Hello!
September
Entry#73. 9/01/2022.
One of the times my husband and I biked to Oxford Community park, we heard some engine/motor sounds in the air. Then my husband spotted two paragliders in the sky. It was Powered paragliding/ paramotoring. It was such a cool view that they controlled the direction and level of heights. Can you spot them in the photo? You might need to zoom in.
Then it made me curious and google some info. I’ve heard about “disabled tandem skydiving“ before. There is a skydiving for the paraplegic. (They have a program even for quadriplegic. It says “Tandem Skydives: We are the only skydiving center in the United States that specializes in taking quadriplegics skydiving.”)
https://startskydiving.com/skydiving-disabled/
This place is in Middletown, OH, it’s not that far from our town. So there is a possibility/opportunity that my husband could try tandem skydiving if he wants.
I thought that paragliding with “tricycle” would be stabler, maybe? Like this photo. Even I was thinking that controlling flight (direction and height) would be awesome. It’s in Dayton, OH. I found the page about “project airtime”. This one isn’t in OH, but it’s great to know about the idea of “WE TAKE EVERYONE FLYING!” Yes, literally everyone.
This one is also another possibility/opportunity someday in future when he wants to “fly”. I attached a video FYI.
I’m impressed that there are several great opportunities for paraplegic/quadriplegic out there. I do know these are very expensive and sometimes far away. Plus we always need to think about: how to get there. how to transfer/be ready for taking off. how he gets his own wheelchair at the landing point. and more. Whenever we try to do something new, we’d need extra preparation process more than other non-SCI people. Nonetheless I’m still grateful for knowing about several possibilities in the world.
9/03/2022.
I just sneaked into my husband's lab to capture one photo. They were doing "transfer fruit flies to a new tube". It's one of their routines to maintain their "important" insects. It makes me happy to see all lab members together in the lab. My husband still be able to do this kind of basic lab stuffs. His wheelchair fits with the table. As you see, some lab tables are too high. Some counters don't have clearance underneath. With all that conditions, my husband seems to "play it by ear". You might laugh though. I'd be very glad to see the right-height-table for my husband's knees position at any places, anytime. I'd be smiling way too big, you know?
9/04/2022.
A random topic. I saw the article about Tampa international airport's the newest resident: a 21 foot flamingo!! Someday in future, I'd love to see this flamingo with my own eyes with my husband. Hmmmm, well, we've never been to that south side of US though.
Seems they put up the reflective tiles on the ceiling, which will give the illusion of being beneath the water’s surface. That is so awesome!! P.S. It seems that special custom-made ceiling panels were delivered from JAPAN! That's double awesome.
9/05/2022.
I'm going to try focusing on writing something about wheelchair life or SCI stuffs here in this month, maybe, because it's a Spinal Cord Injury Awareness month. Did you know that?
Entry#74. 9/06/2022.
Before my husband started teaching this semester, he reached out and discussed with University ADA department. We were glad getting to know about them. They made time for us, listened to us and made some actions for us, we were pleased about it. I know some things cannot be changeable and my husband can do improvise for most of things around his work environment. But I believe his actions matter for everyone around him, I believe.
I found this article about “Adult Changing Tables”. If there is this kind of table, wheelchair users could use it for any circumstances. It would be useful and convenient very much. I’m grateful to know about these airports’ actions.
“15 Airports in the USA that have Adult Changing Tables”.
https://wheelchairtravel.org/airports-with-adult-changing-tables-usa/?fbclid=IwAR1ToAjrZ5YGjIT1kmg5oby1wIDOGBz7Y6nFZlc7nuD5Owb2EROFAzAfhQ0
My husband’s university ADA department provided a changing table to him, as well. This made his lab work more comfortable and makes him feel safer. I’m grateful for that.
Self-talk 9/06/2022.
You know, we always see this sign at elevator. I've been thinking though. In fire emergency, how does my husband evacuate without using an elevator? Do you have an answer??
Entry#75. 9/07/2022.
