I used to have a recurring dream that I opened my closet and discovered several brand new dresses. I was delighted, because I love new clothes, especially dresses. Waking up and finding the same old outfits was always a disappointment. Someday, when I return to going to meetings or church or out to dinner, where I might want to wear a dress, I’ll open my closet to find dresses I don’t recognize. It will be just like that dream, only not disappointing. They are not new, but they might as well be. I don’t even remember some of them, even after I’ve held them up and examined them.

I was taken aback when my friend Deborah and I were chatting on the phone, and she asked me what the dresses I had bought looked like. I had to think really hard before I could come up with the vaguest of descriptions.

No, it’s not dementia, or at least, I don’t think so. It’s because for the past year and a half, I’ve worn only shorts and sweats with T-shirts and sweatshirts. There has been no need to look at the dresses in my closet, because I go to church by watching the service from my couch on YouTube. I go to meetings via Zoom. And the only dining out I’ve done has been drive-through fast food places.

It’s been a very weird world recently for many reasons, and the pandemic being one of the most troubling.

But it seems that a lot of people think it’s over, or it never happened at all. As soon as the second summer came around, people thronged in every entertainment venue and restaurant. New eateries are opening all the time, and movie theaters have opened their doors. Some may say that I’ve been overly cautious, verging on paranoid, but I’ve been healthy and have found ways to connect with people without being in a crowd. Once a week, my friend Dan and I take Dora for a good long walk in a metro park, and we are refreshed and rejuvenated every time. We love to stop and listen to birds, examine the plants, and revel in the quiet. Sure, I’d like to go to a festival or a concert, but is it worth the price of a possible deadly illness?

Maybe I’m extra careful, because I am of the age where we are most at risk I got a massage last week for the first time in two years. I asked the therapist if he had been fully vaccinated. He said he had not, because he didn’t think enough testing had been done. I was furious. Who does he think he is? If I had had a way home, I would have left right then, but at least he wore a mask.

If I live long enough to see the end of this pandemic, I think I should buy a whole new wardrobe and fill my calendar with lots of fun things to do. But I will never give up my comfortable sweats and my relaxing walks in the parks.

Mary Hiland

www.seeingitmyway.com

Author of

The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: a Daughter’s Memoir

And

Insight Out: One Blind Woman’s View of Her Life

Available from Amazon

Two years ago, I posted a video of Dora and me crossing the finish line with Dan behind us, at the fund-raiser for sick and injured dogs at the shelter. It was a 5K out-and-back walk with dozens of dogs with their people on a path that took us along the Alum Creek Dam. Just a few weeks ago, I was there kayaking with my family, but on this day, it was a family of folks who love their pets and raise money to help the little guys who are waiting for their forever homes. 

You might remember my writing about the pet pig named Kevin Bacon. We met him at the first event, but we didn’t see him at the second one. Then along came Covid, and the in-person/dog event had to go virtual. We still got beautifully designed shirts when we paid our registration fees. All the dogs pictured on the front were wearing masks.

This year, sadly, it had to be virtual again, but we wanted to walk the walk whether or not there would be winners of prizes and free stuff like toys and treats. It was a beautiful day, and we were not alone. Almost everybody we met along the trail had dogs with them, friendly hellos, and even some opportunities to pet their happy dogs. As you can see on our smiling faces that we were having a great day with Dora, and she was thrilled to be photographed between her two favorite people. My only regret is that we should have taken that picture in front of the sign that said “No dogs allowed.” But the good people who maintain this interesting State park must have a soft spot in their hearts for this worthy cause.

This time was different from the others for another reason. We weren’t in a hurry, so we stopped to read the educational signs. They told us what kinds of birds to look for and how the dam works. What a great way to spend a Saturday. Maybe you’ll join us next year.

