I thought I would mention an organization who has not only an amazing history but also a wonderful mission statement and success story. AbleFamilies.org based in rural West Virginia is a worthwhile onprofit organization who has recently received publicity for the two St. Joseph’s sisters who basically started the program and of course the many, many lives they helped over the years. There are many ways online you can help AbleFamilies.org.

Just visit their website for more information AbleFamilies.org

ROCKY the PUGGLE

Wakefield, RI to Indianapolis, IN
December 12, 2009

UPDATE: Rocky’s foster mom has gotten a few inquiries for him in the short time he’s been with her and she’s really enjoying having him around so he’s going to stay with her and we’re going to try and place him locally.

Rocky’s parents were going to put him down last weekend because he is food aggressive. Through the magic of the internet, his plight ended up in my Inbox, and a rescue was found who was willing to take him in. He is in a temporary foster home now, but he needs to move all the way to Indianapolis on Saturday the 12th so he can hitch a ride the rest of the way to Minneapolis with another transport of mine on the 13th. It starts early and it runs late, and I apologize for that, but he’s got a LONG way to go on his first day!

Rocky

No Rocky Roads for this puggle – please help him get to his rescue!!

Please, please, please – I need crossposting help from EVERYONE!!

Transport Coordinator:
PLEASE CONTACT DIRECTLY IF YOU CAN HELP
Kelly Gibson
mdgrrrl@msn.com

Please provide the following:
Leg offered:
First & Last Name:
Location (city/state):
Please provide full address if volunteering for an overnight.
Email:
Is email available from home or only work?
Home phone:
Cell phone:
Vehicle make/model/color/etc:
Name of coordinators or groups for whom you’ve driven before. If none, please give vet name and contact number.
Recommended meeting place, if any:

Passenger details are at the bottom of the post.

SATURDAY, DEC 12

LEG 1: Wakefield, RI to New Haven, CT
86.3 miles; 1 hr 34 min
7:00 AM – 8:30 AM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 2: New Haven, CT to Hackensack, NJ
79.5 miles; 1 hr 20 min
8:40 AM – 10:00 AM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 3: Hackensack, NJ to Annandale, NJ
57 miles; 57 min
10:10 AM – 11:10 AM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 4: Annandale, NJ to Allentown, PA
41.3 miles; 41 min
11:20 AM – 12:00 PM EST
Filled – thank you Cheryl!!

LEG 5: Allentown, PA to Harrisburg, PA
73.9 miles; 1 hr 8 min
12:10 PM – 1:20 PM EST
Filled – thank you Dan & Sue!!

LEG 6: Harrisburg, PA to Breezewood, PA
81.8 miles; 1 hr 18 min
1:30 PM – 2:50 PM EST
Filled – thank you Peggy!!

LEG 7: Breezewood, PA to New Stanton, PA
87.8 miles; 1 hr 20 min
3:00 PM – 4:20 PM EST
Filled – thank you Janet!!

LEG 8: New Stanton, PA to Wheeling, WV
71.2 miles; 1 hr 8 min
4:30 PM – 5:40 PM EST
Filled – thank you Rosanna!!

LEG 9: Wheeling, WV to Zanesville, OH
73 miles; 1 hr 12 min
5:50 PM – 7:00 PM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 10: Zanesville, OH to Columbus, OH
61 miles; 1 hr
7:10 PM – 8:10 PM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 11: Columbus, OH to Richmond, IN
96.3 miles; 1 hr 28 min
8:20 PM – 9:50 PM EST
***NEEDED***

LEG 12: Richmond, IN to Indianapolis, IN
67.2 miles; 1 hr 4 min
10:00 PM – 11:05 PM EST
Filled – thank you Nichole!!

OVERNIGHT IN / AROUND INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Filled – thank you Nichole!!

Rocky joins another transport on Sunday morning.

*************************************
PASSENGER DETAILS
NOTE: All dogs on the transport are UTD on shots and will be accompanied by a health certificate.
*************************************

RECEIVER:
Wags & Whiskers
Minneapolis, MN
www.wagsmn.com
Katie Archambault

SENDER:
Kelly Gibson
Puggles & Pitties
San Diego, CA

http://pugglesnpitties.petfinder.com

In temporary foster with:
Celeste Long
Wakefield, RI

PASSENGER:

ROCKY
Male puggle
Approx 2 yrs old
Will be UTD on shots before transport
Already neutered
FOOD AGGRESSIVE – do not allow him near ANY food or treats, whether intended for dogs or humans!!

I have my first offer of a guest post.  Christopher Doyle of Indianapolis found my blog by searching the Patoka River and Oak Hill on Word Press.  He has family ties to the area.   He enjoyed reading my stories and it turns out he is a storyteller also.  We communicated several times last week.   So although his family history is a hop skip and a jump down the Patoka River to the Wheeling area, I decided he deserved a post as I enjoyed reading his story also. 

David Dunning

The oldest living relative I can remember from early childhood is my maternal great-grandfather, David Dunning (1883-1977). Grandpa Dunning passed away just a couple weeks shy of my ninth birthday. He was 93. I can remember going to his funeral. It was my third family funeral of the year, due to my father’s parents sudden passing in Florida during the spring.

My only other remembrances of Grandpa Dunning include visits to his farm in rural Francisco, Indiana. I can recall Grandpa sitting in his recliner, watching 1970’s-style wrestling on a black-and-white television in his living room. He kept a rolled ball of chewed gum—Juicy Fruit, I believe—on a small table next to him. He also chewed tobacco, as evidenced by the brownish trickle line down the creases next to his chin. As if those things weren’t odd enough, a severed ring finger made him quite a curiosity to a young boy and somewhat frightening. The story goes that grandpa had an accident while cutting grass on his farm, the mower blade taking off his left ring finger nearest the middle knuckle.

Dunning Farmhouse

I was equally fascinated with the well and outhouse behind the west-facing farmhouse and the chicken coupe on the south side. I don’t remember ever venturing into the chicken coupe or the outhouse. The smell from both probably deterred me. There was a second well in the front yard with a red pump perched upon a concrete slab. The long front yard hosted many a family reunion football game. We continue to hold an annual reunion on the property to this day.

Those family reunions are some of my best childhood memories and the reason I grew up much closer to my mother’s family than to the Doyles.

Grandpa Dunning was fourth in a line of seven children born to Albert C. Dunning (1851-1932) and Sophronia Morrison (1854-1935). Albert, his father, was born in England and immigrated to Gibson County, Indiana, sometime in the late 1800s. According to Uncle Les Dunning, Albert’s sponsor was a man named George Smith. He was the namesake for Albert and Sophronia’s eldest child. They had seven children, all born in Gibson County. Albert and Sophronia were married 18 November 1874 at the home of David Morrison.

