Day 9--Traveling

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Willkommen!  Today is the 9th day of the 31 Days of Vision Series, I'm glad you could join me today. We are going to Europe! Not literally, but I'm pulling out pictures from one of our trips to share with you our trials and trivial problems while traveling. Most of them trivial... 
My son is not so much a fan of traveling... he would, like most young boys, be playing outside or on video games.. So when we went overseas, I tried to do things he would enjoy. Castles, beaches, hills to climb... we had a variety interests to choose from, but no video games, thank God!
One of our trips we decided to take the ferry across from Dover to Calais. The sea was calm, thank goodness, and we boarded the ship with no problems. The ship we crossed on has some braille signs, but like most places, they are not everywhere. If you are visually impaired, the company requests that you check in with them and to travel with a sighted person... Well... That isn't very helpful, is it? They ask that you be seated and to stay in on section... I didn't have to,  I found that the signs were large enough that I didn't have a problem finding the way around, and the staff were everywhere just in case. We sat forward  so we could watch the ocean and the numerous seagulls that accompanied our ship.
We wandered around the ship, had refreshments and exchanged some money, I've never been good at figuring rates of money, I try to get it into my head that this amount is close to that amount in American currency... and figure everything around that number!

We got to Calais without any problems. I rented a car at the port. I'm not even going to explain how difficult that was. I hadn't used French for many, many years... They don't really ask you anything about if you have a valid license . Heck, I don't even remember if I had to show her mine... I gave her my passport and my credit card... I found out when we returned back to the States that my license had expired months and months before... sigh... That's another story as well...
The car rented and luggage hauled  we set off, only to find that the car, which was standard transmission, was very touchy, I was not used to a standard, and the streets were laid out oddly. Those three things don't mix well, at least not with me. 
I had such a hard time trying to find signs. I had an even harder time reading them, translating to English what they said and trying to get my bearing enough to drive.. and that clutch... aw, it was horrible. 
Long story short... and I know I am leaving out really good parts... but we got stopped by the police... and escorted out of town. OK, so it isn't as bad as it seems... the nicest gendarm asked politely what I thought I was doing while I was turned the wrong way in the bus lane... don't ask... it is not going to be a short answer....
He told me to follow him and he would help me! 
Now, that sounds easy, right? but that darned clutch....
Anyway, we made it to Dunkerque with enough time to find a hotel and eat dinner.

Beach in Belgium

Now, you might wonder about me driving... well, this was the time in-between having the last cataract/lasik surgery and the first of the surgeries for the scar tissue, and the retina detaching... so at this point, I was seeing farsighted and could drive... but I couldn't see to read. Really, the time was short that I had, not long after we returned to the US did I have to give up driving... so, this was that golden opportunity to travel. Though tomorrow, I'll go into some of the not so trivial problems... and how our trip nearly ended way too soon.

WWI Cemetery at Etaples

St Eloi, Dunquerque

I wanted to visit as many places as I could in a short amount of time to be able to have fun and make memories.  I love old buildings, my son loves the beach... I love cemeteries, my son loves cars and ships and planes...So, we went to the beach in Belgium, we went to the St. Eloi in Dunkirk, We walked the waterfront and visited ships, we went to the beach in Normandy, we went to the WWI Cemetery in Étaples-sur-Mer, the WWII cemetery and museum in Normandy, we walked through the bunkers and craters and marveled at the large gun at Point du Hoc, and we went to market in Insigney sur mer. Everywhere we traveled we enjoyed the scenery, the museums, the cafes, the food, the smells and sounds... Caen was majestic, Pont de Normandie bridge and the Millau Viaduct were both  breath taking.
All in all, we had a wonderful time. All those memories... and my son's favorite is one of the little hotels that we stayed... for one night... and it is his favorite story... it was one of those kind that you stay only for one night!  We were tired and needed a place and didn't care that it was a tiny, tiny place. The bathroom was a tiny closet that you could use the toilet,  brush your teeth in the sink and wash your feet in the shower... all at the same time... like a motor home bathroom, maybe even tinier... but it worked for us!!!