A few weeks ago, my son Steve and his friend Terri introduced me to the peaceful sport of kayaking. One usually doesn’t use the adjective “peaceful” for a sport, but it applies here. Once I got the hang of paddling and the slight anxiety of being almost down in the water in a bathtub-like boat, I absolutely loved it. I’d paddle for a few minutes and then rest and revel in the quiet of the lake and listen to the occasional call of a bird, a bird I never hear in my back yard.

The sound of the water parting as my paddle came up and sprinkled a little over my legs on its way over to the other side was a soothing sound.

I loved it so much that when my daughter’s family came for a short visit after not having seen them for a year and a half, the first activity just had to be kayaking or paddle boarding or just riding on the boat with Steve. Steve and Terri were our instructors and coaches, and it was great fun to see how the two older girls took to the kayak and the paddle board. Their dad Scott, who works out daily, was a natural at the paddle board.

After I had paddled in Terri’s kayak across the lake and back, I was happy to trade with Terri, so she could coach from the water and have a little fun too, while I relaxed on the trolling boat with my face to the sun and my attention to Steve’s description of how they were doing. I loved the gentle rocking as we rounded an island, following the others in the water. Everybody loved the experience. Too bad my daughter and her youngest are victims of motion sickness, because I know they would have loved it otherwise.

As we climbed back into the car with our wet clothes and filthy water shoes, I was reminded of a saying I often quote. We must have had a good time since we’re wet and dirty. The rain held off too, and the oppressive heat backed off, so we could have dinner on the patio. What a perfect start for their long-awaited visit. Thanks to Steve for providing entertainment, so a visit to Grammie’s would be fun. 

As part of the Ski for Light family, I’m always impressed with all the other athletic endeavors my friends enjoy when they aren’t skiing, and until today, I could only claim cycling and hiking to my list of other activities. I can now claim that I have learned to kayak. As you will see in the video if you are reading this on my website, I am in my own kayak, paddling on my own steam, and not tethered to another kayak. This video was taken by my granddaughter from my son’s trolling boat. He kept very close, so he could give me directions to keep from running into the bank or into his friend Terri’s kayak. She kept very close to me on my other side, so she too could tell me to paddle more with the right or with the left to keep going straight. When you are totally blind, you really can’t tell which way you’re going, and “Go straight ahead means nothing when you’re on the water. But I was able to paddle correctly and not tip over, and those two accomplishments made it a successful crossing of the lake.

We were blessed with partly cloudy skies and almost no wind, so the lake looked smooth as glass—perfect for my first solo attempt. I had walked Dora in the morning, and then gave my arms a workout in the afternoon, but with the help of people I love, I made it! And I’m very proud of myself. Who would ever think that at my age, I’d be learning a new sport? It should be a new knitting pattern or maybe the ukulele. But this is way more fun.

Mary Hiland

Author of

The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: a Daughter’s Memoir

And

Insight Out: One Blind Woman’s View of Her Life

Available at www.dldbooks.com/maryhiland

www.seeingitmyway.com

We all have our pandemic stories, everything from losing loved ones to the Corona Virus to being bored. I’ve written here about recruiting my friend Dan to take Dora and me to a metro park for a change of scenery and for a break in the boredom of walking the same old streets in our neighborhood, week after week.

But here’s something I hadn’t considered. My guide dog would become so used to being the only dog in her life that when the opportunity to introduce doggy company into her humdrum life, it would be very frightening. I’ve read that people are hesitant to join back into groups, because they have been so used to being alone. They fear being around other people. But the same can be true of our dogs. When I went to the beauty shop for the first time in months, Dora trembled with apprehension. She was very uncomfortable with all the conversations that were going on around us. I was not prepared for this. I thought she would be like me, happy to be with real live people again.