At this time, I don’t have much information on the Dunning side of the family, only that my third great grandfather John Dunning was born and buried in Dorsett, England. There is quite a bit more family history for my third great-grandmother Sophronia (Morrison) Dunning who is buried in a family cemetery in White River Township, between Hazleton and Patoka.

The Morrisons hailed from Yadkin County, North Carolina, which is situated between Wilkesboro and Winston-Salem. In the mid-1800’s, their county of residence was known as Surry County, South Division. Sophronia’s parents, David Alexander Morrison (1818-1892) and Jane Swaim (1819-1888), were from Surry County. Although their roots were deep in North Carolina, they moved to the farm-rich soil of Gibson County in 1856. I’ve written an account of their migration in another file.

Ruth McEllhiiney

Grandpa Dunning married a Scot-Irish girl named Ruth McEllhiney (1887-1974) of a prominent Gibson County family. Three generations of their history are chronicled in Gil R. Stormont’s History of Gibson County, published in 1914. David and Ruth Dunning married at the home of my second great grandfather Thomas J. McEllhiney (1863-1932) on the day after Christmas, 1907. Thirteen years and five children later, Ruth Dunning gave birth to my grandmother, Alice Kathryn (1920-1990), who was sixth-born of their nine children, and namesake for my oldest daughter, Merikathryn.

David and Ruth were given family land on Wheeling Road (County Road 550 E) where they built a modest home and began farming. The homestead overlooks the Patoka River bottoms to the north and east. It provided the means for a comfortable lifestyle for David, Ruth and their nine children.

After 30 years of marriage, Grandma Ruth decided to leave David and take up residence with his recently widowed brother-in-law, Edward Williams (1881-1964). Uncle Ed, as he was known, had married my Great Aunt Bessie (1882-1938) in 1900 and served as the area’s postman. Ruth was then 50 and ready to start life anew, I presume, as she left her youngest children—Les (15), Virginia (12) and Carl (6)—on the farm with their father. Understandably, Uncle Carl took her departure the hardest.

By the time of her death, Ruth (McEllhiney) Deffendall had married a third time to an Otis M. Deffendall. I knew her for only six short years of my life as Grandma Deffendall. I vaguely remember attending her funeral in Princeton in October 1974. It is probably the earliest memory I have of a death in the family. And because I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with her, I don’t have the vivid memories like I do of Grandpa Dunning.

I remember childhood trips to Princeton and Francisco well. When I would spend a week at Grandma’s house in the summertime, we would usually make a trip out to the Dunning farm to tend to her sizeable garden and to pick fresh beans for canning. The farm was immaculately maintained by Uncle Carl, who worked at Francisco Elementary School and lived about a 10 minute drive west on Highway 64. Grandma worked tirelessly in that garden every year, growing corn, beans, berries and tomatoes. Rarely did we enjoy a summer meal at her house that didn’t include fresh cut tomatoes, right off the vines of the Dunning farm.

Grandpa Dunning lived to the ripe old age of 93. I felt lucky to have living great grandparents in my family. While he remained a somewhat frightening mystery to me, I saw the way he interacted with his grandkids. Their response made me more comfortable around him. He finally succumbed to old age 30 August 1977 and I can remember his burial in nearby Fairview Cemetery. The family reunion held at his farm took on a more somber tone the next couple of years, and we lit a candle in his memory.

David Dunning Gravesite

The old white farmhouse that held so many great family memories was becoming more structurally unsound due to the blasting in the nearby coal mine, and Uncle Les made the decision to raze it in 2007. He immediately set to building a larger replica of that old house, which still stands on the hill just above the river bottoms and now a strip mine. We just held our family reunion there in October of this year, and I look forward to many, many more.

Come to Wheeling, VW on January 2, 2010: One of Oglebay’s Institute’s most successful musical series, Mountain Moon Coffeehouse takes place at the Stifel Center and features traditional mountain music, folk tunes, acoustic performances and great vocalists. Fiddles, mandolins, banjos and toe-tappin’ fun are all part of the Mountain Moon tradition. Presenting a total of 6 shows every year, Mountain Moon is perfect entertainment for any age and home-made refreshments are on hand. Join the fun and experience down-home music at its Mountain State best! For more information, visit the Wheeling Destination Guide.

World-class outdoor gear. Fine food. A movie theater. High-end retail shopping. All this and more is currently available at The Highlands. Cabela’s outdoor megastore serves as the anchor to the development, which currently boasts 38 businesses. Known as the “World’s Foremost Outfitter,” Cabela’s offers a unique retail destination that combines a massive outfitter store with elements of a wildlife museum. The Wheeling store features a 30-foot-tall replica mountain, a 12,000-square-foot trophy deer museum, a library of collectible firearms, an archery range, an African diorama and a 55,000-gallon aquarium that houses fish native to the local area. Cabela’s retail department includes camping, archery, hunting and firearms, fishing and fly fishing, marine equipment, footwear, automotive and all-terrain vehicle, men’s and women’s casual apparel, camouflage apparel, furniture and gifts. For more information, visit the Wheeling Destination Guide.

I was born with a birth defect called Myelomeningocele Spina Bifida. I’m unable to walk or stand at all and I’m dependent on my wheelchair so that I can get around like everyone else. I got my first wheelchair when I was five, and it’s been a great partnership from then on.

I’ve always had this fantasy about traveling and going to exotic places around the world and the not so exotic places, but still equally beautiful places, right here in the United States. It was always a daunting task because there is so much for a person confined to a wheelchair to arrange so that the trip is as wheelchair accessible and as barrier free as possible. There were just so many questions I had that I wasn’t quite sure of the answer because I was a first time traveler.

What do I need to ask for when I book my flight aboard an airplane in order to make my travels as painless as possible?

How will I get to and from my seat aboard the plane when the aisle isn’t wide enough to accommodate my wheelchair?

Where will my wheelchair be stored aboard the plane when I’m on it?

Can my wheelchair be stored in the cabin closet aboard the plane or will it be stored in baggage?

What do I have to do in order to make sure my wheelchair arrives at my destination with me in one piece?

How will I get to the restroom aboard the plane when I don’t have my wheelchair to help me?

How will I retrieve my luggage when I’m on my own without anyone to assist me?

What will I do if there is a layover in between my flights for travel overseas?

What do I need to ask for when I book my hotel room to make sure my room is wheelchair accessible?

Are the bathroom doors wide enough to get my wheelchair through and will I be able to use the shower with no trouble?

Is the hotel room in itself roomy enough to wheel around in a wheelchair without bumping into everything?

Are there stairs in the hotel I’m interested in or does the hotel have an elevator I can use for easy access to the floor my room is on?

Does the hotel have a shuttle bus with a lift so that I can get from airport to my hotel room or will I have to arrange my transportation?

Is there wheelchair accessible transportation readily available in the city that I’m vacationing in? If there isn’t, how far in advance do I have to book a van with a lift in order to be able to get out and see all the sites the city I’m in has to offer?