'German Bunker at Point du Hoc

Day 8- Traveling in Foreign Lands

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How I could see with cataracts

Bon Jour! Ça va? Today is the 8th day in the series of 31 Days of Vision Blog challenge. Yesterday I reminisced about a few trips when I was young, for the next few days, I'll revisit some of the journeys from the past few years.   As I have grown older, the challenges of traveling have multiplied, but I enjoy it as much as I did when I was young. I still dream of distant lands and enjoy learning about history so much that I will take whatever  inconvenience comes just to be able to visit those far off dreams.
After my husband passed away, I had a rapid loss of vision. The doctor found that the tiny speck of a cataract  that was miniscule before...had suddenly grown, possibly from the stress both physical and mental that I was going through...
My vision is so dependent on the light that enters my eye...even a small obstruction was going to impair my vision more than a normal person. My vision in daytime was impaired some by the cataract, but the night vision had dropped to nothing.

window in cottage

We ended up deciding the best course was to have cataract surgery. I  hoped that the doctor was right when he said he could take  a small incision further around my eye to relieve some of the nearsightedness. With this extra bit of surgery, he had hoped the vision would go to "Plano"  which is the level area of your vision where you have no correction needed...  The procedure is called  LASIK (stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis and is a procedure that permanently changes the shape of the cornea)
I didn't really expect that my eyes would be dramatically better, after all I had read about both types of surgery, I figured it would be a matter of still wearing glasses. I wasn't worried about it, I don't mind  glasses at this point of my life,  if they were less heavy, that would be magnificent!
After the surgery, I had so many problems with my eyes. both were changed so dramatically that I had problems with the muscles and with trying to focus. I went from being very, very nearsighted... to being nearly as much farsighted. What a mess!  It took me years to get it to even out to a place I could be comfortable with, without muscle spasms and a bit of pain... so I could have some normality. Not great vision, but not blind either.
My son and I had the opportunity to go to the Dallas to visit the King Tutankhamun exhibit. The exhibit traveled the country just as I was still recovering from the last eye surgery, I was able to see, but I was nervous about traveling, wondering if I could find my way around or have to be led everywhere... but I was so excited to my son to see it. I had been privileged to go with my Latin class twenty years before when Tut had been through the US. My daughter got to visit the King Ramses exhibit when she was around 10... so I figured that we would do it!

Corby Castle,Cumbria, England

My daughter and her son and my best friend came along. It is an opportunity you just can't pass up.I know it was wonderful as a learning experience for the kids. But  I couldn't even read the cards telling what the exhibit was, every item labeled had to be read to my son and to me. What I saw was fuzzy and blurred, and I am sure that I was nearly running to the finish line instead of really taking time to soak up each of the exhibits.
These are the times that I have cursed not having good vision. Visiting museums, Art exhibits, Historic Monuments, when my babies were born. and when I wanted to read to my kids. .

Museum Silloth, England

Yes, I have been able to read all my life, but it has always been very tiring. It takes all of my energy to focus and concentrate on the words. I tried several things when I was in school... I took the speed reading course.  I would read voraciously, sometimes several books at a time, always wanting more and more... Usually history and English Literature. I would bring home books from the library in tall stacks...  I have a library now, that is somewhat large. I  love books.  and to read to your child is something that is so sweet... and now, I can't do it at all.
The trip to King Tut was frustrating, but... I decided to make the best of it, my son loved it,  and it got me to thinking, what have we intended to do that we haven't? What would I like for my son to remember when he is older? Is there someplace special that I really want him to visit that would stay with him all his life... and could be a learning trip?

Lane near the cottage

We decided to go to the United Kingdom. I don't know.... It seemed like the thing to do.  We needed to be away. My husbands estate was in a mess, we were in the midst of struggle with his business... So we just up and went....
 I decided I wanted to stay, just live there forever more...

We didn't live there forever more, or you would be reading daily posts of how beautiful everything is or how extraordinary all the neighbors are... alas, 
We did have to eventually come back...

