[stylist] cane technique in the snow?

[Judith Bron]

Agreed.  When I was fully sighted, I remember it being easier to walk 
through freshly fallen snow than trying to navigate surfaces that might be 
covered over with "black" or "brown" ice.  I'm originally from Buffalo, NY 
and, believe me, I have a lot of experience with snow!  Great point Cindy. 
Judith
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "slery" <slerythema at insightbb.com>
To: "'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, December 19, 2008 1:29 AM
Subject: Re: [stylist] cane technique in the snow?


> One other word of wisdom here.  Robert mentions using snow technique to
> cover ground with speed.  A caveat to this is that just like cars, we 
> should
> slow our speed when in inclimate weather.  Instead of 50, try 30 and 
> always
> allow additional time to get to your destination.
>
> I have found that the more snow the higher I need to lift my feet and the
> slower my stride.  Also, if a sidewalk has been cleared, sometimes it can
> actually become more prone to freezing in smaller areas.  It is easier to
> miss a small patch of ice with your cane tip while still managing to find 
> it
> with your foot.
>
> Cindy
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org
>> [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Robert Newman
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 8:13 PM
>> To: 'NFBnet Writer's Division Mailing List'
>> Subject: Re: [stylist] cane technique in the snow?
>>
>>
>> Thoughts on cane technique in the snow:
>>
>> The basic technique needed for snow travel is the same for
>> non-snow travel: arcing the cane a little wider than your
>> body is always needed. Centering the cane at the mid point is
>> still relevant. The stride and ark coordination of ... With
>> the tap at the right, the left heel is coming down and next
>> as the right leg is coming forward the tip is now arcing to
>> the left, with the left tap comes the right heel striking the
>> ground and on and on. But what is different is that the snow
>> is covering the surface we are traveling over and so it
>> impedes the arcing of the tip, and muffles the tap and
>> changes the feel under foot. And so each of us tends to find
>> that special balance in movement of the cane and body to
>> still get the needed info we require to travel on at speed
>> and safety. So an arching of the cane can be "grosser" as in
>> higher, with more wrist and arm put into it. Then of course,
>> to get a tap that tells you something, the tap requires a
>> much harder force and the result is not so much a tap that
>> will yield a sound that will travel out and about to give
>> echoes to go by, but may, if it successfully reaches down
>> through the thickness of the snow to the surface, it can tell
>> you if it is concrete or dirt or grass. And sure, if the snow
>> is quite thick, the cane wielder may use a modified "Grab and
>> Stab" technique; grapping the handle of the cane like you
>> would an ice pick and were going to stab it down into a bloc
>> of ice, in this case of course, through the blanket of snow
>> down to the walk; this technique employs a lot of arm
>> movement from left to right, for going the general rule of
>> keeping the cane/wrist centered.
>>
>> Then for what you encounter under foot- In general it is not
>> to hard to figure out if under the snow is either a once
>> scooped walk or snow matted grass. And if indeed you are
>> traveling down a walk that once was scooped, yet is now
>> covered, there will be the "walls" of accumulated snow on
>> either side which have never been cleared and left to pile
>> up. And yes, slants down can be trickier to find, drop-offs
>> too. And if you have piles of snow that have been thrown up
>> by snow-removal equipment, these obstructions can prove to be
>> puzzling; depending if they consist of frozen hard pack snow
>> or something you can kick your toes or heels into to gain
>> purchase as you go over them.
>>
>> A very good rule (one that is not only for snow travel), but
>> keep a conscious ear on your surroundings and use it to guide
>> your direction. For it is not uncommon to get so engrossed in
>> the struggle to work through what is immediate to our front,
>> that we lose track of our place within the larger picture. In
>> fact, sometimes in snow travel, you may go for quite a
>> distance without having the opportunity to touch base with
>> all the normal touch points such as a good tap for echoes, or
>> feel for drop-offs,  that we normally rely upon, and so some
>> travel is by what we call "dead-reckoning" (this should be
>> the right direction based upon my best guess). And so, it is
>> important to frequently take stock of what you hear in the
>> far to middle and near by distances, judging distances and/or
>> angles of various sounds to you. Like, reading and tracking
>> your movement thru the auditory landscape; paying attention
>> to paralleling traffic, that you are walking toward a
>> particular sound or away from it, etc.
>>
>> And so ... That is about enough for now. Got to go and shovel
>> some snow; had our first measurable accumulation needing my attention.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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