What kind of barriers will there be in the places I intend to visit while I’m visiting a particular city? What will I have to do in order to get around those barriers if there are?

I’ve had a chance to get out there and travel through trial and error to California a few times and it was fun being as independent as I possibly could and quite intimidating because I had to learn what arrangements needed to be made in order to take my trip. I had to learn to be more aware of what places weren’t exactly wheelchair accessible and what needed to be done in order for me to enjoy the sites just like everyone else. It was also the first time I’d gone on an adventure without the assistance of my family. It was also pretty intimidating for a first time traveler having to explain to people who know nothing about me or my condition or what my needs are, as a person confined to wheelchair.

I’ve seen all kinds of books on wheelchair accessible travel that answer the questions concerning travel while confined to a wheelchair, but I wanted to do something different. I want to create a video documentary of an upcoming trip I am taking in 2011 on my own. It will be the first time I’ve ever been out of the country and I will be answering those questions I listed above. I’ll be taking my hand-held video camera and letting you into my world as a traveler confined to a wheelchair. I’ll be documenting every step of the way of my travel adventure and maybe even answering a few more questions that I didn’t remember to list along the way. I want this documentary to show not only people confined to a wheelchair what goes into traveling while confined into a wheelchair, but to also let able-bodied people view a part of the world they may not be very familiar with. I want this documentary to show people, despite the barriers, the will to go beyond limitations is alive and well.

Randa and Adam’s wedding was in the surprisingly funky town of Wheeling, WV where old world industrial city has given way to a funky artistic community occupying the ashes of former steel mills and cigar factories. Autumn was coming on strong and the leaves were about half changed sprinkling beautiful colors throughout the mountains and valleys. The ceremony was at the beautifully restored St. John the Divine Greek Orthodox Church in downtown Wheeling. Randa looked radiant in a beaded strapless gown, while her groom was in traditional white tie.

The ceremony was an intimate affair limited to close family. I love this photo as you can tell Randa and Adam really enjoy each others company and are so excited!

After a bubble and rose pedal departure we photographed the couple in the old downtown on an 1849 suspension bridge spanning the Ohio River.

(How cute is this little flower girl!!)

Randa’s bouquet was absolutely stunning. The combination of white flowers looks really beautiful on film.

After shooting downtown we continued to the mountain top Oglebay Resort where the reception was to be held. The resort spans a whopping 1700 acres and provided beautiful views of the town of Wheeling. It’s safe to say Randa and Adam’s wedding was the event of the year for the little town as more than 400 guests came for the reception and party. Guests were served Lebanese specialties, filet mignon and Chilean Sea Bass. The decorators did an amazing job turning a giant hall into an intimate space. With massive flower arrangements decorating the table and pink silk draping the the rafting above.

The night ended with a HUGE dance party circling the bride and groom. Randa and Adam’s wedding was a wonderful affair and a great example of how to make a large party into an intimate and fun event.

For more of these images or to book a wedding please contact Richard Ellis Photography at: http://www.ellisphotostudio.com/

Journey back in time to 1863, when Wheeling was in Virginia, a state ripped apart by the American Civil War. West Virginia was born in this building, now a National Historic Landmark, during the great conflict. This was the only territorial change resulting from America’s greatest war. The footprint of the new West Virginia State Museum provides for layers of learning dedicated to the themes of community, identity, and character as they relate to the land, people, and culture of West Virginia. The unique areas are designated as Show Path, Discovery Rooms and Connections Rooms. They are presented as exhibitions following a chronological pattern beginning with prehistory and concluding in the 21st century. For more information, visit the Wheeling Destination Guide.

After two years of silence, the Wheeling venue where legends like Johnny Cash played hosts performances once again. The Capitol Theatre, which earned its fame as the Capitol Music Hall, celebrated its reopening in September and the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra began playing its new season at the venue. Considered to be the jewel in the crown of downtown Wheeling, the Music Hall was home to many forms of entertainment with live country music shows, and Jamboree USA on Saturday night. With top country artists to national Broadway productions, the Capitol Theatre is now again a full entertainment complex. From country to comedy, Broadway to rock…they have it all. Visit one of the upcoming shows and enjoy a night to remember! For more information, visit the Wheeling Destination Guide.

Belle of the Road

Dale City, VA
to
Minneapolis, MN
October 31 – November 1, 2009

Belle is an adorable, sweet 6 month old boxer girl whose mother is having serious health problems. She’s decided it’s in the best interest of Belle to find a new home so MN Boxer Rescue has agreed to take her in and help her find that perfect forever home.

We have a personal stake in this transport, as Belle’s grandma is on the board of MNBR, so we feel like we’re moving one of our own children. Please help this angel get there!

UPDATE:  We are taking a lot of dogs out of Indianapolis Animal Care & Control this weekend as well. These dogs will have to ride separately from Belle as they are coming straight from the shelter. So legs from Indy north will definitely need more than one driver, and given the number of dogs we’re taking, most likely we’ll need 2 or 3 drivers for the Indy dogs.

Please, please, please – I need crossposting help from EVERYONE!!

Transport Coordinator:
PLEASE CONTACT DIRECTLY IF YOU CAN HELP
Kelly Gibson
mdgrrrl@msn.com

Please provide the following – EVEN IF YOU HAVE DRIVEN FOR ME BEFORE – I HAVE LOST ALL PRIOR INFO!!
Leg offered:
First & Last Name:
Location (city/state):
Please provide full address if volunteering for the overnight.
Email:
Is email available from home or only work?
Home phone:
Cell phone:
Vehicle make/model/color/etc:
Name of coordinators or groups for whom you’ve driven before. If none, please give vet name and contact number.
Recommended meeting place, if any:

Passenger details are at the bottom of the post.

SATURDAY, OCT 31

Belle to be brought to Pbgh on Friday.

LEG 5: Wheeling, WV to Cambridge, OH
47 miles; 45 min
2:10 PM – 2:55 PM EDT
Filled – thank you Rosanna!!

LEG 6: Cambridge, OH to Columbus, OH
79.8 miles; 1 hr 20 min
3:10 PM – 4:30 PM EDT
Filled – thank you Wende!!

LEG 7: Columbus, OH to Dayton, OH
66.3 miles; 1 hr 5 min
4:45 PM – 5:50 PM EDT
Filled – thank you May!!

LEG 8: Dayton, OH to Indianapolis, IN
100 miles; 1 hr 30 min
6:05 PM – 7:35 PM EDT
Filled – thank you Bonnie!!

OVERNIGHT IN / AROUND INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Filled – thank you Jodi!!

SUNDAY, NOV 1

Indy dogs join transport.

