[nabs-l] Cane travel

[Jim Reed]

Hey all, 

I found out the hard way that good cane travel skills work, and bad cane travel skills hurt. I began by making a rookiee mistake; I needed to walk an "L" shaped route, and instead of walking the "L" shape, I decided to zig-zag my route, and I subsequently got myself lost. Once I got lost, I took off my glasses, and I stopped trusting/listening to my cane; instead I was relying on my vision, and not too much later, I tripped over something and took a header off of something metal (I got a little lump, but otherwise I am fine.) After I cracked myself in the head, I became gunshy and started using "baby steps" with my cane. I eventually got over it and resumed full strides. I guess that is just the first of many cane travel-related injuries I will sustain in my lifetime, so I better get used to it.

On the positive side, there were several streaches where I got in the groove; my cane rythm was smooth, like I had been doing it for years. But just as quickly as I got into those grooves, I fell right back out of rythm. 

I think alot of that rythm came from somewhat mastering the open palm technique/grip. I am right handed, and essentially what I did was make a grip where my index finger was running down the side of the cane, and most of the cane's weight was being supported by my middle finger which served as the pivot point for the cane. Basicly, I would use my index finger to push the cane to the left, then I would use my palm to push it back to the right. Since the cane was essentially free to pivot on my middle finger, both my palm and my index finger served as "springboards" which propelled the cane in whichever direction I wanted it to go. Because I wasn't exactly gripping the cane, this grip was more comfortable and somewhat less painful. However, this grip also felt less secure (like the cane could easily be ripped from my hand by an obstacle), and I also feel like I got less feedback from the cane using this grip than I did when I had the cane in a death grio.

Its kinda funny, a while ago, a friend and I were talking about Dr. Jernigian's speech "The Nature of Independnece",  and I basicly made a comment that essentially said "Big deal, a grown man (Jernigian) can walk to the barber shop by himself." Now, I am essentially doing the same thing,  I am bragging about being able to walk to and from school on my own. In once sense, I feel childish for bragging about something as simple as walking to class, but at the same time I am proud of myself for having done it, 

Thats all for now, 
peace, 
Jim

"From compromise and things half done, 
Keep me with stern and stubborn pride,
And when at last the fight is won, 
... Keep me still unsatisfied." --Louis Untermeyer