Great things about being blind. Experiencing history.

A friend of mine wrote a blog post yesterday from Jordan where she is living. It was all about visiting Roman ruins. I love history and visiting historic places too. There is something amazing and humbling about thinking that you are standing on the ground people have stood on for thousands of years. That you are where a very important historic event took place. Sometimes, I have had very good luck with historic sites and places. At other times, it has been dull if I can't touch things or have them well described to me. I had a very great experience a few years back at Stone Henge in England. People used to be allowed to spend time on the stones freely. But, this access was restricted to protect the stones I think. People are allowed near them on certain days. When we visited there, I was prepared to stand several meters away, listening to my audio guide. Good audio guides have really helped with museums and historic sites. I was standing there listening when a woman who worked there approached and asked if I would like her to take me to the stones. this was amazing. Those mysterious stones. The ones no one could touch. She took me across the grass and described the stones to me. She let me touch them and told me all about the history. People were looking longingly at us. She told me to turn and stick my tongue out at them. I did not. But turned and smiled and waved. I loved my time with the ancient stones.

Great things about being blind. Air travel. The pilot story.

It is an absolutely freezing day outside today. A good day to fly off to somewhere warm. As promised several times, here finally is the pilot story. This did really happen too. When I got my first guide dog (black lab Gwenny) we were living in Vancouver British Columbia. I had gone out there to study Music Therapy and stayed for several years before moving back East. Richard's parents live in Halifax Nova Scotia and we were visiting them one time. We ended up having to fly straight back to Vancouver from Halifax which was about seven hours or so. There was a brief stop but not a long one. This is quite a long time for a dog to last without going to the bathroom. It can be done and has been done but I thought I would ask the flight attendents if there was any possibility for Gwenny to go out on our brief stop over. The flight attendent said that she would ask the captain. She then came back to tell me that the stop over was too short for me to go through security and come back but that the captain would be happy to take Gwenny onto the tarmac if this was all right with me. I agreed to this gratefully. I usually don't make a habit of getting other people to take my dogs out without me, but this was a special case. When we landed for the stop over, we were told that we could get off briefly if we wished. Richard decided to get off. I thought I would just wait for Gwenny to come back. The pilot came. Of course all dressed up in his pilot's uniform. I had taken Gwenny's working harness off but suggested he carry it on his shoulder in case anyone wanted to know what a dog was doing on the tarmac. He said that was a good idea. So he put the harness over his shoulder and Gwenny pranced off with him to explore the airport tarmac. I thought they would be gone for about five minutes. But time passed and time passed. I was a little worried but figured they would be back. After all, the pilot had to fly us on to Vancouver. Richard returned to sit with me. Still no Gwenny. Finally, after about twenty-five minutes, they returned. The pilot was laughing and Gwenny was wagging and happy. He told me they had walked all over the tarmac, that she had gone, that he hadn't given her water as we had a long flight ahead, and then he said, "I had the most fun ever." He walked all over the place. On the tarmac and then a little inside the airport and when people would stare at them, he would say, "What's the matter. Haven't you seen a blind pilot with his guide dog before?" He was still laughing when he headed back to the flight deck. Every little while as the flight continued, one of the crew from the flight deck would come back to see the famous dog. They all asked if I were going to take any more long distance flights across Canada. I'll bet they were hopeful. Since then, a few pilots have told me that they are pretty sure that blind people could fly the airline planes as it is mostly done by computers now. When I came home recently with Tulia, we also had a long flight. When I landed after the first leg of the flight, I asked if someone could take her to the tarmac. One of the baggage handlers did it but they were only gone for about two minutes.
On another note, I'm still collecting tales for what is awesome about having a friend who is blind. Come on sighted folks. Be creative!