In general, I’ve not imagined that wheelchair users FALL from a wheelchair, before. Then I learned that they sometimes do fall unexpectedly, most of the time it happens so quickly, in the blink of an eye. If it happens, I need to stay calm (this is the hardest part to me always), ask that wheelchair user person how I can help him to get back on the wheelchair. Because every individual has their own preference for getting a help to fix the wheelchair position and movements. I attached 3 videos from YouTube. You can see “what does fall look like?” The last video is telling you about “how to assist”. I tried to do this technique for my husband at home. With my son’s help, I tried to pull my son up on the wheelchair. I tried. I failed. Well, it was just too heavy to move to myself. I’m gonna try to train more in someways. Hmmmm tricky.
9/08/2022.
This! just made my day joyful. Plus gorgeous sunshine will make my day brighter.
9/08/2022 #2.
I cleared up an old old box and found a unique creature I made in 2002. I believe it was after our son was born in Manhattan, KS. Between breastfeeding times, I kept crocheting. Good old memories. This one, “blue crocheted CAT” was my very first creation which wasn’t perfect at all. Also as you can see, I forgot to put whiskers on his face, but he has a tail! Somehow I kept it in the box for 20 years!!! Kind of amazing, isn’t it? Inside of him is stuffed with cotton. But his bottom of tummy is stuffed with “dry beans” to make him stable with some weights. (Hands and feet are filled with beans as well.) You can make him any “poses” with sitting position. I love the concept very much. Funny? He still makes us smile with silly poses after 20 years passed. Did he make you smile, too. Laughters are such a great energy source indeed. Love it!
Entry#76. 9/09/2022.
When a public parking is full or there is no public parking, you usually find a spot at curbside to do parallel park. In Louisville, KY, because of the town system, I saw many curb parking lots (on many one-way streets). I guess it would be convenient (and free in Louisville) for most of big city’s downtown area or busy restaurants area. However “Curb park” is very tricky to us (so far, for now, at least).
When my husband is on the passenger seat and is ready to get off the car, his wheelchair needs to be set by the seat as near as possible, like “no gap”. Plus a wheelchair would be stable better on the hard surface ground, not stable on grass. I recognized that there are many grass-curbs in town. They look nice, you know, but I would get feeling a bit disappointed thinking about a wheelchair. So we usually don’t curb park.
When he drives, he needs a full space for a wheelchair to get off from a driver’s seat. As you can imagine easily, opening a driver’s side’s door fully at curb wouldn’t be safe most of the time. Sometimes, in rare cases, we could try that in our (small) town. You see the photo I attached? Hope it makes sense to you, “a curb is tricky”.
Because of these issues, we are always grateful when we find an accessible parking lot in public parking or angled parking. The access aisle (lined area) is very important and essential. Now you see that?
In future, my husband would be able to use grass-curbs, maybe, I’m not sure. For now, we keep looking for the right spots to park, using eyes like a hawk.
9/10/2022.
My husband's former student visited us tonight. I couldn't be happier because their conversation kept going on and on, I almost forgot the passing of time. I'm so glad seeing the wonderful fact that my husband is surrounded by many of great sweet friends indeed.
9/11/2022.
(Happy happy birthday to my wonderful sweet mentor lady!!!).
My husband was a guest speaker today at the Physical Therapists seminar event at Drake/Encompass. I believe that these therapists would help out for spinal cord injury people more efficiently in future.
9/12/2022.
When you miss "chalk art", just go to the cafe with the chalk art menu. This shop's owner is such an artist. And I love her lovely humor each month. "FALL sweet FALL!" Nice.
Then just digging out the old photo from Oct 2021.
9/13/2022.
Can you guess how often you need to pump-up/inflate wheelchair tires? I had no idea. My husband and son already had known some bike maintenance stuffs before. I didn't know much. Now I must know about these stuffs. There is a recommended tire pressure also. Did you know that? (Well maybe most of people know that. I'm embarrassed a bit.) Wheelchair is my husband's must item surely and it's an everyday item. So he does pump up tires once a week. We have now an electric tire inflator which is super convenient and efficient. It's for both Schrader and Presta. You might want it for yourself. Photo left: Inflator and handcycle tire. right: today's evening biking
9/15/2022.