        

Bristol, England

When we got to the airport, it was not too bad, there were storms that delayed us, but we got a chance to get a bearing, find the right gate at a leisurely pace and to not panic. The whole series of flights took us about 11 hours, not including the layovers... The experience was different to say the least,  to take a taxi to the airport, buses, airplanes, is all so different to me. We don't ride buses at home, we don't take taxis, and I surely don't fly much anymore. The same old problems I had in High School were still there, reading schedules, finding terminals, finding bathrooms! ... but they were now compounded more from the recent eye problems, but I was able to get close enough to signs to be able to read at the airport and I started teaching my son how to read the boards...and we made all our connections. Never once did we miss a plane, though in Philadelphia once we nearly did, but that was due to weather and not me being blind!  Matter of fact, it nearly was because of me being blind... I am so stubborn that I hate to ask for help... We were struggling with luggage and trying to get across the vast maze to the correct terminal... I finally told someone that worked there that we needed help, they got us a shuttle and whizzed us to the gate, lickety split!!

Clifton Observatory and camera obscura

The bus depot was harder... Victoria Station in London is vast and busy, and you have to be able to understand English... with any number of accents to be able to find your way around. The schedules are not too complicated, but finding the right areas is... I broke down and asked several times... and I did not seem to have more problems there but the terminal in Bristol was odd, and if you weren't watching closely, you could end up in France instead of Scotland. The buses weren't really well marked, and if you don't know the right markings for your bus... well... just saying, if you don't ask you might get on the wrong bus. Seems the drivers aren't watching that close to catch the wrong tickets... sigh...
All in all, that part of the trip was wonderful. My son got a good lesson in bus schedules, in figuring tips and in general, how to be polite but not be pushed around. His eyes were wide with wonder, or shut with exhaustion every day!
The United Kingdom is so beautiful and so steeped in tradition and romance, and just... well, so exciting and mysterious! To walk the same roads as people like Shakespeare or  Mary, Queen of Scots, Robert the Bruce.... well, there is something so deeply moving about that... I just can't put it into words.

Coos near the cottage

My son was enthralled by the jaunts we took that he didn't mind being away from everything that he knew. The time we spent in the cottage were filled with riding a borrowed bicycle, building blocks and Legos, reading books traipsing around with the coos and horses... and CBBC with it's Horrible Histories and the boy actually learned something!!! We spent time giggling at the silly calves that were mixed with wonder at us and fear... at the sheep that seemed to eat everything in their path when they were being moved... at the bunnies that hopped around behind the cottage... at the endless beauty all around us.

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Me? I tried to read on the off days of traveling around, it was still too hard for me to read much more than a few pages at a time... I baked fresh bread, made jelly out of currents that we purchased at the car boot sale, and of brambles we scavenged.
 I rummaged in the charity shop in town... bought furniture and linens and made the cottage a little more homey. bought flowers for the garden, and we had tea on the patio when it was sunny. Sketching kept me busy a lot, and my son played 'fort' with limbs and old wood and used our friend's bb gun for target practice.
 Town was an adventure, the local bookshop was filled to the brim with ancient (to me) books, some older than the United States herself.  I bought books, I bought a sewing machine, I bought material for curtains, pillows, and kept myself busy. We walked. We walked and walked and walked. We walked to shops, we walked to festivals, we walked around the Piping Festival, we walked on beaches and on Hadrian's Wall, we walked through countless cemeteries... We walked to visit monuments and farms,  to just wander,  we traipsed all around the countryside, peering into badger holes, peering into old barns, seashells, and hedgerows. We found beautiful rocks, shells, tree roots, and flowers and a multitude of snails, butterflies and leaves. Berries were plentiful as were people th

Caerlaverock Castle, Scotland

at were actually interested where we were from.
When we were traveling,  I tried to soak up every part of the adventure as I could.  The castles were amazing, the seaside was amazing,ruins, walls, monoliths, Priory, Abbey, Cathedral, Coffee Shops, Pubs, Museums, Historical places all were extremely awe inspiring... but to get around to them all... is hard. The roads are narrow, and winding, and

Moat at Caerlaverock Castle

people drive on the wrong side of the street! It rains abundantly, and the sun either goes down early and up late... or the other season... it comes up early, and never sets... OK, it sets, but not really ever gets dark.  We would travel at night, thinking it was just dusk, and it ended up being midnight...
I felt really nervous the first real castle we went to. Caerlaverock in Southern Scotland, on the Solway Firth. It had winding stairs and seemed to be so narrow, as do all the castles it seems...
My son seemed to never tire of running up and down the sloped of the embankments around the castle... or anywhere we ended up, he loved running to the top, rolling down... and doing it all over again!

