[stylist] Congrads, Jim

Sat Dec 5 21:33:30 UTC 2009

Thanks Hina,
friends like you help.
jim

At 03:30 PM 12/5/2009, you wrote:
>congratulation jim, it seems you are becoming famous. i am glad to hear this.
>hina.
>----- Original Message ----- From: "James H. "Jim" Canaday M.A. 
>N6YR" <n6yr at sunflower.com>
>To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Saturday, December 05, 2009 3:27 PM
>Subject: Re: [stylist] Congrads, Jim
>
>
>thanks Donna,
>I've known the reporter for a while, and have talked with him about
>nfb philosophy.  he had a great concept for this article.
>funny thing, in the online comments, some criticized the article as
>if the paper was taking advantage of blind people, LOL!
>jc
>Jim Canaday M.A.
>Lawrence, KS
>
>
>At 09:13 AM 12/5/2009, you wrote:
>>Great article, Jim! This is just what we need to educate the public!
>>Thanks, Robert, for posting it here. I knew it was in the latest
>>Monitor, but haven't gotten to it yet.
>>Donna Hill
>>
>>Read my articles on American Chronicle:
>>http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885
>>
>>Follow me on Twitter:
>>www.twitter.com/dewhill
>>
>>Join Me on LinkedIn:
>>http://www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
>>
>>Or,  FaceBook:
>>http://www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.
>>
>>Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
>>http://cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
>>
>>Apple I-Tunes
>>
>>phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374
>>
>>Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind
>>www.padnfb.org
>>
>>
>>
>>Robert Leslie Newman wrote:
>>>Yes, Jim! I just went on to the NFB-org site and found the December BM and
>>>there was your  article! In fact, I pasted it in below-
>>>
>>>Braille Monitor December
>>>2009
>>>(back) (contents) (next)
>>>A Meet the Blind Month Coup for the NFB of Kansas
>>>
>>> >From the Editor: The following profile of Jim and Lynda Canaday 
>>> appeared >in
>>>Lawrence, Kansas, Journal World and News on Monday, October 12, 2009. The
>>>reporter communicated exactly the message we hope to spread during this
>>>month-long effort to educate the public about their blind neighbors. We
>>>reprint it here with permission:
>>>
>>>Keenly Attuned Blind Couple Have Different Way of Looking at Things
>>>
>>>by Kevin Anderson
>>>
>>>Jim and Lynda Canaday live with their dog Darby in North Lawrence. The
>>>couple need little assistance in living independently and are active members
>>>of the community. Jim has been blind since age thirteen, and Linda has been
>>>blind since shortly after birth.
>>>{Sidebar} Meet the blind
>>>October is Meet the Blind Month. The local chapter of the National
>>>Federation of the Blind will host a White Cane Safety Walk at noon Saturday
>>>at 11th and Massachusetts streets in Lawrence.
>>>
>>>The walk will involve blind people gathering near South Park and then
>>>walking through downtown to raise awareness of the importance of white canes
>>>and guide dogs. {End Sidebar}
>>>
>>>
>>>In addition to using a timer, Jim Canaday sniffs steaming bratwursts to help
>>>determine whether they are done. He prefers to grill his brats, but rainy
>>>weather prevented outdoor cooking this day. It's boiled bratwursts for lunch
>>>today. No, that's not the best way to cook them. Jim Canaday knows this.
>>>Grilling them outside is far preferable. But what are you gonna do? It's
>>>raining in North Lawrence. So Canaday-in his kitchen that is crowded by pans
>>>of resting bagel dough-sets a pot to boil. He comes back to check it. He
>>>lightly touches the plastic handle of the pot and feels the vibration of
>>>bubbling water. Now it is ready.
>>>
>>>But still he's talking about what was not meant to be. The high flames of a
>>>grill. The heat of ash-covered charcoal. "Oh, you use charcoal?" his visitor
>>>asks with surprise.
>>>Canaday smiles a bit like a true barbecuer would. "Oh yeah, you get much
>>>better flavor," Canaday says with a bit of inflection in his own voice,
>>>surprised that the questioner didn't know that.
