September 22 - Walking Trails

Lyle and I like to walk. Every day we like to walk somewhere. When we walk together, Lyle keeps me on the pathway or lets me know if other people are coming our way. When I walk alone, these are the same two things that can possibly give me troubles.

While I rarely walk on unfamiliar trails by myself, even on familiar pathways, I need to keep my wits about me. The edges or shore lines of walking trails are not always clearly defined. Some trails do have a painted yellow line to show the shoulder. My cane or walking stick cannot detect paint on the ground, and in poor light I do not see it. On rougher trails, the gravel on the path might merge with the gravel over the edge. I need to concentrate if I am to stay on the trail itself.

My second problem is staying out of the way when other people are approaching. Bikers coming from behind are pretty good at ringing their bike bells, but a silent jogger approaching from the rear can nearly startle my socks off!

Strangely, the bigger issue for me is people coming towards me. I suppose that they think I can see them coming. This is nearly always a false assumption. I see them only when they are practically beside me, appearing as it were out of nowhere. That is when I nearly jump out of my skin with a sudden start.

I will continue to enjoy my daily walks, but I am grateful to the bikers who use their bike bells and to the other hikers who call out a cheery greeting as they come closer.

Now I haven’t mentioned snow covered trails, but that is another story. Hopefully we will have a little more time yet before winter is here.

September 9 - Long Haul Vision Loss

Because it has been so long since my initial vision loss, I sometimes forget that I don’t see the world in the same way that people with twenty-twenty vision see things. Can it really have been more than thirty years ago that my sight changed! In some ways, living with vision loss has almost become the norm for me. In fact, there are times when I even forget that I don’t see well.

Sometimes, when I rush about ready to do something or other I suddenly realize that I can’t. I have simply forgotten that I am unable to see.

Let me explain with this one example. Several years ago, as Lyle was reading the local paper, he came across an ad for a special deal on my brand of shampoo. It was a great deal, so after my meeting downtown the next day I walked to the drug store. I was excited to take advantage of the sale. I’m not sure if you can imagine my surprise and subsequent frustration when I came to the shelves of hair care products. It was only as I was looking at the myriad bottles that I realized that I couldn’t tell the difference between the shampoo, conditioner or hair colouring – much less which particular samples had been on sale. Naturally there weren’t any sales assistants around to help so I ended up going home and waiting until Lyle was available. I’m not sure why I was so surprised because in my head, I knew that I hadn’t been able to see details such as product labelling for a number of years prior. I had simply forgotten that I had a sight disability.

I was also thinking about this strange phenomenon when I woke up this morning. I had been dreaming, and in my dreams I saw perfectly clearly. The people I met and saw in my dream land had the faces of people I knew when I could actually see them. These days I don’t see features and faces at all. In a way, it was quite frustrating to wake up to a world of blurred vision again.

Partial vision has many paradoxes. Even after the long haul of thirty plus years, I think that I am still getting used to it all.

 

 

 

 

September 2 – Parents and Grandparents

During the last week in August, Lyle and I had the privilege of looking after our granddaughter. The week was both wonderful and exhausting. For starters, Lyle and I aren’t as young as we were when we were parents ourselves, and keeping up with an energetic and enthusiastic six and a half year old was quite different than our usual retired lifestyle. By the end of the week, I knew that I had renewed admiration for the coping skills of parents of the current generation. How do they manage!

Recently, I was reading an autobiography of a young man who was a single parent to two young boys. Added to this mix was the fact that his former wife was mentally unbalanced and he himself was visually impaired. The former led to all sorts of emotional, legal and financial difficulties. The fact that he was visually impaired led to additional coping challenges.

