Great things about being blind. Meeting a beaver.

Of course I knew about the beaver for many years. I'm Canadian after all. I had touched trees they had chewed but had never been close to one. I was mentioning this to a friend and then we went canoeing and found many beavers and beaver habitats. First, we found a lodge and canoed up so I could touch it. It seemed like a random series of pieces of wood to me. At least the part I touched felt like that. Then, as we were canoeing in the river around sunset time, beavers came. A young one first so I was told. Quite close to the boat and it slapped its tail on the water. That sound is very loud. Like a loud popping baloon or something. I heard the splash as he dove under. Then more beavers came. Diving and slapping their tales. I felt badly if I was causing them stress but really enjoyed hearing the noises of the tails and the splashes as they dove. More canoeing tales in the next few days.

Great things about being blind. The call of the loon.

I love the call of a loon over a lake when you are at a cottage or camping. It is haunting, breathtaking, magical. I'd heard it for many years before I got close to one. Once while camping and canoeing, we ended up very close to a family of loons. They wanted us to leave I am sure. They would dive and swim under the boat. I could hear them dive, come up, and call again. It was unbeleiveable although I felt some stress knowing that we were probably frightening them. Soon after this, I was at a provincial park camping. The people working there asked if i would like to touch a real loon that had been stuffed. It was kept in a locked display case and others were not allowed to handle it but they took it out for me as well as other birds some owls I think. I was amazed by the loon's long legs, the softness of the feathers, the feeling of its chest. Many birds seem to have a chest that feels brittle and fine boned. The loon's chest felt solid like a brick wall. Like an animal's not a bird's chest. It was amazing to touch it and to get an idea about the shape and size of the loon. As someone who has been blind since birth, I have no idea about the sizes of animals. A chipmunk rustling in the forest can sound quite large although it is tiny I believe. I always am touched when people show me things I never otherwise would have touched like the loon. Wow, writing about that makes me want to go canoeing but it is minus 10 celcius outside so I will hold off on that for a while I think.