"You must walk a tightrope between accident and discipline. Accident by itself... so what? Discipline by itself is boring. By walking a tightrope and putting down something on canvas coming from your guts, you have a chance of making marks that will live longer than you."
My first nephew, William, was born June 6th. A few months earlier my brother called and said he wanted to take the baby camping this summer. None of us thought the idea was anything out of the ordinary considering our parents had done the same thing the summer after my brother was born when he was about the same age (7 weeks), though they chose to camp in their vintage VW bus rather than a tent. So of course he was met with an enthusiastic "yes!" from all of us. We figured as long as Will was warm, dry, and fed, everything would be fine, and it was. My brother found an area in Central Oregon called Camp Sherman, along the Metolius River which is known for great fly fishing in the spring and fall.
To some of you, it may seem strange that the launch of a new line of shoes would be the inspiration for a blog post, and one about disability no less. But Nike has released a no-tie shoe, and for me as well as millions of others, this is a particularly notable achievement. I was born with right-sided hemiparesis as the result of an in utero stroke. Basically what that means is my right side is partially paralyzed. I can move my arm, but I can't really hold on to anything with my hand. My disability presented many challenges while I was growing up, one of which was finding shoes that would fit my ankle foot orthotics (known as AFOs, a hard plastic brace that fits inside the shoe) and learning how to tie those shoes. Throughout my childhood I either wore shoes with velcro or had someone else tie them for me, which was annoying when they came untied given my (still) sometimes stubborn unwillingness to ask for help. I was in 5th grade when I finally figured out how to do it myself, and though I've been tying my own shoes with two "hands" for the past 17 years, I still get frustrated sometimes. Different shoes have different laces; some are slippery, making it hard to wrap and secure the lace around my right forefinger, which serves as the "anchor." On the contrary, some are stiff, creating the same problem. The process takes longer, so if I'm in a hurry or I think someone is waiting on me, I'll tuck the laces underneath my feet and tie them later. With my hiking boots, where the support is critical, I can almost never get them tight enough so I have to enlist the help of someone stronger than me, especially if I'm going to be carrying a 20lb pack on my back (though this could also be used as a good excuse for a piggy-back ride due to the resulting blisters if my feet slide in my shoes).
I don't wear AFOs anymore and I know how to tie my shoes now, but I would buy these in a heartbeat if they were available for me. For now there's only a men's basketball high-top, though I think a running shoe is in development and hopefully one for women too.
Note: If you are learning about my disability this way for the first time, please don't hesitate to ask me more about it. I'm a big fan of letting people ask their own questions, but I've found that when someone doesn't know what to say, they don't say anything at all. A few years ago I read a blog post in which the author put it this way: "... I, and you, and everyone who lives in the United States (at least; I can’t comment on other countries), have been brought up to understand that disabilities and the people who live with them are strange, uncomfortable things and are not to be spoken of in public. How could I expect [someone] to react any differently when no one is ever taught how to act around or speak with those of us with disabilities? It is not a fault of one person, it is a fault of society." Figuring out how to talk about my disability is something that has bothered me for a long time, though I couldn't identify the problem or understand how to deal with the issue until recently. The answer is simple: communication and learning, but it's a two-way street.
“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.” -Maya Angelou
Last week I posted the first half of my Big Bend pics. On our second day we drove to the south side of the park to hike into Santa Elena Canyon. One side of the canyon is Mexico the other the US, two countries divided by an invisible border running through the Rio Grande. Technically if you wade through the river to the other side you just crossed the border illegally. When we took this hike, there were at least half a dozen people standing in the middle of the Rio Grande.
Sunset hike to The Window, with supposedly spectacular views, though we didn't think we had time to go all the way to the end and get back before dark
