[stylist] Joy Ride-a quck look at my road trip

Thu Jul 22 04:16:24 UTC 2010

Hi, Myrna, et. al.
Getting a slate is not difficult.  it can be ordered from NFB's independence market and isn't at all expensive.  I pick up plastic slates every few conventions, and use them either to write to blind correspondents, or to show when my husband speaks to schoolchildren.  Both my (sighted) daughters learned the Braille alphabet, and still remember the letters.
Lori

On Jul 21, 2010, at 10:33:57 AM, KajunCutie926 at aol.com wrote:

From:   KajunCutie926 at aol.com
Subject:    Re: [stylist] Joy Ride-a quck look at my road trip
Date:   July 21, 2010 10:33:57 AM EDT
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Hi Donna...

You describe me perfectly on a car ride except I always take the back 
seat. Even before my husband passed away and we would go up to visit his 
family one of the children would get the front seat and I'd take the back seat. 
It's not as roomy but I was no good at helping him stay alert and the kids 
were much more able to do that.
I don't usually use all the ellipses either and the revised version of 
'Joy Ride' no longer has them. I think I was still so tired when I wrote it 
that I just didn't notice or maybe didn't even care to fix it then. I ended 
up going again barely a week after returning and I am just now getting 
back to myself again.
I initially had the slate to correspond with those friends who were 
Braille dependent but also they have all passed away. I was still using the 
slate however in presentations I do to school children in conjunction with a 
story in their reading curriculum. The story is about a blind mother and I 
focused on my experiences as a blind mom and shared some things I have 
collected over the years. It was a way to let them see the tools used as well as 
have them understand that aside from that the similarities far outweighed 
any differences in how blind parents do their parenting. 
My slate unfortunately was stored away when I moved after my husband's 
death and the outbuilding that box was in was destroyed in Hurricane Gustav. 
I have the stylus but the slate was bent beyond fixing. I had not used it 
in several years but was devastated to find it. It was a connection to old 
friends and it saddened me greatly.

Always,
Myrna

In a message dated 7/21/2010 9:05:26 A.M. Central Daylight Time, 
penatwork at epix.net writes:

Hi Myrna,
Glad you were inspired to write. I like your sense of humor and the 
lightheartedness of the piece in general. I'm not crazy about long rides 
either, though I take quite a few with my husband on our annual travels. 
I'm always in the front seat with a pillow that migrates from being 
under my knees to being on the floor under my feet or on my lap under my 
hands or standing up out of the way.

The only thing I would criticize is the use of ellipses (...). I'm never 
sure why people use this in their writing on such a frequent basis. I 
have a cousin -- not a writer -- but she uses ... to the exclusion of 
all other punctuation. There are times when a character is speaking and 
I wish to indicate a pause that I use it, and in scholarly works it is 
used when a portion of a quote has been deliberately excluded, but I'm 
not real familiar with other uses.

BTW, you recently mentioned, I think, that you no longer have a slate 
and stylus. Why is that?
Best,
Donna Hill

Read Donna's articles on
Suite 101:
www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/donna_hill
American Chronicle:
www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3885

Connect with Donna on
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/dewhill
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
FaceBook:
www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill.

Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
Apple I-Tunes
phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374

Check out the "Sound in Sight" CD project 
Donna is Head of Media Relations for the nonprofit 
Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind:
www.padnfb.org