Dora will soon be eight years old, so I latched onto the idea I had several years ago of having a doggy birthday party. My friends Dave and Kathy brought their darling Goldendoodles over for a romp in the yard, a treat for them, as they don’t have a fenced in yard like we do. As they clambered out of the car and galloped over to where I was sitting with Dora on leash, they were so excited to see Dora and me that they were jumping all over each other. It was going to be a party indeed! But the birthday girl wasn’t used to such exuberance, so she tried to hide under the bench where I was sitting. I hadn’t expected that. We see this behavior with little kids, but apparently, it happens with dogs too. We herded them into the house and out into the back yard. Just like before, Winifred and Baggins seemed to enjoy exploring the yard, while Dora only had eyes for Dave, who obligingly tossed the Kong for her at least a hundred times. Next it was time to sing happy birthday and enjoy their Frosty Paws, a special ice cream-like product for dogs. Kathy held one cup for one dog, and I held one for each of two dogs. As you can see in the video, we had three happy dogs, licking their peanut butter treats with constantly wagging tales.

When it was time to go home, our doggy guests each got a toy, but of course they each wanted what the others had. This is why they get their party favors as they go out the door. The dogs had fun, but the people enjoyed it more. And the birthday girl wondered “What was that all about?”

Mary Hiland

Author of

The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: a Daughter’s Memoir

And

Insight Out: One Blind Woman’s View of Her Life

Available at www.dldbooks.com/maryhiland

www.seeingitmyway.com

Let me start by telling you I am not a fan of amphibians, not by any means. In fact, they go in the eewooo category. But after reading a story in the Columbus Dispatch about a special exhibit at Dawes Arboretum, I suggested it to Dan as our next park destination.

The Ribbit Exhibit, as it is cleverly called, is a collection of sculptures made by an artist who had chosen frogs as his subjects. I expected it would be some little frogs and some big frogs, but I was delighted to discover these frogs were portrayed as doing very unfroglike activities.

The first one we came to was a big frog getting ready to play leap frog over a smaller frog, who was about to leap over yet a smaller frog. I posed as if I were about to leap over the first frog, and thus began our photos of Mary having fun with the frogs. The next frog was about my size, standing up and playing a banjo. The caption for this photo of me pretending to kiss him is “Sometimes you just have to kiss some frogs….” Some others I liked were the frog riding a bike, one taking his dog for a walk, and another using binoculars to scan for flies I guess. He was part of a windmill-like structure that carried him around in a counter-clockwise motion with the wind. But my favorite was the couple dancing. She wore a dress, and he wore a vest with a dress shirt, complete with cufflinks. They were in ballroom dance position, which of course touched my heart. I would caption this one, “Froggy went a courtin’.”

Dawes Arboretum is near Newark Ohio, about an hour’s drive from Columbus. And the Ribbit Exhibit will be there all summer. It is a beautiful setting, peaceful and fun at the same time. You will not see flashing lights or animation, but you will smile, I’m sure.

Address: 7770 Jacksontown Rd, Newark, OH 43056

Ribbit the Exhibit daily through September 8

Larger than life Frog sculptures created by J. A. Cobb

Included with admission

Lyman Whitaker’s Wind Sculptures daily through October 17

Works of art moving with the wind

Mary Hiland

Author of

The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: a Daughter’s Memoir

And

Insight Out: One Blind Woman’s View of Her Life

Available at www.dldbooks.com/maryhiland

www.seeingitmyway.com

Please check your sun screen and hand sanitizer. If it contains benzene, you need to check the level. It can cause cancer.

From: NFB-NEWSLINE Online <publications@nfbnewsline.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 9, 2021 9:03 AM
To: Mary Hiland <mary.hiland@wowway.com>
Subject: Article from USA Today News Section 2021 06 09