LEG 9: Indianapolis, IN to Lafayette, IN (I-65)
62 miles; 1 hr 9 min
8:00 AM – 9:10 AM EDT
DRIVER 1: Filled – thank you Julie!! (Belle)
DRIVER 2: Filled – thank you Krysha!! (Indy dogs)
DRIVER 3: Filled – thank you Barb!! (Indy dogs)

LEG 10: Lafayette, IN to Crown Point, IN (I-65)
Time zone change, -1 hr
81.1 miles; 1 hr 20 min
9:25 AM – 10:45 AM EDT
8:25 AM – 9:45 AM CDT
DRIVER 1: Filled – thank you Kari!! (Belle)
DRIVER 2: Filled – thank you Krysha!! (Indy dogs)
DRIVER 3: Filled – thank you Barb!! (Indy dogs)

LEG 11: Crown Point, IN to Hinsdale, IL
46.1 miles; 1 hr 5 min
10:00 AM – 11:05 AM CDT
DRIVER 1: Filled – thank you Kathy!! (Belle)
DRIVER 2: Filled – thank you Melody!! (Indy dogs)
DRIVER 3: Filled – thank you Lisa!! (Indy dogs)

LEG 12: Hinsdale, IL to Rockford, IL (I-90)
68.9 miles; 1 hr 3 min
11:20 AM – 12:25 PM CDT
DRIVER 1: Filled – thank you Diane!! (Belle)
DRIVER 2: Filled – thank you Sunnie & Bill!! (Indy dogs)
DRIVER 3: Filled – thank you Tom!! (Indy dogs)

LEG 13: Rockford, IL to Madison, WI (I-90)
63.2 miles; 58 min
12:40 PM – 1:40 PM CDT
DRIVER 1: Filled – thank you Beth!! (Belle)
DRIVER 2: Filled – thank you Michele!! (Indy dogs)
DRIVER 3: Filled – thank you Mary!! (Indy dogs)

LEG 14: Madison, WI to Tomah, WI (I-90 / 94)
94.6 miles; 1 hr 30 min
1:55 PM – 3:25 PM CDT
DRIVER 1: Filled – thank you Nancy!! (Belle)
DRIVER 2: Filled – thank you Kristin!! (Indy dogs)
DRIVER 3: Filled – thank you Renee!! (Indy dogs)

LEG 15: Tomah, WI to Eau Claire, WI (I-94)
76.6 miles; 1 hr 16 min
3:40 PM – 4:55 PM CDT
DRIVER 1: Filled – thank you Jenny!! (Belle)
DRIVER 2: Filled – thank you Jennifer!! (Indy dogs)

LEG 16: Eau Claire, WI to Woodbury, MN (I-94)
82 miles; 1 hr 18 min
5:10 PM – 6:30 PM CDT
DRIVER 1: Filled – thank you Jenny!! (Belle)
DRIVER 2: Filled – thank you Jennifer!! (Indy dogs)

*************************************
PASSENGER DETAILS
NOTE: All dogs on the transport are UTD on shots and will be accompanied by a health certificate.
*************************************

RECEIVER:
Minnesota Boxer Rescue
Woodbury MN
www.mnboxerrescue.org

SENDER:

Owner
Dale City, VA

PASSENGER:

Belle
6 months old
Shots UYD
Intact; will be altered by receiving rescue
Partly housebroken; crate trained
Good with dogs, cats, and kids
SUPER sweet

I was glad that JediCon WV was on my calendar Saturday, not just for the whole spend-a-day-with-other-Star-Wars-fans thing, but also because I figured it would prevent me from basically pacing around the house and worrying about running my first marathon the next day.

Up at six o’clock, then, intent on leaving by seven for the two-hour drive to Wheeling, West Virginia.

JediCon, though it was a small event, was a milestone for me: It was the first show to which I’d been invited as a guest by the organizers, who got in touch with me shortly after I relaunched “Collect All 21″ back in April. And just a few weeks back, they asked if I’d like to do a presentation/reading from the book – another first for me.

I’m a huge fan of road trips: I love checking out different routes and figuring out how to see places I’ve never been without going too far out of my way. I love stocking the car with maps and music and audiobooks. I love that feeling of pulling out of the driveway before sunup knowing that daylight will illuminate things I’ve never seen.

This was also the first Saturday in 18 weeks that I wouldn’t be running.

For the drive to Wheeling, I’d chosen a route mostly clear of the main freeways: U.S. Route 250, running forty miles shorter than the trip by interstates 77 and 70, but comparable in terms of estimated travel time. I had, in fact traveled a small part of this road before: An Arby’s at a rural intersection struck me as familiar, and I remembered it was where Jenn and I had stopped for lunch a few years ago after dropping Kelsey off for a week at the YMCA’s Camp Tippecanoe. It was her first time away from home not being spent with family, and it was the same camp where I’d spent a few weeks over a couple summers when I was a kid. It was a quiet lunch that day, and a little sad.

Beyond that, I was mostly on a two-lane road I’d never driven, and it was a beautiful morning for the trip, with a low, gray sky, hills all around, and the woods nearing their seasonal-change color peak. To keep myself in a nostalgic mood fitting for my reading and a day around Star Wars, I listened to Wil Wheaton’s “The Happiest Days of Our Lives.”

I reached the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum just after 9 a.m., and saw a couple guys unloading a life-sized Darth Vader statue built from Legos. The convention was in the museum’s basement, in a room much smaller than I’d expected. A few of the vendors and fan organizations were no-shows, and one of the other guests – a guy who’d worked on the original Star Wars and was supposed to bring pieces of the original Death Star to display – had canceled the day before.

Still, I was here, as was Kim Simmons, a photographer who had worked for Kenner and shot many of the original packaging photos and action-figure setups, and spending a day with fellow Star Wars fans has, to me, never failed to be fun.

Kim sat down at my table, recognizing me and my book from the OSWCC Summer Social in 2008, right after I’d launched the first edition, and we wound up talking for a half-hour or so. A super-nice guy, he was going to buy a copy, but instead we settled on a trade for a signed print of the old Dewback box scene he’d created.

He also said he’d let me use his laptop and projector for my reading, since I’d brought along a slideshow of childhood pictures to accompany some of my memories. My reading started a little later than the 11 a.m. scheduled time, due to a slight technical glitch with the projector, but when it started, there were probably about a dozen people in the room, and a handful of others arrived after I’d begun. I had fun, and it seemed like I got laughs at the right moments, and I think I saw smiles of recognized shared nostalgia while I read and clicked through the slides.

Over the eight hours I was there, even though this was easily the smallest convention I’ve ever attended, I sold more copies of “Collect All 21!” than I ever have before, probably because it was aimed directly at Star Wars fans, and I had something in common with every visitor who walked in.

Other stuff:

In the silent auction for charity, I wound up the high bidder for a sweet DVD packed with a hundred and ten 1970s and 80s Kenner Star Wars commercials. (Wampaaa! Wampaaaaaaaa!)

Spent some time talking Legos with a very friendly builder from the Toy and Plastic Brick Museum (practically right across the river in Bellaire, Ohio, and if I’d had more time, I’d have tried to work a stop there into the trip, because she made it sound awfully neat).