KajunCutie926@ .com wrote:
> 
> I think this is my first poet here so I do hope I'm doing it 
correctly... 
> I'm still operating on fumes alone I think....and yep I didn't do it 
right 
> the first time.. so here goes again...
> 
> Since you all gave me the idea to put this to paper last night I 
decided 
> to just jot down some quick thoughts... it's meant for fun mostly and 
will 
> likely be one of those things that I keep for my enjoyment and memory 
> only... I do not write much else but poetry so this is a stretch and a 
very rough 
> and rusty one at that..
> Myrna
> 
> Joy Ride
>
> It began on a Monday. "Of course, it would be a Monday," I mumbled as 
I 
> crawled into the backseat of a very comfortable car just after 
midnight, 
> knowing that 'comfortable' was really relative to the length of the 
ride. 
> After about an hour of the expected twelve hour trip I understood the 
truth of 
> this knowledge and actually considered kicking myself a good swift one 
in 
> the posterior for even considering the journey... but realized 
immediately 
> that not only was there not enough room for the maneuver, I likely 
would 
> not have been able to move either knee to accomplish it anyway. They 
were 
> already suffering from 'bent knee' syndrome. 
>
> My grandchildren, ages thirteen and eight, shared my cocoon of torture 
but 
> were snoozing blissfully which was a good thing I suppose. I found 
myself 
> looking forward to our first scheduled pit stop with the enthusiasm I 
once 
> thought was only warranted for those very special occasions... and 
quickly 
> moved this moment to the top of that special list.
>
> I looked over at the snoozers and prayed their nap would be lengthy and 
> attempted to find my own little cranny in the cocoon. I popped on my 
> earphones hoping my chosen audio book would help to temper my discomfort 
and allow 
> time to pass more quickly. In a matter of minutes I again thought of 
that 
> posterior kick upon realizing that I had picked the most boring book in 
my 
> collection. Another truth of life revealed... boredom does not lend 
itself 
> to instant snooze as you might believe. Instead I found myself 
drumming 
> my fingers on a knee that was already in pain. Another truth... 
drumming 
> fingers does not equal therapeutic massage.
>
> Oh, the joys of travel!
>
> Pit stop!!! Three hours down and nine more to go! Horrors! Would 
the 
> snoozers be awakened? Well, of course, they would be! Good thing, I 
had to 
> admit. A wet cocoon would not be on my wish list of good things. 
>
> On our way again... and the snoozers do go back to snoozing. I lifted 
my 
> eyes skyward and mouthed a heartfelt 'thank you' to any divine entity 
> responsible. Telling myself I must get some sleep because daylight 
will come 
> and the snoozers will awaken, I settled back to enjoy my boring choice 
of 
> reading material and smiled at my silent grumpiness. I was actually 
quite 
> proud of myself. Only nine hours to go. Oh joy....
>
> Another pit stop!! Again I murmured a 'thank you' to anyone who might 
be 
> listening but for a different reason and heard my son-in-law chuckle, 
> asking if I had enjoyed my nap. Whoa... I really had napped! Daylight 
had 
> arrived and the snoozers had awakened.... and now only six hours to go!
>
> The journey continued and another truth was revealed. I never once 
chided 
> my daughter or son-in-law for their apparent bending of speed limit 
rules. 
> The thought did cross my mind but my knee threatened to make it 
possible 
> for that posterior attention I contemplated earlier to become a 
reality. 
> Enough motivation to zip my lip and leave the driving to the 'experts'. 
I 
> nearly choked on that thought but my knee spoke up again and...yes, I 
> listened.
>
> I really was looking forward to this trip and I told myself that as the 

> miles crawled by in endless monotony. I was going to be visiting 
family 
> living in the foothills of the Ozarks while the experts and snoozers 
were going 
> on to enjoy a theme park and have their first fun vacation in a couple 
of 
> years. So it was all good... except, of course, for the road trip and 
two 
> very talkative knees. After several more pit stops and even a brief 
doze 
> or two we arrived! After a short visit filled with many hugs and much 
> laughter, my fellow travelers continued on to their final pit stop and 
I settled 
> in for a few days of quiet and relaxation. I think I even heard a sigh 
of 
> relief escape from knees in dire need of space and a long soak in a 
tub.
>
> The next few days were spent simply enjoying... I love my bayou home 
but I 
> must admit that the mountains draw me with their own charm. The scent 
of 
> air filled with its unique blend of nature's best and worst, the feel 
of a 
> mountain morning, cool breeze on skin, the music of a feathered 
concerto, 
> welcoming in off-key renditions of familiar songs, the echo of life 
that 
> comes from the earth and sky, and the peace that settles upon me at 
> sunset...all have made my visits here special memories. No doubt I 
would add a few 
> more and I did.
>
> Time does not stand still, however, and the day came when we must 
journey 
> home. It was mid-morning and after tearful goodbyes and more of those 
> family hugs, I again crawled into that comfortable car, the cocoon of 
> torture....twelve hours and counting I thought. Yes, the joys of 
travel.... The 
> knees only groaned!
>
> I soon learned that these twelve hours would be spent a bit differently 
> than those spent on the first round. The snoozers would not be 
snoozing and 
> the pit stops would likely be more frequent. I also learned a few more 
of 
> life's truths and some gave me much pleasure in the discovery. I 
learned 
> that I still possessed the ability to give children that 'look'. It is 
> tempered a bit with grandmothers' gray but the effect is still the 
same. I 
> learned that patience is indeed a virtue. I did already know this but 
a 
> refresher course is never a bad thing, is it? I also learned that 
though knees 
> can forgive, they do not forget and likely I will be reminded of my 
road 
> trip for some time to come. I do not fear the swift kick though 
because even 
> they realize the attempt would be futile really. Finally, I learned 
that 
> growing older means accepting life as it comes, both good and bad, but 
> always embracing the living and breathing of every moment. Again, 
something I 
> knew but the reminder is always nice. 
>
> Oh, the joys of travel... and the joy of coming home!
>
>
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