Over the next few days I'll show you more places we traveled and some of the ways we got around,

If you would like to read blogs in the
31 day  writing challenge, please visit the page and choose from the categories listed.
There are many to choose from,
all of them are great blogs!

Day 7- Finding the beauty in what you can't see

My big sister and I

I have always loved bright lights, rounded shapes, and  bright colors make me happy.
I guess I should say that what I saw without my glasses as a child,  was just of light and dark, fuzzy colors and fuzzy blobs, no real defined shapes...  With my glasses on, there were more defined shapes, but things were always fuzzy, never crisp or clear.

We went to New Mexico and the giant rock formations looked like castles, and the giant cavern at Carlsbad could have been ballrooms or giant libraries or maybe a large dining hall...The beautiful and mysterious...full of hidden rooms and dim lights and echoes. I was enamored, all of  America is gorgeous, but to me, New Mexico holds a place in my heart.

Monahans, Texas

As a kid, my family traveled a lot. I didn't realize how much until I had kids of my own. I didn't know just how hard it is to travel. Having kids and traveling is tough on its own, but  having a kid with  low vision is tougher. I can't imagine how my parents did it, dragging around a kid that was 'lost' most of the time. I did actually get lost a couple of times. Technically, left behind a couple of times...
I probably do need therapy.

So we traveled all over, visiting family, going to reunions, visiting landmarks, camping, amusement parks, all those fun things you do when you are kids. My father was an angel, he put up with a car full of women all alone after my brothers were old enough to leave home. 

Mom and my sister in New Mexico,  I think this was Holy Ghost, NM

When I was young, I didn't know I was different, I was adventuresome, loved to climb rocks, play in the water, run like the wind, and be a kid. Every chance I got, I did all those things. I was only limited as to how far away I could get without my mother finding me or how far my sister would let me tag along.  I was never really frightened about getting lost,even after being left behind.
Some of our vacations stand out for me. I loved the mountains of New Mexico, when we camped there, it was so fun.  Even more I loved  the lava beds of Malpais National Monument. I've hunted and hunted for pictures of that part of the vacation, but have never found them,  I loved camping there, the fog in the morning was so amazing. Maybe the fog holds something in it that is familiar for me. I love to walk in it, safely enveloped in the thick blanket. It is how I see when I have no glasses on and it makes me kind of fuzzy inside.

this is nice, snake free water!

 My oldest brother married, and he and his wife bought a boat, the whole family went camping together on a large lake, don't remember where it was,  but remember it felt huge. One evening, the "adults' went out on the boat, I guess they were fishing or maybe skiing. Anyway, they left my older sister in charge. We went out in the lake... and as older sisters do sometimes, she scared me. The bottom of the lake was very even for several yards out... with little ripples in the sand and  smallish rocks here and there. I didn't know they were rocks. I could just see dark spots on the bottom. My sister wanted to swim, or just to get away from me... so she told me the dark spots on the bottom were snake holes and If I didn't stay back in the shallow water I'd get bitten by one.

This is iffy water, could be snakes... or rocks

OK, so I wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. I believed her. I had been warned to watch where I walked, stay on trails, to not get near snakes. Right, like I would intentionally get near a snake...
So, her telling me this seemed like a big sisterly-loving thing to do. I was terrified. I must have annoyed her even more with my panicked paddling trying to get to her, I am sure I cried.
On and on this sort of thing went. She didn't mean to torture me, just to be a big sister that was tired of dragging her little sister around. She was seven years older than me and I am sure I was a pain in the butt. Me being gullible, believed everything she told me.