I left for home just before 5 p.m., my boxes of books a bit lighter, my spirits high, my nerves about the race still at bay, and the sun just starting to turn the hills to fire and rust.

What wonderful cooperation the Burnham Baseball Project has had from the weather! On Saturday we drove to Wheeling, West Virginia through torrential rains. Why Wheeling, you may ask (but even if you don’t, I will tell you). [That last sentence was hard to punctuate, as "Why Wheeling" cries out for a question mark, but a question mark would appear to be sentence-ending. But the sentence itself is not interrogatory and would be confusing if it ended with a question mark. Suggestions for a good solution to this problem would be appreciated.]

The long-awaited answer is that when I planned this weekend trip to Pittsburgh, I first determined that the Pirates were in town. I next searched for hotels near the ball park, and was shocked to discover that the first ones I tried were sold out. I don’t recall what I then clicked on, maybe something about Events in Pittsburgh, but I then discovered that the G-20 summit was taking place in Pittsburgh at the end of that week. This was not a good time to go to the game, because even if we could get a hotel room, I do not enjoy the smell of tear gas while watching a game.

In thinking it would be best to stay outside of Pittsburgh, Wheeling somehow leapt to mind, as I has seen ads for the Wheeling Island Casino when we drove through on our way to Columbus, and the availability of this casino was also reinforced by reading about how World Series of Poker chip leader Darvin Moon got his entry there. When I checked and found that there was a tournament at 3 on Saturday, that sealed the deal. So the plan was to drive the two hours to Wheeling on Saturday, play the tournament and spend the night there, then drive the one hour to Pittsburgh Sunday morning for the 1:30 game, and drive the three hours back on Sunday after the game.

All seemed to go well except for the weather. We arrived at the casino at about noon. I discovered that I had to have a players card to play in the tournament, so we got in the long line for that. Terry was reluctant to get one, but I pointed out that they gave you $10 in free play, which is the only time I invest in a slot machine. We finally got our cards at about 12:30. Signup wasn’t until 1:00, so we had lunch at the casino. The food was pretty good at the sitdown restaurant there, and the service was excellent. I had second breakfast of omelette and Terry had the special, which was cabbage rolls and mashed potato.

She ordered an “Arnold Palmer” off the menu. This was something I had never heard of. In response to my inquiries, she did a google search on her cell phone and found that Palmer (who was from nearby Latrobe, Pennsylvania) was fond of mixing at home a drink of half lemonade and half iced tea. The story is that when a woman overheard him ordering it in a Palm Beach clubhouse, she then asked the server for one of those “Arnold Palmer drinks” and it soon spread across the country. The entry said that it is now licensed to Arizona. I mention this because it raises an interesting trademark question. It seems to me that if it had started life as a bottled beverage, then you could not put it on your menu without infringing the trademark of that company. But since it started life as the drink that Arnold Palmer drinks, you are not infringing a trademark. However, you may be interfering with his right of publicity, as you are using his name for commercial gain. When the very helpful waitress brought the check, I asked her whether they were serving a commercial product or mixing it themselves, and she said they were mixing it themselves.

After lunch I did the tournament signup and then we drove to our motel, which was about two miles away. The drive through Wheeling reminded me of Wallace, Idaho, the city where the last construction of 1-90 took place. You used to have to get off the highway and drive through town, and then get on again. The narrow valley made for tricky construction, but they finally got it done. I guess the similarity shouldn’t surprise me, for West Virginia is The Mountain State and Montana means the mountainous place. Both also have a resource-based economy. It was also cool to drive on The National Road, which was the first interstate, taking settlers to what was then the West in the 1830s. There is a very cool suspension bridge over the river at Wheeling, much like a miniature Brooklyn Bridge.

After we got settled, I made my way back to the casino and did very badly in the tournament. I then set out to find a slot machine I understood. Actually, the only one I understand (in addition to the ones with oranges and cherries, which are hard to find these days) is video poker. Of course, in Montana they claim that video poker is not a slot machine since we allow video poker and not slot machines. This is a carryover from the idea that video poker is merely poker, which is a game of skill, played on a machine, while a slot machine is a game of chance. Nice theory, but the video poker machine, which plays draw poker, has default settings so you don’t have to use your skill to decide which cards to hold. It is also programmed to retain a certain percentage of the money, sometimes in Montana approaching a whopping 17%, so even with perfect play you cannot come out ahead. To my mind, this makes it a game of chance. In a game of skill, if you are a better than average player, in the long run you will come out ahead.

Anyway, the attendant finally took me to a machine that I had not realized was a poker machine because the face of it was a menu of different games and you had to choose video poker. There were about four of them, but since she had indicated one of them, I decided that had to be my lucky machine. I put in my card and downloaded my credits. I have to admit I am not quite sure what happened after that. I tried to remember to push the maximum credits button before I played each time, but I think I forgot sometimes. It seemed I won every hand I played. But I couldn’t figure out from the machine what I had won, since it just recorded a bunch of credits. I also knew that I wanted to play down the credits on my card without using up my winnings, but I wasn’t sure how to do that. So I decided to cash out, thinking I might have earned a dollar or two, and was surprised when the credit slip said I had $35! I then did the same with Terry’s card, and while I thought I had won less than when I used my card, when I cashed that one out I found I had another $55! I do not, however, conclude from this that video poker is either profitable or interesting, but I do conclude, as we say in Montana, that winning $90 is better than a kick in the face! I then played a little poker, without much success, and left the casino, driving back to the hotel in the rain.

I would make a good poster boy for Proposition 3, the Ohio constitutional amendment that would bring gambling to Ohio. They are running a very subtle campaign. Most of the ads just say something like “Keep jobs in Ohio – vote for Prop 3″ and show the map of Ohio with money flowing out in all directions, without telling you exactly what the proposition is all about. Since I have made visits to Greektown Casino in Detroit and Wheeling Island in West Virginia, I guess I exemplify those who are taking Ohio money out of the state. But while I don’t expect to regularly leave the state for that purpose, I would frequent a poker room if they built one in Columbus.