>>>
>>>
>>>Who would have thought that expressing surprise that a blind guy uses a
>>>charcoal grill was silly? Come to find out, it was. "People overestimate how
>>>much trouble blindness really is," Canaday says.When Jim and his wife Lynda
>>>leave their North Lawrence home for a walk-he walks at least fourteen blocks
>>>every day-they notice which way the wind is blowing.
>>>They notice the sound of the grain elevator, which is different from the
>>>sound of the chemical plant; the rushing water over the dam; the whistles of
>>>the trains; a spot where the pavement has a rough edge to it that marks the
>>>end of the bridge.
>>>
>>>Jim has been blind since he was thirteen. Prior to that he had limited
>>>sight, but an infection took that from him in a week's time. Lynda has been
>>>blind since she was born prematurely and placed in an incubator with too
>>>bright a light.
>>>
>>>The North Lawrence details are more than just scenery to Jim and Lynda.
>>>Every little sound or feel helps guide them home each day. "It is all about
>>>getting good at mental mapping," Jim said. "Sighted people take things for
>>>granted because you can just look at a map." But it is about more than just
>>>having a good memory. Jim credits his father-who died when Jim was
>>>sixteen-for showing him the world. "He insisted I get out and go," Jim said.
>>>"We built our own house, and he had me climbing on the roof and doing all
>>>sorts of things."
>>>
>>>And Jim insists that, if he hadn't gone blind, he never would have attended
>>>college. Before he went blind in the eighth grade, he never learned Braille.
>>>Reading was extremely difficult. After he learned Braille, he became a
>>>voracious reader and learner. He has a master's in clinical psychology from
>>>Kansas University.
>>>
>>>Growing up in Southern California, Lynda was the only blind person on the
>>>campus of Hollywood High. But she already had learned much about the world
>>>by standing in her mother's kitchen as a young girl. "I would watch her
>>>cook," Lynda said. "I would listen to her, and then I would take my play
>>>dishes and make the same noises she would make. I would always ask her,
>>>'What are you doing, what are you doing? Can I do it, can I do it?'"
>>>
>>>Evidently she could. She cooked her family's Thanksgiving dinner at the age
>>>of 7. Lynda ended up spending a good part of her adult life as a
>>>professional voice coach and singer, performing at Los Angeles night clubs
>>>six nights per week. A medical condition unrelated to her blindness
>>>ultimately caused her to give up her career, although she does work as a
>>>part-time voice instructor.
>>>
>>>A serious heart problem has caused Jim to largely remain unemployed for the
>>>last several years, though he serves as an officer for the local chapter of
>>>the National Federation of the Blind and is a member of the city's Public
>>>Transit Advisory Committee. "Coping with blindness doesn't mean that we're
>>>unusual or gifted or particularly intelligent," Jim said. "It means that we
>>>had good training, and we did the get-up-and-go thing." Jim is washing a
>>>load of clothes. He's doing it carefully. Not because he's blind. Because
>>>he's a husband. "I have to make sure I don't get anything of Lynda's in
>>>here," Jim says. A previous mishap has made that clear. "I used to let him
>>>do it, but I ended up with a lot of clothes that weren't the color I thought
>>>they were," Lynda says.
>>>
>>>So Jim sorts carefully, feeling fabric to determine whether it is a towel or
>>>one of his wife's blouses. Then he touches the large washer knob that has
>>>about a dozen different settings. He remembers where the various settings
>>>are around the dial, and he lightly runs his index finger around its edge.
>>>His finger stops above the blue indicator line. It is just a thin coat of
>>>blue paint on the dial-the same as on any normal washing machine. But Jim's
>>>finger feels the slight variation in texture on the dial, and with that he
>>>can set the washer on the right setting. Well maybe Lynda wouldn't go that
>>>far.
>>>
>>>He fills the detergent cup to the right level by sticking his finger in the
>>>cup and pouring until the liquid reaches his knuckle. It is just one of many
>>>tricks of the trade. He grabs one bottle of Dr Pepper and a same-sized
>>>bottle of Diet Coke. He shows how the ridges along the side of the cap of
>>>the Dr Pepper bottle are closer together than those on the Diet Coke bottle.
>>>Lynda salts her tomato by taking off the lid of the shaker and grabbing a
>>>pinch or two with her fingers.