Our blind boy-dog, Ranger "took" my husband to his vet! Finally Ranger's wonderful vet doctor and his staffs saw my husband after the accident. To tell the truth, the very first snail mail card I received right after the accident was from them(!). I was simply pleased that he was able to enter the clinic, see the doctor, shake hands and chat. I was happy. It was very first ride on our minivan to Ranger, too. It was a bit tricky to him, as a blind dog. He never know how the entrance looks like, how high it is and so on. Plus I needed to make a sequence for my husband (wheelchair) and a blind dog. Because I cannot reassemble wheelchair when I have a leash with Ranger, see? The hardest part was, actually, when Ranger gets off the minivan. He wasn't sure where was the surface (ground) and couldn't jump off. Well, he was brave after all.
9/16/2022.
There are many many great people who do wonderful things with sweet hearts everywhere. When I notice it, I always feel like "The world should know this!" Here is one. I used to stick around with local high/middle school cross country teams often just because I loved watching them run. Now I'm a person outside of the groups. Still I got some "sources" to know "what's happening there?". It's all new for the teams in this year. The high school lady teamleader started reciting "Team quote of the day" to all teammates. Everyday through whole season. She gathered great cool quotes from everywhere, from famous authors, famous athletes, former alumni runners, former coaches and so on. She created their NEW tradition for the team. I'm so impressed, fascinated and pleased. See? The world should know about this young athlete (with great photography skills). She definitely pushes me to keep sending cheers to her cross country team! She shared the list of quotes with me. I look at it every morning, smile at it and think of runners. Here, I attached one of them. I love it so much.
Entry#77. 9/18/2022.
Do you have a body weight bathroom scale at your home? Yes, we do. It shows BMI, body fat, water, bone mass, muscle mass so on. My husband and son are kind of sticklers about numbers for building up climbing/mountaining body. It’s always good to maintain healthy body. Now I have a question for you. My husband is now paraplegic. Can you guess how he measure his weight at home?
The answer is “basically NO, he cannot measure his weight at home.” He cannot be on a bathroom scale at all. If, if I can hold him, hold his whole body, we could, theoretically, you know.
Have you seen a foyer lift?? Hospitals have these foyer lifts and it can measure human body weights. So my husband and son did improvise to make their own “foyer system”. It worked anyway. But it was just a one time only system. It was not for everyday use at all.
After my husband’s para-life started at home, controlling his weight seems very challenging because he cannot burn off calories with exercise as same as before, even though his legs’ muscles get lesser and lesser. It’s complicated really. He has been frustrated at the absence of wheelchair scales to track his weight. If he can track his weight everyday, his daily life would be more motivated, like us: non-SCI people.
Have you seen a scale for big animals at veterinary hospital? That’s a very nice one. There are wheelchair scales which are similar with it. However I saw it only at one hospital. Seems not much hospitals have them. I don’t think there is none in our town. (I might be wrong.)
I found this article from 2015.
“Finally, Home wheelchair scale”. Nov 2015https://newmobility.com/home-wheelchair-scale/
I really want to purchase this, however it looks not for sale anymore sadly.
I just wish at least one hospital/clinic can have a wheelchair scale in my town. Do you think it is possible somehow?? Hmmmm. So that he could just stop by to scale everyday or every week to track his weights. Just like veterinary clinics offer dog-owners “come to scale anytime”. However I do understand also that there are not much “needs” for a wheelchair scale. It’s for paraplegic/quadriplegic people most of the time. Wheelchair users who can stand up with feet can use a regular scale with assist. Still I wish there could be easy ways for my husband to track his weight somehow. It’s really a different life. Now you see? Attached a video of “portable wheelchair scale at home” from 2015.
9/19/2022.
12 mile biking wore me out really.
9/20/2022.
Our son did dog-sitting for our friends' dogs for a long weekend, staying several nights with dogs. I had a chance to visit "them".
9/22/2022.