I remember some of the challenges Lyle and I faced when my sight changed. We were both working full time and our children were only seven and eight years old. We had many family meetings as we attempted to negotiate our way through the new pathway that our lives had taken. What changes were needed when mom could no longer drive or read print? How could we work together as a family to overcome some of these new obstacles? Our children learned early on that they needed to help more around the house and to plan ahead for activities that involved transportation to other locations. I like to think that they also learned a degree of empathy as they had an inside look at my struggles. As I look at them as adults themselves, I think that they have both been able to transpose this compassion and understanding in their interactions with others in their lives.

So, hats off to all parents! I hope that you are receiving the support you need in this very important role. In our role as grandparents, Lyle and I are just looking forward to spring break when we can have Lexi for another week long sleep over!

In the picture with this post, Lexi and I are on our way to the playground. I love the fact that she is still young enough to innocently hold my hand.

 

Sue and Lexi

 

August 17 - Mobile phones and Disneyland

We have just returned from a family vacation in Disneyland and all I can say is – thank goodness for our son and son-in-law and their mobile phones. Lyle and I would have had a very different holiday if we had been there by ourselves trying to negotiate our way without these handy dandy devices and of course, the ability to use them.

Lyle and I are of the old school where we are used to paying with cash or by credit card. It seems that this method of payment is almost obsolete. When it came to catching the bus from our hotel to the Disney Parks, the only way to pay was to download the app, pay online and then show the proof of this to the driver. Andrew did this for us and then was able to track bus times and routes on his phone so that we didn’t need to wait at the bus stops for long periods of time in the heat – and yes, it was very hot!

I found it quite difficult walking around the park area. Ninety percent of the young people were walking around looking at their phones checking out lineup times for the different attractions. This meant that instead of looking where they were going, they were looking at their mobile devices. I don’t see people coming towards me at the best of times and so had a very difficult time trying not to bump into people.

On the last day, and at the urging of our kids, I consented to using a wheelchair. I should have given in sooner. Instead of the stress of trying to see where I was going, I sat in the chair and allowed the other family members to take on the task of wheeling me around.

There was some variance between the differing areas of the parks. In 1955 when the original Magical Kingdom of Disney was opened, accessibility issues were not at the forefront. In 2001, when the neighbouring Disney California Adventure Park opened, it was clear that those accessibility issues were addressed as part of the planning. In California Adventure Park, wheelchairs and strollers were able to join the regular lines of standing guests.

I was especially pleased at the Grizzly River Run ride. It was getting dark and I was wondering how I would be able to see to get into the raft. As it turned out, there was a separate entry point where I could take my time to clamber in and out and so I was able to enjoy the ride with the rest of the family. I did smile when our six-year old grandson with great gravity, informed me that I wouldn’t be able to take the wheelchair on the ride but that there would be a special seat in the raft and so I would be okay. He also advised me not to be scared!

The best part of our family holiday was seeing our two grandchildren chatting and planning together. I am quite sure that they will become experts in the future generation of mobile phone users and other electronic devices.

There is only one picture with this post. I am standing beside Tigger. 

Sue with Tigger

 

 

 

 

August 5 - Sled Dogs

In past posts I have written about guide dogs. Sometimes I have written about one specific dog known to me and at other times I have written about guide dogs in general. The guide dogs that I have met over the years are in quite a different category than the sled dogs I encountered on a shore excursion in Skagway, Alaska.

The excursion we took was absolutely brilliant. We took a short bus ride from the ship to the kennels where we were introduced to Casey. Casey showed the small group of 18 of us a facsimile of the sled she had used in her first Iditerod race. The Iditerod is the longest cross country sled race held in North America. It is run annually and competitors need to pass a series of elimination races before they are even allowed to compete.

I was quite amazed as Casey showed us the long list of items she was required to take with her on the run. She explained that priority was always given to the care of the dogs and that at the various pit stops along the route, veterinarians were there to assure that the dogs remained healthy. She said that even though there were required rest stops, her own biggest hurdle was sleep deprivation.

