When one is blind, you rely on your hearing to give you cues to your surroundings. What you hear may not be accurate.
My fellow writer, told a story about visiting a new doctor for a physical. Marleen was brought to an examination room to change for a mammogram. As she sat waiting, a wailing noise was heard. It ebbed, then grew louder. There was brief moment of silence before the pattern repeated, When the nurse returned, Marleen complained about the sound coming from one of the machines.
“O that is our new wave sound effect to relax our patients.”
“That doesn’t sound like waves to me,” remarked Marleen.
“I agree but the doctor’s spent a lot of money on it so we are to test it.”
Another friend with vision loss has difficulty discerning faces. She would identify a person by their haircut and color. With aging, both the color and style may change often.
On a ferry boat in the Scottish Highlands, I awoke in my lounger to hear bagpipe music playing.
I tapped my husband to ask if he could turn down the recording.
“Honey, you are hearing the creaking of a loose hatch.” My apologies to bagpipe lovers. Busy street crossings have auditory and visual signals. Voice countdowns, verbal commands to walk or beeping are common. One crossings had the sound of a bird call to signal when to cross. It was a nice idea but when the birds in the tree answered, I had no clue if it was safe to cross.
A local garden placed fountains to masks traffic noise when strolling the pathways. Recently, I was walking is circles as I tried to listen for cars in the parking lot entrance. Usually, I am with my husband or friends and the embarrassment is short lived.
My friend Allen wasn’t so lucky. He was in a men’s bathroom alone. He thought he could listen to the toilets flushing and running water to find the toilets and sinks. To his chagrin, after leaving a stall, he found himself washing his hands in the urinal.
When I am in doubt about my surroundings, I ask.
Today’s poem
Reality Hearing
Music or creaking
a bird or signal locating exits and entrances
A person can get his hand
in a urinal
carolaspot July 1, 2024 copyrighted
traveling up and down the blind highway 