PNC Park from Roberto Clemente Bridge

The next morning we drove in more rain to Pittsburgh. We drove on the expressway (we call them that in Boston) past the park and got off on back streets and made our way to the park. There was parking for $20 right in a lot right in front of the stadium, but I thought that was a lot of money, plus it might be hard to make a getaway. So we drove another couple of blocks and found a parking structure where parking was $12. This turned out to be great, as we were able to back into a spot right on the first level not far from the exit, and the exit led right to the entrance to the freeway (we call them that in Los Angeles). We donned our rain gear and headed out to the park. It was now about 11:30, two hours before game time. A number of park personnel were also making their way to the game. We went past the stadium, pausing to check out some of the many statues – Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, and Willie Stargell were all so honored – continuing to the river and found (as I had read somewhere) that there was a nice riverwalk. We walked west on that to the Roberto Clemente Bridge, which got some award as the most beautiful bridge of 1928, but I thought it was pretty ugly. It did, however, afford wonderful views of the city and, looking back, of the park. While the park is fortress-like on the street side, on the river side it is very open, which is obviously why it is celebrated for the views of the city you get when you are in it. We then walked back across, took in some of the artwork, and entered the park in left field with about an hour to go. We were seated behind home plate, so we started our circumnavigation toward left field. We walked past Manny’s Barbeque and made a note that this was a likely candidate for food. You can look right in at the pitchers warming up in the bullpen. At the little-used right field entrance, we saw a small crowd and discovered fans getting their pictures taken with players. I got mine taken with Andrew McCutchen (as I found out later) who ended up being one of the batting heroes of the game.

Me and Andrew McCutchen (I'm on the right)

We found our seats, which were just a little bit up the first base line from home plate and about 20 feet back. We were just under the overhanging seats above us, so we would probably stay dry if it started to rain again, which it did a little bit. We then made our way the rest of the way around and back to Manny’s. This little nook is operated by Manny Sanguillen. I must say I have a hard time following the career of a lot of players, especially National League players, but I remembered him as the Pirates catcher in the 1970’s. Terry was sucked in by the burgers that were actually being barbecued, while I got sliders of half pork and half beef. Along with baked beans and cole slaw, I thought this was a pretty good deal for $8. We then made our way back to a draft beer stand we had seen. I got a William Penn Dark, which I thought was a pretty good stout. This meal confirmed my view that beer goes with barbecue. We were really stuffed after polishing off that grub, and I was still burping it up two days later. We forewent (if that is a word) any other food at the park, even though we had spotted some pretty good looking caramel corn in our tour, and we made a meal out of Starbucks beverages that night.

The game was probably the best I have seen this season. But I think this is the point at which I have to confess to my marital infidelity. You will recall that in my post “On Rooting” I said that in a contest between the Dodgers and the Pirates playing at home, then I would root for the Dodgers. Terry even says this is part of our marriage vows, but I doubt that, and even if it were true, that is not like a contract, right? Well, as the game progressed, I began to get a warm feeling for the Pirates. Here they are the last place team in their division with a budget of about $100,000 (the guy in the stands behind us who was a font of statistical data that he didn’t mind sharing with all around him would be pleased to confirm the exact amount) while the Dodgers are guaranteed a playoff spot and have a budget of about $200 million (admittedly a lot but less than a certain team that thinks it can spend its way to a world series victory). Plus my man Willie McCutcheon was tearing up the field, going 4 for 5. Plus the Pirates got behind in the top of the ninth and staged a rally to come back, aided by some bonehead plays by the Trolley Dodgers. So this is all leading to a confession that I slowly succumbed to their charms and began rooting for the Pirates, quietly at first, but in the bottom of the ninth, actively standing up and cheering as they rallied for a victory.

I am now finishing this post a couple of weeks later. I have been faithfully rooting for the Dodgers, who just beat St Louis in the division series, but nevertheless I am constantly reminded of my infidelity.

We had an easy trip home after the game, stopping, as mentioned, for the Starbucks that became our dinner. I like going to Pittsburgh. Maybe we will have to go again to see some of the city (and possibly to pause at Wheeling on the way).

Attention fellow Star Wars and/or 1980s pop culture geeks in the Western Pennsylvania/Eastern Ohio/Northern West Virginia area: Nerdfest coming up Saturday (Oct. 10) at the sixth edition of JediConWV.

It’s at the Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum, and I’ll be there most of the day signing and selling copies of “Collect All 21!“. At 11 a.m., I’ll be reading some excerpts accompanied by 1970s & ’80s photos (Brown corduroys! Avocado linoluem! Gold curtains! C’mon, hands up if you remember!) and 8mm home movie stills. It’ll be an unparalleled multimedia extravaganza, I swear. (Or not. But I’m planning to have fun, I can tell you that much.)

And if you don’t want to come all the way to Wheeling (though it is only 60 miles from Pittsburgh, 90 from Akron/Canton, 127 from Columbus, and 2,464 from Shumway, California) just to see me, I get that.

You should also know, though, that Jon Seay is supposed to be there with original Star Wars props and tales of working on the first movie; Kim Simmons, “The Man Who Shot Luke Skywalker” is on the list, and Don Pedicini Jr. created some exclusive artwork and posters just for the occasion.

Perhaps I can say it best by paraphrasing the poet-warrior John McClane: “Come out to JediCon, we’ll get together, have a few laughs…“

]]> http://travelusblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/indoor-tennis-at-wheeling-park/ Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:54:50 +0000 US-Traveler http://travelusblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/indoor-tennis-at-wheeling-park/

The recently renovated Indoor Tennis Center at the Wheeling Park, also called “Bubble,” is located between the outdoor swimming pool and the ice skating rink. The heated courts feature new, cushioned surfaces. Non-marking tennis shoes are required. A full season of tennis instruction will be available under the direction of the Oglebay/Wheeling Park Tennis Pro. This is a great activity to enjoy with your friends and family anytime of the year. For more information, visit the Wheeling Destination Guide.

Leftover from my tattoo show at Gallery on 43rd. Street in 2006, and is just one of my SALE pieces.

My studio tends to get cluttered and I take a lot of ribbing about it from friends and family. I admit my workspace does get clogged with stuff, but as assemblage artists will tell you, it is the nature of the beast. Years ago, when I was concentrating on watercolor and color pencil, life was simpler and my workspace much less hectic. Recently I made one of my semi-annual attempts to clean the studio and hopefully make more work space available. While my tin cans, old metal, and miscellaneous collage and assemblage stuff takes up a lot of my studio space, I discovered something else. I have way too much “old” art work that is also taking up valuable work space. These are pieces that are left over from various exhibitions, parts of past themes of work, or works that just do not fit in with what I am currently exhibiting. So, I have decided to have a “sale”within a sale!

I will be exhibiting my work at Oglebayfest Artists Market in Wheeling, WV on October 2, 3, and 4, 2009. About one half of my booth will be devoted to my Studio Clean-up Sale: older work that has been taking up space in the studio and will be sold CHEAP! These include assemblages, collages, mixed-media paintings, and some older tin work. And as those pesky used car dealers keep telling us, “When they’re gone, they’re gone!” (The other half of my booth will be current work that WILL NOT be discounted.) I have never done this before, so in a future blog I will let you know how this works out!

Only in West Virginia!

    Last Saturday Chris and I were walking to Wheeling’s Centre Market to grab some late afternoon lunch and we stumbled upon the sign shown above. Now I am not exactly sure what a “redneck yard sale” is, but I sure was curious. However, we looked down the alley in the direction the arrow was pointing, but no yard sale was in sight. Perhaps the sale was already shut down for the day. Bummer!