As a teen, I tried to join as many organizations as I could, I was elected to the state board for the Junior Classical league. For a few of the statewide meetings, I had to fly... alone.... I had never done that and was terrified. One meeting was in  Houston and a connecting flight to Clear Lake City  and then a car trip on to Uvalde. (Texas is a large state).
 Now, Houston Continental is a crazy airport anyway, but I got turned around and ended up missing my connecting flight. I sat by myself until they had another flight, the last of the night. It was dark and I was a bit worried, but it all went well...
It was a great learning experience.

The Hotel Victoria, Chihuahua City

In High School, I also  traveled to Mexico with the Spanish Club. Four times in two years. ¡Ay, caramba! No one ever said it would be easy, but each one of those trips was frightening and fantastic!  I got lost in Chihuahua City, and I loved every minute of it. We had free time and were told to do something like take a bus, a taxi, do something hard... I did... I rode the bus, had no idea where I was, and relied on the kindness of the good citizens of Chihuahua to help me out, which was the object of the exercise I suppose...
Street vendors were kind enough to point and give detailed directions, Strangers on the sidewalks,  shop owners... waiters in
restaurants, they were all great!. I spent a whole day wandering the city streets with no communication with the rest of the group...
 I would be terrified to allow my kids to go, Today, they would not  be allowed that freedom to just wander alone in a huge city.

One of Pancho Villa's widows

 The day to day of being in Mexico was difficult. By this time of my life, my vision had worsened to the point that I wore contacts and if I didn't have them, I would only see blobs of color and very little at night. I used bottled water to clean them and prayed I wouldn't lose one.  having contacts meant the difference of being able to actually find my way around or sitting in my hotel room, alone.



Picture of Houston Intercontinental Airport by airway news . com

Day 6-- Planes, Trains, and Automobiles... (more like buses, taxis and foot power)

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Welcome back, today is Day 6 of the 31 Days writing challenge. Top of the morning to you!
Yesterday, I shared a bit about the last couple of years worth of my vision, how it has declined... and that I have had to give up driving. That was a difficult post. I nearly didn't finish it, and nearly didn't post it when I finally finished it. The post started out to be a few lines just hinting at my struggle with an aging parent, but ended up with me telling all, or nearly all, about my woes.
Well, in that spirit... I would like to talk a bit about getting around when you are blind.
It is pretty difficult. For myself, I can talk about the pain of giving up my independence, since I drove from an early age. I know how other people do it, but really, can't imagine having total blindness...For me, it has been difficult to not be in charge of where and when I  do anything, from going to the grocery store to going to work, or just getting out of the house because I have cabin fever. You depend on other people. Or buses. Or taxis. Walking.
I know that a lot of people don't drive... but where I live... it is a necessity. The town is spread out widely, traffic is horrible, it is excruciatingly hot in the Summer, and  until just recently, we didn't have public transportation.

Caen, France

 Yep... no buses. When they did put them in, they proved to  be more of an inconvenience than a help. They don't service the whole city, especially some of the areas with  a great distance to grocery stores, or those that have aging adults.. or those with young kids. I would have to walk nearly a mile, which if I was younger, and it wasn't 100F+on many days... I complain, but it is getting hard to traipse around in the heat.  

Heaven help you if you work early or late, the buses don't run.  On my route, the first bus comes at 6:50 am the last bus... 5:50 pm.  No joke.  Saturdays it is something like 8:50-4:50, and none on Sundays... or holidays... Really?  Yes, sadly enough... really.
How do you get around if you don't drive?

Well, most of the time, someone who is visually impaired will have someone help them, drive them or walk with them, or, if they are very independent, they will use a cane or guide dog, usually both, and take buses or taxis or walk... or... in my case, I do a combination of asking for someone to drive me, holding on to someone's arm... or using what vision I have to gauge the distance of objects... sometimes I fall.