Report: Sunscreens contaminated with benzene By Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY After losing out on an entire summer to the pandemic last year, Americans are eager to lather up with sunscreen and head to their nearest beaches now that vaccines have stifled coronavirus transmission in the U.S. But a recent report found dozens of popular sunscreen products have been contaminated with a chemical, called benzene, that is known to cause cancer. Valisure, a Connecticut-based online pharmacy and laboratory, tested and analyzed 294 unique batches from 69 different companies and found 78 sunscreen and after-sun care products contained the chemical. Benzene is not an ingredient of sunscreen products. Health experts speculate the chemical may have contaminated these products during the manufacturing process, as benzene levels varied between batches of the same product from the same companies. The company’s citizen petition is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to recall 40 sunscreen and after-sun care products found to contain higher levels of benzene. The brands include Neutrogena, Sun Bum, CVS Health and Fruit of the Earth. Valisure also is requesting the FDA recall tested products made by Raw Elements, SunBurnt, Goodsense, Banana Boat, TopCare Everyday and EltaMD, although benzene levels in these products fell within the agency’s allowable concentration limit of 2 parts per million. In statements sent to USA TODAY, the companies said they were reviewing information from the petition. Neutrogena topped the list of products with the highest levels of benzene. "We take the information shared in the citizen’s petition very seriously and are acting with the utmost urgency," the company said in a statement. "We are committed to making high-quality, safe and effective sunscreens available to consumers as sunscreen is critical to public health. The report, published just after Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, comes just months after Valisure found benzene in 44 of 260 hand sanitizer products it tested in March. "It is unfortunately apparent that benzene contamination is a broad and very concerning issue in the American consumer product supply chain, and it underscores the critical need for independent testing," said David Light, founder and CEO of Valisure. The FDA said in a statement to USA TODAY that it would continue to monitor the sunscreen marketplace and its manufacturing efforts while it evaluates the citizen petition. "The agency reminds manufacturers, distributors, repackagers and importers they are responsible for the quality of their products and urges manufacturers to test their ingredients to ensure they meet specifications and are free from harmful contamination," the statement said. The products ranged from lotions to aloe and gel, but more than half of the listed products were sprays. Health experts say sprays may be more dangerous than lotions because there’s a higher chance of inhaling the harmful contaminants. Benzene is a chemical that can be found in both natural and manufacturing processes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can be found in volcanoes and forest fires, as well as crude oil, gasoline and cigarette smoke. While benzene is among the 20 most widely used chemicals in the U.S., the American Cancer Society said benzene is known to cause cancer. Long-term exposure to benzene mainly harms the bone marrow and has been associated with blood cancers such as leukemia. Some industries employ benzene to make other chemicals used in making plastics, resins, nylon, synthetic fibers, lubricants, rubbers, dyes, detergents, drugs and pesticides, the CDC says. "To put it into context, benzene is all around us it’s in tobacco smoke, it’s in gasoline, it’s in the air outside when we walk around," said Dr. Min Deng, dermatologist at Medstar Health. "The indoor levels of benzene are higher than the outdoor levels of benzene. Any level of benzene is harmful to humans, but Deng urges consumers to continue to wear sunscreen, as the sun is known to cause the most common cancer in the United States – skin cancer. According to the CDC, about 4.3 million adults are treated for the most common types of skin cancer – basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas – each year. "The link between the sun and skin cancer is stronger than the link between smoking and lung cancer," she said. "I would urge patients to review the list, find a product on the list that was tested as benzene contaminant-free and try to use those products. Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input.

This article is provided to you as a courtesy of NFB-NEWSLINE? Online for your sole use. The content of this E-mail is protected under copyright law, and is not to be distributed in any manner to others; infringement of our non-dissemination agreement is strictly prohibited. Allowing someone to have access to this material is in violation of the Terms of Use agreement that you electronically signed when you signed up for NFB-NEWSLINE? Online. Please do not forward this E-mail or its attachments to any other person or disseminate it in any manner. Thank you. The NFB-NEWSLINE? Team.

Is a Guide Dog a Service Animal?

It used to be that whenever a person encountered a guide dog, they assumed it was a Seeing Eye ® dog. They called all guide dog Seeing Eye dogs, or maybe blind dogs or eye dogs. The point is, they knew the dog’s purpose was to help a blind person, even if they didn’t know the proper term. They also didn’t know that there are many dog guide training schools in the U.S. and even in other countries. Many of them are top notch, but The Seeing Eye was the first one in our country and remains one of the best. I might say THE best, but I know of many fine dogs from other schools.