    Although I missed the redneck yard sale, I did drive over to Pennsylvania to visit the Bull Creek Fleatique on Sunday morning. It was that kind of cool, crisp morning that lets you know fall is right around the corner. As I walked around I heard dealers mumbling about forgetting their gloves. The kettle corn booth smelled especially good this day (do aromas travel more easily when the air is cool?), and I began salivating for the sweet ‘n salty snack even though it was only a little after 7 AM. Here are a few pics:

The morning sun comes up on the flea market early birds.

Got gas?

Time to make art! These clocks were just begging to be part of an assemblage.

More odds and ends to stimulate the artistic mind!

Two "incomplete" Brownie Soda signs waiting to be adopted.

How about your own siren?

A beautiful morning for a flea market!

Nini’s Treasures – the name says it all… truly a treasure chest full of many unusual items! Nini’s Treasures offers something for the woman with that flair for style that cannot be found anywhere else. Nini’s offers the largest selection of “Brighton” products in the Ohio Valley: belts, small leather goods, handbags, jewelry, luggage, shoes, fragrances and home decor items. Nini’s Treasures offers one-of-a-kind clothing from designers all over the US and Canada. Stop by to find your special treasure at Nini’s Treasures! Wheeling’s unique boutique…totally new, yet totally you! Open year round. For more information, visit the Wheeling Destination Guide.

Wheeling, nestled cozily along the banks of the Ohio River, has a great deal to offer both residents and tourists alike. Established with a solid reputation for friendliness and good service, any visit to this charming city is certain to be the first of many. Steeped in rich history and bursting with activities for the young and old, Wheeling is your place to play! First-time visitors to the Friendly City should take some time getting to know the background of this historic area. For a glimpse into the past, tour the West Virginia Independence Hall. Walk across the 150-year-old Wheeling Suspension Bridge and gaze at the graceful waters of the Ohio River — or better yet — take a walk through Victorian Old Town and visit breathtaking homes from the stylish Victorian Era. For more information, visit the Wheeling Destination Guide.

She's willing to wait it out.

So.  Third day in a wheelchair.

Saturdays seem to be my most “normal feeling” days, so I accomplished basically everything.  But I’m also getting sick so that added a twist to things.  Keep coughing, feel about to die.

I stayed in bed till nearly noon.  I was supposed to 1. read the selected essay excerpt in bed.  Unfortunately, though I kept checking my trusty iPhone, I did not have the selected essay excerpt, as Kyla was sowing her wild oats till late last night.  I was unable to read the excerpt in bed.  However, after finally arising slightly before noon & 2. transferring out of bed, I found the file in my email.

I don’t have all the citation info, but the essay is called “Beauty & the Freak” & is written by Rosemarie Garland Thomson.  I’m not able to make much sense of it now, late at night after a long day, but suffice to say it makes the sort of points you’d expect about “freakish” bodies put on display & the history of such displays. In the essay, Garland draws a somewhat predictable parallel between freak shows & beauty pageants.

I read it, & was also supposed to 3. ask someone without an MFA to read & discuss.

The trustworthy Ptolemy Tompkins answered my plea.  & we discussed the essay over Skype.

Somehow captured single instance in which he looks benign & I creepy

Afterwards, Shannon & the man arrived & The Man 4. took Bella for her daily constitutional. Then the three of us (Shannon, man, I) 5. Went for lunch at restaurant of their choice. It wasn’t inaccessible so I didn’t make note of it.  Though we did pass other inaccessible spots along the way.

We had a nice long chat about how America is the best country in the entire world, & how awful it is to live surrounded by culturally illiterate Canadians.  That was my thesis (I jest. I jest-ish.) at least.

Then 6. headed to Shopper’s Drug Mart nearby me. I was supposed to 7. find an article in a magazine that related to disability.

Obviously– & I’m not saying this is a good thing– none of the magazines related directly to disability.

I did search.

So I rolled around, encountering a few obstacles.  Noticed, for first time, how most tempting junk food is placed at a child’s eye level! Never noticed this when I was two feet taller.

Also encountered inaccessible barrier.

Observe the frustration!

Did you see my lap?  I’d eventually found the perfect magazine.  LIFE magazine’s tribute to Marilyn Monroe.  Not only is it full of pleasantly voyeuristic photos, it also has plenty of text to keep one occupied.  Well, I didn’t note any of this.  I just knew it was perfect, posed for a picture, & purchased.

I want to be lived by you, just you.

“I sense a project!” The salesgirl said.  Right she was.

I was supposed to 8. Make a convincing connection between the magazine & disability & blog about it. This seemed much easier six or seven hours ago.  Fortunately, I wrote notes, “Beauty & the Freak” still fresh in my mind.

Garland notes how, after the 1920s, freak shows began a decline & beauty pageants became much more popular.

I’ll give you my verbatim (sloppy) notes:

society turns away attention previously reserved for freaks & focuses it all on beauties.  marilyn monroe first casuality!  in tribute magazine, they speculate about abortions & cite her gynecologist.  what do we know of stephen hawking’s doctors?

“freaks” now at least are granted dignity & privacy.  but when have you heard a parent tell a child not to stare at a beautiful woman?   in the case of many, beauty is a debilitating & often terminal illness, disguised as a blessing.

does this coincide with the decline of the nuclear family?  everybody becomes everybody else’s property, so we can ruthlessly exploit the commodity of others’ beauty while feeling a sense of  guilty responsibility towards weaker members.  decline in the boundaries of the body?  hmm

I’d originally intended to formulate those, & other thoughts (I assure you, I have many), into a coherent argument, but no hope for that now.  Though I feel a little queasy about providing you with my basically arbitrary jottings, at this point it’s preferable to the alternative (attempt at lucid argument). Now you might choose to challenge me, but I have an excuse!

Finally, I went to Kyla’s for 9. Dinner & a movie. I wheeled the whole way by myself!  Five blocks (all uphill!) took me about thirty minutes.  It was difficult, but making it there was a matter of pride. I was somewhat surprised that NONE of the people who passed me offered help.

After dinner (thanks, Kyla!) we watched my grandfather’s film The Men.  Marlon Brando’s first movie.  Actually very good. Probably resonated with me more this week than it might have otherwise, as Brando plays paraplegic war vet.  For its time, very progressive.

Finally, 10. Wheeled home (with Shannon’s help) to sleep.

Tomorrow is my day off!  I’ll spend it doing errands, etc. Happy to answer any questions, realize this post was fairly cursory.  See you on the other side.

So I’ve been in a wheelchair for well over 24 hours now.  It has been stranger than I expected, but for different reasons.

Physically, it’s been much easier than I anticipated.  There are, of course, little inconveniences; say, it takes up to a minute of wrangling to open a door.  I discover my soap & moisturizer are out of reach. It’s cold to take a shower seated upright above a bathtub.  But I’ve always been at home with physical discomfort, in fact, I kind of enjoy it.