Dunkerque, France

We traveled to the UK and Europe a few years ago, after my vision had taken a big turn for the worse. I wanted to go again to be able to travel before I lost all vision. I really wanted to take my son and give him a chance to see where my father had been during WWII. I wanted to be there.
It was a very difficult trip, but one that I wouldn't trade for anything. I had a few incidents where I fell, some when I nearly did, and a few that I just felt so overwhelmed that I sat down and cried. I am sure that my son will have to visit a therapist when he gets older... He will regale the doctor of his experiences with his blind mother in distant countries... sigh...

I have a question... sincerely, this is a serious question. If a person is blind... how do they find the braille sign?  Honestly. I have seen them in different locations next to bathrooms stairs, etc.. never in the same spot, always different heights, how do you know where to find the braille if you are blind?

Isigny Sainte Mèr, France

These are the things that I notice. For years I've seen them and wondered. Traveling around the States, traveling in foreign countries... Isn't there a mandatory something or other that states where these signs are put? Really... really? There are rules for everything else...

Bristol, England

OK, so  a lot of people like myself don't use a cane. I have one, I just won't use it. I refuse to... If I am walking, I do tend to be slow, and if I am around traffic, I get nervous. I don't have a lot of practice walking around traffic. Where I live, the lanes of the intersections are really wide. Usually 8 lanes to get across... so even when I could see better, I didn't try to cross them. If I can't get to where I am going, I would call a taxi before trying to cross... but in some of the larger cities, it is easier to traverse the roadways. Crossing lights in many places have a beeping or countdown to the crossing, and you can judge when to cross by that, and hearing traffic is vital.
 for the blind just finding the street is a challenge. Some of the ways include:

• Curb or the slope of the ramp
• Truncated dome detectable warnings, if available
• End of building line and open sound of the intersection
• Sound of traffic on the street beside them (the parallel street)
• Sound of traffic stopping on the street they are approaching (the perpendicular street)
• Presence of pedestrians
• Presence of an intersecting sidewalk

Bristol, England

Then you have to assess the crossing, what type of control is there? Some of the questions you have to ask are:

• Is this a signalized intersection?
• Do I need to push a button to actuate the WALK interval? If so, where is the button?
• Is the button close enough to the crosswalk that I will have time to push the button, position myself correctly at the crosswalk, and reestablish my alignment facing the destination curb before the onset of the WALK interval?
• Which button controls the WALK interval for the street I want to cross?
• Does it stop traffic on one street, or all traffic?
• Do cars still turn during the WALK interval?
• Is there a second button on the median or crossing island that I must push?
• Will there be a surge of parallel traffic telling me the WALK interval has begun? Will I be able to hear it over other, concurrent traffic sounds?

You notice where hearing is important? Very important to visually impaired people?
I worry that I would never be able to find my way around when my sight goes altogether. It is really frightening... I mean, even if i used a cane, how the hell do you find the controls to the street lights? Do you hit a lot of people with your cane if the intersection is busy? when walking down the road... how do you not fall over bumps in the sidewalk? How do you avoid just falling headlong every few feet?
But I have to say, millions do it... I am sure I can.
The thing that got me when we were overseas... is that the curbs are different heights than in the States. We have pretty standard rules for curb height, and only in really old sections of towns and I suppose in Historical sites... there might be a difference. but for the most part, if you come to a curb, you know how far to step off. Generally.

Stokes Croft, Bristol, England

We were in Bristol, England down in Stokes Croft, looking at artwork and I couldn't tell the difference between the sidewalk and the street, the curb was tiny, maybe an inch and a half to two inches, and they were the same color, I stepped right off and fell.  I was more embarrassed than anything but it did hurt. Not long after that I nearly fell in front of a bus. I just couldn't get my bearings with the curbs. A few days later, I fell again walking down a pathway with small steps leading down to the

Along the River Eden, Cumbria, England

Eden River near Carlisle. I broke my new camera. I fell right smack dab on it. I was more worried about my camera than myself, that is until I tried to get up and
couldn't.That's when I started to wonder if I had it in me to travel anymore,

 Tomorrow, I'll show a few more places we visited, and tell you how we got from place to place and navigated the ocean.

Bristol, England

1.   National Cooperative Highway Research Program-Accessible Pedestrian Signals: A Guide to Best Practices, Chapter 2, p.10