But nowadays, the term that most people use is “service animal.” It has appeared in all media as the dog that is allowed to ride on planes, accompany their handlers in restaurants and even in medical buildings. Service animals recently have been defined as dogs only. In other words, you can’t have a cat that can be accepted as a service animal. You can look up all that information on line, so I won’t go into that here. My purpose in writing about this subject is that we seem to have gone full circle. When I encounter people with questions about my dog, they want to know about my “service animal.” For some reason, this rubs me the wrong way. I am very proud that she is a graduate of The Seeing Eye in Morristown, N.J. I don’t like it that she is lumped in with that vague term of “service animals.” In fact, today I will go so far as to say that young people don’t even understand what service she provides.

I was walking with Dora in my neighborhood the other day, when a dog seemed to appear out of nowhere right in front of Dora and was barking its head off. Of course I stopped Dora and tried to make myself look as big and authoritative as possible and yelled “No!” toward the barking dog. The young girl with the dog must have giggled or made some sort of comment—I can’t remember now, because I was more concerned with Dora’s safety—but I did ask, “Do you have your dog under control?” She said she did, but obviously she did not. In my community, it’s a misdemeanor to distract a guide dog while it’s working and I could have reported her. She would have been given a fine. But all I wanted to do was get away from that obnoxious dog. Most of the time, the obnoxious dogs are in their own yards, and Dora just ignores them, but this was a little too close for comfort. BTW, yelling NO at a dog that comes running toward us is my usual response. I believe that “no” is a word they are used to hearing, and it usually stops them long enough for us to move along. As usual, I regretted not stopping to talk to the child and explain to her how her dog was preventing my dog from doing her work, which was to guide me, because I am blind. I’d be willing to bet money that she had no idea what that harness on Dora’s body meant.

Most of the time, the troubles I have with the uninformed public is the “no petting” rule. Petting a guide dog or otherwise distracting it from it’s job of guiding can be dangerous for the person, and could cause a serious injury. And to top it off, a lot of people think they are exempt from that rule because they love dogs or they have a dog at home. I just want to say, “Go home and pet your own dog. Mine has work to do, and you’re in her way.” Instead, I write to you, Dear Reader and hope the word gets around.

Mary Hiland

Author of

The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: a Daughter’s Memoir

And

Insight Out: One Blind Woman’s View of Her Life

Available at www.dldbooks.com/maryhiland

www.seeingitmyway.com

In my last post, I mentioned the Community Calls that The American Council of the Blind, (ACB) sponsors. Because I’m no longer part of the decision-making mechanism, I don’t know whose idea it was to create this service, but they deserve big-time recognition at the national convention in July. We all have learned the importance of face to face communication because of the necessity to curtail it for our own health. But we found that it was also creating mental and emotional problems that were just as big as the Corona virus itself.

As human beings, we need to be with other human beings, to have live conversations, to have interactions, and to be touched. Unfortunately, the third important need had to be postponed except for families and those who live together, but we found ways to communicate with live conversations and interactions. Zoom became a household word and became a life-saver in a very literal sense.

Business meetings were the first to utilize the platforms such as Zoom, but then social meetings began to use it as well. I was drawn into Zoomland by my writers group, my book club, a story-telling group, and even opening presents on Christmas Day. I watch my church service and participate in my Sunday school and Bible study groups via Zoom. I think it’s the best thing to come along since the telephone. Years ago, I would have thought the whole concept was kind of science fictiony. Now, I owe much of my survival of sheltering in place to this wonderful invention.

