seems to go on...and on...and on!

The walk itself is 1,083 miles or 1,805 kilometers. To date I have covered 75% of that distance and have just a tad over 300 miles to go. When we checked out my location on Google maps, Lyle tells me that for the past couple of weeks I have been walking mainly through fields, forest and now hills. In fact, apart from the towns and cities we visited on our actual holiday in2019, this is mostly what I remember about the Scottish landscape.

Our trip to Scotland was one of the last we were fortunate to take before the onset of COVID and I look back on it with very fond memories. We began in Glasgow, staying at a chain hotel, but one that was situated almost beside the River Clyde. The setting was perfect – within easy reach of some amazing walking trails but also close enough to the action of downtown and the hop on hop off bus stop.

One spot I remember particularly was a stop at the Art Gallery and Science Museum. The exterior of the building was amazing in its own right, but inside we came across a display featuring a life size albatross. Some years ago now, I remember being very disappointed when we visited an albatross sanctuary in New Zealand. The birds were too far distant for me to see anything, but here in the museum the bird was close enough and large enough for me to see it. It was huge! The taxidermist must have had quite a job with this one!

We were only in Glasgow for four days – not nearly long enough. The city has a vivid historical past and had our time permitted, I would have stayed even longer. I wonder if my virtual walk will take me near the city as I make my way north. Only three hundred miles to go!

 

 

 

 

September 12 - Nose on the Screen

In my younger sighted days, I liked to play tennis. In my current only partially sighted days, I find that I can sometimes hit a serve and rarely hit a ball when it comes back to me. This hasn’t diminished my love of the sport and so when the big tennis Open matches come on TV, I push my chair up close to the screen to see whatever I can see.

As I crane forward, this posture doesn’t do too much for my back and neck, but I am glad that I can still see enough to follow the play. Often times when Lyle and I “watch” television, I will sit back in a more comfortable chair and just listen to the audio. I like to watch sit comes where I know the characters and can recognize their voices. I like certain news commentators more than others. This also holds true for the commentators on the tennis matches.

I feel very fortunate that I am living in present times when my vision loss is compensated by so many advances in technology. As I am typing this, although I see nothing on my computer screen, my JAWS program is reading back to me every word that I type.

Still, there are some activities where my nose to the screen is the best option. Watching the US tennis Open has been one of these. Congratulations to Leylah Fernandez, Canada’s rising young star of the tennis world as she reached The Women’s Finals in this event. This young tennis player is going to be one to watch in the future, and I think will cause more nose prints on my TV screen!

September 4 - More Wood Carvings

Lyle and I have just returned from a family camping trip to Manitoba. It has been just over a year since we had seen family there so the mini holiday was just great. I wonder how long it will be before we can all travel safely again without thinking of restrictions imposed by the COVID virus. Even this summer, out of province travellers to Manitoba campgrounds were required to be fully vaccinated – a safety ruling to which I whole heartedly subscribe.

However, I digress. After my last post re Denis Chabot’s wood carvings, I really want to write a little more about this art form. With my limited sight, I am unable to fully appreciate 2-D art. It’s a shame, but that is the way it is. However, sculptures are a different story. Sometimes I am able to see the outline if I am up close enough, but mostly I like it when I am able to touch the sculptures or carvings themselves.

This happened when we were at a small Farmers Market in Arnes, pronounced R-nez. The village is just north of Gimli and if you are in the area on a Saturday morning, it is a pleasant way to spend a few hours. Our grandson had fun feeding the goats before we strolled around the semi permanent vendor stalls. Then we came to what I liked the most.

To one side there was a substantial play area of wood carvings. There was an old fashioned swing, a bowling lane, a teeter-totter, a zip line and more. Some one had gone to a lot of work. My favourites were the mini statues of Disney and other cartoon characters lined up facing the road.  I was able to touch and see each one.

I remember the first time that I had this hands on experience at a public exhibit. We were in San Diego at an aviation museum. Of course I was using my white cane. I was jolted out of my relative boredom of not seeing much, when a museum official approached me with a pair of white gloves. He handed them to me and encouraged me to explore the various exhibits using a hands-on approach. I was thrilled and the museum suddenly became a place of intense interest.

I have come across this invitation to accessibility on only a few occasions but when offered it has been much appreciated. I am sure that it is difficult to strike a balance between protecting valuable exhibits and ensuring that those same exhibits are accessible to those of us with limited or no vision.

There is a picture with this post. It shows our grandson standing between two carved Minions at the Arnes Farmers Market. Our grandson is around the same height as the two Minions, but of course from our viewpoint, he is ever so much cuter.

 

A grandson between two minions!

 

 

 

August 26 - Low Vision Artist

Denis Chabot has low vision. He is also a very talented sculptor. His wood carvings are exceptional.

Denis and I were introduced to each other by a mutual friend. Of course, the connection was that we both had low vision. Since that introduction, Denis and his wife Denise have been faithful members of our vision loss support group.

Denis has been living with low vision all his life, but it has only been in his retirement years that he has been able to make time for his wood carving hobby. I did suggest to Denis that his pieces were certainly good enough to sell, but he didn’t really want to make such a big time commitment. Mostly his sculptures are for himself and for family – especially for his grandchildren.

Denis has clever hands and an eye for detail. It is this latter that truly amazes me. After all, Denis can’t really see the detail he is carving. For instance, in daily life Denis uses an electronic magnifier to see and read the local newspaper. While he might be able to “see” a person on the other side of the street, he is unable to identify who it might be. In spite of this, Denis is able to sculpt incredible detail into his wood carvings. Denis allowed me to touch his carvings and I could feel the detail. I was impressed.

Denis told me that Denis has made numerous items of furniture for their home – including tables and a six-piece dresser. Uniquely carved flower pots stand at the entrance of their garage and driveway. I was intrigued by two special piggy banks – a dinosaur and a truck, both with coin slots at the top and removable parts to retrieve the coins when full. Denis has also made a couple of special pieces that he intends donating for auction at his local church fund raiser.

I am including four pictures with this post. Of course, they don’t quite do justice to what you might see and feel in person.

Picture 1 shows Denis standing beside several of the trucks and cars in his collection. One of his favourite models is a precise replica of a 1958 Ford Fairlane convertible he made for his brother-in-law. 

Denis with his trucks and cars

 Picture 2 shows me standing beside Denis holding the dinosaur piggy bank. It is quite large – about thirty centimeters tall.

Sue holding dinosaur bank with Denis

 

Picture 3 shows one of Denis’s first winter retirement creations. It is a farm truck and trailer. Of course there are tiny animals inside the stock trailer. As Denis pointed out, he made it for his grandchildren and what is the point unless you can play with the animals inside as well.

 

More trucks

Picture 4 shows one of my favourite pieces. It is a nativity scene. Mary and Joseph are beside the cradle in the foreground and nine carved stars form an arch overhead. There is an added feature of a string of miniature lights threaded through some more tiny stars at the base. Denis and Denise say that they put this piece on their mantelpiece during the Christmas season. I am sure that it is totally unique.

 

Nativity scene

 Thanks, Denis for sharing your talent with us.