Great things about being blind. Air travel continued. Going through security

Well yes I did promise you the pilot story and we are getting to it. However, as I write, new memories come to me and I thought of a very funny one about going through security with my second guide dog Margaret. Margaret was a little yellow labrador. She was small but not as small as my little tiny Tulia dog. We worked at that time in a nursing home. I say we worked because all of my dogs did as much work as I did for sure. Seeing a dog in that environment did a lot of good for the residents. I was a Music Therapist there and inevitably when I would ask residents if they were coming to music, they would ask if that beautiful dog was going to be there. All three of my previous guides worked in this environment and although Tulia does not work there regularly, she had the pleasure of visiting while I played Christmas carols for residents in December. Anyway, Margaret and I were going through security at our local airport. Whenever guide dogs go through security, something in their equipment (leash, collar, harness) sets off the alarm. So security people have to take a look at them. Well, we went through and Margaret set it off. a man came up and said he would have to take a look at my dog. I assured him that this was fine as long as he didn't take her away from me. Just as he was looking at her, a woman charged out from behind the counter and said, "Wait a minute. That's Margaret. You don't need to look at Margaret. She is a therapy dog. and a guide dog." She worked in airport security but I knew her because her mom lived at the nursing home where I worked.

Great things about being blind. air travel adventures 1.

Well I am all rested and ready to write. But before I tell you my pilot story we have to check in to fly right? Yes we do. So here is a check in story. For anyone who doesn't know this, people who are blind and travel with guide dogs have the dogs right with us in the cabin of the airplane on the floor in front of our seats. As mentioned in my previous blog, sometimes that means we get moved up to first class. Usually flying with my guides has posed very few problems even on quite small planes. One time, we were checking in for a flight. When I got to the counter, the person agreed that my guide could travel with me but she insisted that she needed some type of boarding pass. I told her that this had never been the case in the past but if she wanted to give me something for my guide, she could do so. She printed something off and handed it to me along with my boarding pass. "Make sure you show this at security," she said. So off to security we go. When asked for boarding passes, I showed both. The people burst into hysterical laughter. "who gave you this for your dog?" they asked. I told them it was at check in. "Oh I bet it's that woman on her first day." They said and told me about the pass. They said they would call and tease her but asked me to show it to the flight attendents when we boarded the plane. I agreed to this and off we went.
When we boarded, I dutifully showed both passes to the flight attendent and again there was hysterical laughter. That adventure took place with my first guide dog Gwenny. When Gwenny died of cancer, I made a special box of things for her. She died suddenly while still working. I put in a favourite, bone, toy, collar, and a few other things. One of those things was the sign from the plane. Any guesses as to what it said? Wait for it. It said, "OVERSIZED CABBIN BAGGAGE."

Great things about being blind. Sometimes flying first class.

Well, I'm back to air travel but am not telling the long story today. I was teaching a storytelling workshop all day and I'm storied out. But I promised to update this daily so here I am. Tomorrow I promise the longer pilot story. For now, one great thing about being totally blind is that your dog sometimes gets you and the dog bumped up to first class. Guide dogs fly with their partners in the plane's cabins. They lie on the floor at our feet. My current guide Tulia is much smaller than any of the others but sometimes there isn't a lot of room for the dog at your feet. Once in a while, especially if the flight attendents are dog lovers, you and the dog get moved up to first class so the dog can have more lying room. The dog does not get the better food but sometimes the blind person does. Smile. Tomorrow, I'll be much more articulate.

Great things about being blind. Flying on planes

This is the start of a series of postings about air travel. One great thing about being blind is that you sometimes learn amazing things and get to tell others what things seem like to you. For example, for many many years well into my teens, I thought that when you fly on a plane, it takes off, nose first up into the air (which it does of course) but that when the pilot landed the plane, it touched down back wheels first. I thought how amazing that was that the pilot could do that. I thought this because when you land, if your eyes are closed, you feel like you're moving backwards. Try it some time and see if I am right. When I happened to mention this on a flight one time and was told what really happens, that was amazing too. Stay tuned tomorrow for the pilot and guide dog tale.