ACB came to the rescue for thousands of blind individuals all over the world who were stuck at home with very little social interaction on a daily basis. I was one of them. I’m not sure how I heard about these social meetings that were going on all day, every day, but once I logged on, I knew I had discovered a treasure. Some of these hour-long “Community Calls” are designed to educate, like recipe swaps, dog guide handlers’ discussions, technology webinars, yoga classes, mental health lectures, guitar lessons, knitting groups, and book chats. Many others are designed to help people get to know one another with games and reminiscing stories, all hosted and facilitated by ACB volunteers. These sessions, all of them are truly building a community. Everyone, who wants to, has a chance to talk, and while email addresses and phone numbers are not shared during the calls, there is a way for individuals to connect for private conversations. Talking to your computer is not the same as having coffee in your neighbor’s kitchen, but it’s far better than watching TV for hours or even listening to talking books, although there is a place for both .

Now that the Y has opened up, although the hours are limited, and social distancing makes it a bit awkward at times, and now that some restaurants have survived, and that most of my friends have been vaccinated, I expect that I will not be so dependent on the Community Calls, but I sincerely hope that they continue for people who are not as fortunate as I am and don’t have the opportunities I enjoy. And there are some that are my favorites, and I will treat them like a favorite TV show.

Thank you ACB for making this past year and a half bearable a

Mary Hiland

Author of

The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: a Daughter’s Memoir

And

Insight Out: One Blind Woman’s View of Her Life

Available at www.dldbooks.com/maryhiland

www.seeingitmyway.com

Parts of Pandemic Prevail

And this is a good thing in many ways. I have just begun to put my toe in the waters of modifying my pandemic behaviors.

I still wear a mask when around other people, which is rare, mostly in doctors’ offices, PT, and other medical facilities. But since I’ve been fully vaccinated, and many others have as well, I’m feeling a little more freedom. I no longer sit in the back seat of my friend’s car with my mask on. What a relief to be sitting up front like an adult. I’ve actually been to a restaurant twice since a year ago March. Until now, the only restaurant visits have been in a drive-through venue. All of my leisure activities have been outside, walking in my neighborhood or at a metro park with my friend Dan.

But here’s the part I like. It was because of the pandemic that I asked Dan to take us to a park to walk, because Dora was so bored, and so was I. We have been visiting all 19 metro parks, repeating our favorites, once a week. Afterward, we go to a drive-through restaurant for lunch, so that means at least one meal a week that I don’t have to prepare or plan for. The masks come down while we’re outside, but the fun continues.

I’m not a movie buff, but I love classical music concerts and musicals. I’ve attended more this past year than usual, because I watch them on Zoom. The tickets are much less expensive than theater tickets, and I have the best seat in the house. I wear my wireless headset, and the music is as alive as if I were right there on stage.

One night last year, ProMusica presented a concert in drive-in movie style. We put our chairs in front of our parked car and enjoyed the music outside and with plenty of distance from other music-lovers. I hope they do that again, but now they are presenting special programming for Zoom performances, and aside from having to enjoy them alone, I can hear the music better that way.

Grocery-shopping is a real challenge for my non technical brain, as I have to fill out an order form on line. It’s not easy, especially when the “dictate” function doesn’t understand what I said, but the flip side of this task is that I often stumble on to products I had never heard of. It’s been fun to try new treats that a human shopper might not mention as we fly by with our cart. There is the positive side, but I’ll be so glad to go to the store myself with a friend again.

My church and Sunday School are now both on Zoom and in person for those who feel a closer relationship to God if they worship in His house. They keep urging me to join them, and I keep saying no. What they don’t understand is that it’s not that I don’t have to get dressed in street clothes or to get a ride, although to tell the truth, that’s part of it. It’s just off-putting to sit 6 feet away from everybody and not shake hands or tell who’s speaking to me behind that mask.

Perhaps the part that I hope never goes away is the ACB Community Calls. These are Zoom meetings, seminars, and conversations for fun with other blind folks around the world. We talk about everything from guide dogs to reminiscing about our childhoods. We are making the best of the pandemic. I’m dipping in my toe, but I’m not jumping in and making a big splash.

Mary Hiland

Author of

The Bumpy Road to Assisted Living: a Daughter’s Memoir

And

Insight Out: One Blind Woman’s View of Her Life

Available at www.dldbooks.com/maryhiland

www.seeingitmyway.com