Following the chat, we moved to the kennels themselves and the dogs came out to meet us. We were behind a chest high fence but this was no barrier for the dogs. They were obviously excited to meet the new visitors and nuzzled up so that we could scratch their ears and pat their backs and noses.

Apart from some initial barking, the dogs were quiet as they inspected us. The barking began when Casey hitched them up to the sled. They were obviously wild with excitement at the idea of going for a run. As Casey straightened and untangled the lines, the dogs urged forward. It was clear that they knew what was in store! When Casey released the brake, the team took off at the speed of light!

After the quick run around a gravel path, Casey came back to show us some of the puppies. We were allowed to hold and cuddle these. The puppy I held was a soft but very wriggly bundle. He was also surprisingly heavy. We were warned that the puppies weren’t trained so I was glad that I could escape without my clothes being soiled!

The next part was the absolute best. When the five or six little puppies were back in their kennels, Casey brought out the cutest little two week old pup for us to see. I was delighted that I was close enough to actually see the tiny thing and I could definitely see how Casey could become so attached to her charges. 

Our encounter with the sled dogs was one of the best parts of our Alaska experience and I would highly recommend the excursion to anyone who happens to be in that part of the world. There is a picture with this post. It shows the tiny two week old pup in Casey’s hand. 

 

2 week old sled dog pup.

 

 

August 1 - Sightings in Alaska

We are home again and I wanted to tell you a little about our cruising experience. The time spent with family was amazing – possibly made even more enjoyable because of the famine of visits over the past two years. Family was top priority but the second to top the list of highlights was the abundance of wildlife sightings. This was in sharp contrast to the same cruise that Lyle and I took in May some five years ago. On that cruise we saw ...well, maybe it was a brown bear dozing on the ice or maybe it was just a rock.

 

This year, our daughter who was on a constant lookout spotted, whales (both humpback and orca), seals, sea otters, dolphins and porpoises. Jen and her family spotted the an orca whale as it surfaced right beside our balcony. The other excitement was a bald eagle that was perched on a piece of ice floating beside the ship. This was in Glacier Bay as the ship was idling and so the icy perch stayed beside the ship for some time. Although we had seen most of these animals in zoos and aquariums, Jen explained to us that it was quite different seeing them in the wild.

 

Now you might wonder how I could be excited by these “sightings”. To be perfectly honest, I saw none of the creatures I have just listed – although I think I might have seen the piece of ice where the bald eagle might have been. My excitement and wonder was in hearing the exclamations and joy in the voices of my family. Those were my true Alaskan sightings.

July 24 - Universal Access

Universal access means that everyone should be able to go anywhere regardless of their differing abilities and disabilities.  In general, the modern world tries to accommodate this.  While I sometimes have trouble with print access, I rarely have problems with actual physical mobility - at least until this past week.

Lyle and I are on a family holiday with Holland America Cruise Line.  Most areas of the ship are easily accessible with my white cane - but there is one exception.  Access to the swimming pool and hot tub area is horrific for someone with limited vision, and also I am sure for anyone with limited physical mobility.  Getting into the hot tub was the worst for me, and that is where I fell.

Now I always hold a handrail when going up or down steps.  I do this with the anticipation that the railing will follow beside the steps.  This was not the case on the older style ship, the Zuiderdam.  I held the rail, and while my first foot found the anticipated step into the hot tub, my other foot lurched into space.  I fell.  The pain was instant as my foot, knee, thigh and buttock stretched into a most unnatural position.

Older style structures such as ships, were often built around cosmetic specifications rather than safety requirements and accessibility accommodations. The Zuiderdam fell into this category.

It was the following day before I visited the medical clinic on board and filled out an accident report.  I must say that the ship staff were great with follow-up but it hasn’t minimized the pain.

In all this, I am glad that I reported the incident. According to to the security officer who checked in with me later, Holland America is planning on looking into redesigning the pool and hot tub area so that it will be safer and more accessible to all passengers. I look forward to the new design with universal accessibility.