Streets: Day 2

     I noticed that the things I encountered today made more sense than they did last week.  Perhaps I had an easier stretch, but it was a bit simpler to decipher what the cane was touching today than it was last week.  The grass seemed more discernable from the concrete on the sidewalk.  It also helped to take a direction off the sidewalk and keep checking in on both sides to be sure I was on the sidewalk and not down some driveway.  I felt safer doing this, so I’m sure I walked more confidently as a result.  It really helped to get to walk a long stretch of sidewalk and get the rhythm of walking down.  Sometimes it takes me a while to get in step, so it was just really nice to get the chance to practice doing it right.

     I’m still having a hard time figuring out when I’m at the end of a sidewalk and at an intersection.  I think I’m getting the information about how far away traffic is, but because I’m nervous about ending up in the middle of it, I’m afraid to act on the information.  Like today, I was I heard the traffic from Macomb, but I knew it wasn’t right in my face, so it must be a safe distance away.  But, when I hit a driveway, I suddenly got worried that it was Macomb, so I stopped.  It’s funny how anxiety changes your perceptions (or perhaps how you act on them).

     My cane seems to be sticking a lot in sidewalk cracks or the grass.  I don’t know if it’s my technique (like I’m too heavy handed), or if I’m walking too fast, or something else.  I tried choking up a bit on the handle, but that just seemed to make it worse.  It really throws me off when the cane jabs me, so then I get out of step, and then I have to stop and realign the cane with my feet.  Then, I’m flustered, so I make a few more mistakes.  It’s a vicious little cycle.

     It was really interesting to see Billy get turned around today.  It was especially interesting to notice that once he was in a different place, the cues he was getting from the traffic weren’t going AGAINST what he thought should be there, so he continued on the wrong path.  I figured that if you went too far, you’d be able to figure it out really quickly.   But, it seems that sometimes you have to go through a few intersections to gather enough information, not only to get reoriented, but also to know you are lost in the first place.