>>>
>>>Jim grabs items off the shelf with confidence because he knows where each
>>>item is supposed to be. That's not Lynda's favorite practice. It can get
>>>risky, and she's implemented a system for putting Braille labels on most of
>>>the kitchen's cans. (Groceries are delivered by Checkers grocery store each
>>>week.) It is worth the hour it takes with the couple's Braille machine,
>>>which looks a bit like a typewriter.
>>>
>>>"I once knew a guy who didn't [label], and he called each dinner, `dinner
>>>roulette,'" Lynda said. "It was like 'oh, what's this? String beans. What's
>>>this? Applesauce.' I told myself I was never going to do that."
>>>
>>>There's a bit of Braille elsewhere. A small brass plaque that hangs from the
>>>wall and asks God to bless this home is a noticeable piece of Braille. The
>>>other photos and wall hangings, however, have no Braille elements. Yes,
>>>their walls are heavily decorated: photos of family members, artwork made by
>>>an aunt or an uncle, sentimental pieces that adorn many walls in many other
>>>homes.
>>>
>>>The couple's conversation is peppered with phrases that may surprise. They
>>>often talk about not being able to see something. Jim described his previous
>>>white cane as being so dingy that it "looked like" it had been through a
>>>nuclear blast.
>>>
>>>Sometimes, a person can almost forget. Like when Lynda was talking about how
>>>Jim previously did not use Braille tags to identify the color of his clothes
>>>in his closet. So he didn't use to be such a good dresser? Lynda laughs. "I
>>>don't know," she says. "I couldn't see him."
>>>
>>>In reality there's much the sighted can't see about the blind. When people
>>>who are blind close their eyes, do they dream in pictures? Can any words
>>>ever describe the color red? Does curiosity ever become too heavy a burden?
>>>"I used to think more about what things looked like than I do now," Lynda
>>>said.
>>>
>>>But she believes she has a good idea of the outside world. Growing up at
>>>camps for the blind, there was a heavy emphasis on touching their
>>>surroundings. Trees, leaves, even a garter snake one summer. And yes, she
>>>dreams. She dreams in colors although she doesn't know if her blue is the
>>>rest of the world's blue. But her dreams are detailed. She knows an apple is
>>>one color of red and cinnamon is another.
>>>
>>>For Jim it is different. "I remember colors, but to be perfectly honest, it
>>>has been thirty-seven years now," said Jim, who is fifty. "I have to really
>>>work to remember colors." But as the colors of a sunset fade away from
>>>memory, Jim insists that it does not create a sinking feeling. His life is
>>>not one filled with frustration. "Everybody faces a certain amount of
>>>frustration in their lives," Jim said. "We happen to be made so we don't
>>>see. That means we have certain issues. "But to me blindness is a
>>>characteristic, much like height, skin color, and hair color. If you are
>>>five-foot-six and you really want to be the starting forward on your
>>>basketball team, you probably are going to have some frustration. You can
>>>either fret about that or move on and invent a vaccine or something."
>>>
>>>In the North Lawrence home that he's never seen, there is much about life
>>>that is too good to fret over. As his visitor gets ready to leave, the topic
>>>of the grill comes back up. He missed that today. The temperature-according
>>>to his computer that has a speaker and an electronic voice that communicates
>>>what's on the screen-was forty-nine degrees outside. But in reality it is
>>>more than just the weather that keeps him away from the grill. Since he's
>>>moved to North Lawrence, it has become difficult to grill because of all the
>>>noise--the trains and everything else. The only safe way for Jim to grill is
>>>with his ears. But it's also the enjoyable way.
>>>
>>>"If you have charcoal, lump them all together and light them. Give them
>>>eight to ten minutes to settle down, and then close your eyes and tip your
>>>ear to them," he says to his visitor. "You'll hear crackle and pop, but you
>>>won't hear a hiss. Come back when your total time is fifteen, twenty
>>>minutes, twenty-two tops, and you're going to hear a little hiss. That's
>>>going to tell you, 'Oh, I can take a stick and separate the charcoals
>>>because it is all caught now.' Yeah." Oh, how much you miss by being able to
>>>see.
>>>
>>>
>>>(back) (contents) (next)
>>>
>>>Robert Leslie Newman Email- newmanrl at cox.net
>>>THOUGHT PROVOKER Website- Http://www.thoughtprovoker.info
>>>
>>>
>>>
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