Lucky me, because I’m getting sick.  It feels like my lungs are full of honeycomb & wool (the itchy kind).  Do you think it’s because of all the germs I get on my hands from wheeling?  It is, of course, inevitable that this project will take a physical as well as a psychological toll on me.  Eg., a few weeks ago I got lemon juice in my eye & experienced absolutely no sensation.

Anyway, I also thought it would be nearly impossible to navigate the day’s tasks… & it would have been, alone, on the first full day in a chair.  But I wasn’t alone for most of it.

After waking up, I transferred out of bed & then, eventually into the tub where I took my 1. shower.  It wasn’t the indulgent affair it usually is for me (I’m world-renowned for ridiculously long showers) but it did the trick.  Getting dressed in a wheelchair is certainly difficult.  But I’m very glad I store all my clean clothing in a heap on the floor.   Bella’s estranged father happens to live in Vancouver & he came by with his girlfriend (my friend Shannon) to 2. take the dog for a walk. Bella hasn’t seen him in around three years so it was a little much for her to take in.

I 3. sprayed on some of Shannon’s perfume. I like the smell, but it was supremely uncomfortable.  Obviously.  I mean, it was just how you would expect wearing someone else’s perfume to feel.  

Round & round, all through the town

After the man headed off to the library Shannon & I checked the bus routes.  We wheeled over & waited.

You all want to know about people’s reactions.  Well, I can tell you: they’re different.  They’re different in the way you’d expect them to be different.  I presume that what you mean when you want to hear about people’s reactions is that you want to hear about the emotional reaction I have to these different reactions.  Honestly, it doesn’t particularly bother or surprise me (though I’m sure it would be different if this was my permanent condition), so I’m less inclined to write about the predictable awkwardness of strangers.

Still, ok: there’s the expected range of reactions.  A lot of pitying looks, a conspicuous absence of male interest, a lot of social discomfort (where should I stand? Should I offer to help? Don’t stare!) etc.  I kind of enjoy it, at present.  I always feel exposed in public, &, perhaps oddly, I like the feeling of invisibility disability gives me.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t advocate this kind of lack of awareness on your parts.  Generally, I think everyone should be treated as human.  However, I feel like an odd & in some ways inhuman person, & I guess at the moment it’s a relief to have a visible marker of it.

Look carefully at that finger on the right. This is the most you'll see of Shannon all year.

Perhaps it’s because for the past several weeks I’ve had to be so extroverted in a way that doesn’t come naturally to me.  Now people look at me & don’t see me or don’t want to– good! I don’t want them to either.  I was a little giddy with the knowledge that I could behave however I wanted & get away with it.  Once on the bus, I kept thinking I could scream “WHY, WHY, WHY!” the whole ride to Granville Island & no one would put me off.  I would just get sympathetic, uncomfortable gazes.  In my normal life, I experience a lot of reactions from strangers, but sympathy almost never.  Only when I fall down the stairs or in the street, which is often.  Clumsy!

By the way, if you hadn’t already gathered this, I 4. Took the bus.

I also like how people now treat me as if I’m some sort of gentle saint.  I mean, really, I eat it up!!

A man with no teeth came & stared at me & then asked “What happened to you?”

“It’s a long story,” I told him.  “A very long story!”

Then we kept wheeling along.

It’s funny to need people.  It’s funny to need them so badly that you have to pay them to accompany you!  I’ll be doing a lot of that this week.  It’s funny to feel like it’s only right to pay someone for spending time with you.

Spent some time under a bridge with crow.

Shannon & I wheeled around Granville Island & through the market, to see what it was like.

Actually, I found it not much different from navigating those crowded passages in an able body.  Except, of course, you’re much shorter, slower & everyone stares.

Check out my wheels

We were supposed to 5. Eat lunch at the Indian stall. Neither of us felt like Indian, but it wasn’t my choice to make.  I hung around, as several people skipped past me in line, & attempted to see into the display case.  I wasn’t quite the right height.  Eventually, we managed to order.  We got four chicken samosas.

Mr. Cellophane should have been my name

They were adequate.  We ate them outside, where Shannon refused to let me take her picture.  “Just the back of your head!” I said.  But apparently she hates the back of her head.

We went for a second lunch of steak & a bottle of wine.  The food was mediocre, the conversation certifiably excellent.  The waitresses were, of course, concerned & solicitous.  So I felt more comfortable than usual sending back my steak.  It was cooked medium & I wanted (…needed!) rare.  I’ve always had an uncommon bloodlust.  I’d eat all meat raw if I could.

I considered my packaged leftovers my 6. Groceries for dinner.  I ate them for dinner, after all.  My goodness gracious.  I can’t believe I’ve eaten two baked potatoes today. How things change.

Then I picked up 7. Groceries for the week.

Four fine balls of mozzarella.

Missions accomplished, we 8. Took the aquabus home.

What lies beneath?

Do you see the little kid staring?  Totally normal.  I found I liked being at eye level with children.  What I didn’t like, however, was that as children would stare at me with absolutely natural curiosity, their parents would nervously redirect them in such a way that they would realize (often, likely, for the first time) that there was supposed to be something shameful, pitiable, & taboo about physical infirmity.

Upon arriving home, I took a long nap.

Then I headed out to 9. Meet friends at a bar of my choice. I met Krissy & Ray at the bar where I swing-danced with Simon on Wednesday.  I thought there would be a nice parallelism in this.  But it was too noisy for them, & there was a $12 cover (the bouncer pityingly waived it for me) so we went out to walk the streets.  Eventually we ended up elsewhere.

We had 10. a few drinks & talked on a few topics (generally depressing: eg., forced marriage & rape of female virgins before execution in Iran).  Then I10. danced in my wheelchair outside the bathroom.  Very briefly.

Staying "alive."

Fortunately, the bathrooms were also accessible.

The caption of the year

Now I’m home. Soon to bed.  & another long day in the office tomorrow.

All night last night I dreamed normal dreams.  But whenever I walked in my dreams, I would remember that I was supposed to be in a wheelchair.  Then I would feel a horrible sense of guilt at having failed to follow my orders.  Then I would forget again & keep walking. All through the night.  Was very relieved in the morning to discover this wasn’t the case.

I’ve realized, over the course of the past few days, that there’s really no way to accurately simulate the experience of a paraplegic. I can feel the muscles in my legs working involuntarily all the time… helping brace me, keep my balance, etc.  I have managed not to flinch from cold water or unpleasant sensations, but I know that this is absolutely not the same.  Living like this, I can feel how strong my body really is, instead of the reverse.  So I am having two parallel experiences, really: I’m at once able-bodied & disabled.  There’s this mischievous feeling in my legs, which keep telling me walk! They do play along for the time being.  But I know that they’re there if I need them.

It’s only now that I begin to glimpse what it would really be like if they weren’t!