I was born exact after one year and one month my parents got married. So it’s always easy to remember both their anniversary date and their “years” of marriage. It’s 9/23. This time, they celebrate BIG HUGE 50th anniversary! Woooo hooooo. Congratulations, mom and dad! (Yes, I will be 49 next month. Did you do math right?) I had an idea for their 40th anniversary. My wonderful friend in Manchester, Missouri (from Manhattan, Kansas) gave that idea. She collected messages from many many friends secretly and created a big message book for her parents’ anniversary. My husband and I attended making this big surprise gift. I loved the idea very much because we also really enjoyed writing. So I stole her idea and did mimic “surprise gift” for my parents’ 40th anniversary. Yes, it was 10 years ago. I sent snail mails to all my aunts and uncles telling them “please send me back messages and memorable photos of my parents by snail mail.” It was a wonderful surprise to my parents. I wanted to do something bigger for them because it’s 50th! However I couldn’t make it this time (sorry, mom and dad.) Instead I found something neat for us. I purchased two, one for them, one for me here. We have same items there and here, so that every time we see it at each house, we can think of each other. Just LOVE THE IDEA. I need to explain to them about “monarch butterfly” and how much we, my husband, son and I, love them, in Japanese. Happy happy happy 50th anniversary to my parents! Hurrah hurray!
P.S. They enjoy babysitting for their 2 granddaughters very much. That’s their life in these days.
9/23/2022.
Have you thought about "how do wheelchair users pump gas at a gas station?" One of the key-things you need to remember is parking a car "not too close" or "not too far" from a fuel dispenser machine. You need to think about a space for wheelchair movements. Attached 2 YouTube videos. You would be curious. Video #1; the lady is quadriplegic.
My husband will work on this eventually.
Entry#78. 9/24/2022.
Finally crisp morning arrived in this town. It makes me so refreshing. Additional sunshine makes me happier and smile huge. Also crisp morning means “Cross country meets/races” to me, still. I know it’s funny because I’m an outsider from school running world, but it’s still. It makes me feel “ohhhhhh I gotta run!” like that. I biked down to Miami University Cross country course this morning to watch HS Redhawk Rumble. I watched it once before, it’s almost over 7 years ago. This course reminds me of that old old memory. The cool temperature made all runners run faster. All looked great. I couldn’t stop smiling and I just kept yelling “wooooo hoooooo!” to runners. I looked “odd” for sure. After boys 5K race, one boy came to see me saying he got PR, broke 19:00. Then we celebrated with big hugs. That was a special big bonus to myself for today. I really do know how much meaningful to runners for breaking 19:00-wall, since I learned from my son’s cross country seasons. I’m grateful that some of runners still share that real excitements with me, with this almost 49 years old lady. I cannot be a forever-cheerleader for high school runners because they are coming and going each years. So I just cherish what I get, yes, cherish what I’m allowed to do. It was just a perfect crisp morning.
Congratulation, all runners!!
9/25/2022.
The wonderful family of 6 in this town who are loved by everyone, who are educators and runners with wonderful brave 4 children, they recently moved to UK. Lakenheath, UK, so I heard. I just did a quick Google. https://www.lakenheath.af.mil/
I tried to send a snail mail to this family. I know about international postage and international stamps since I mail to Japan every holiday seasons. However I discovered something new and different. You can mail to military bases overseas with standard domestic postage with regular “forever stamps”!! Did you know that? How nice it is. It’s good to know. Now I wonder how many days it will take to reach there? Sending a tiny cheer to this brave strong family for their great adventure.
9/26/2022.
It was just a joyful timing to bump into my dear librarian who is a mother of 2 cuties(!) and a great/fabulous storytime lady, at grocery store. It was perfect because 7 years ago today was the grand opening day for the New building of public library. See? What a coincidence and I do love coincidences anytime. Photos from 7 years ago. Woooow, 7 years ago!!!?
9/27/2022.
Here comes the Sun.
9/28/2022.
There are still ups and downs. When "downs" come here, it's a bit tough to motivate myself. Sometimes two challenging things come together. One is settled, the other one is staying. Well, one at a time. I know. Tried to think about "October" with some colors.
9/30/2022.
Our dog, Ranger is blind now since it's related with some genetic stuff. It had progressed gradually so that he adapted pretty well. He can still go for a walk into a trail. His checkup at vet went well. However right after that, something happened to his eye. After all, it was "lens luxation". We guessed it was extremely painful for him on one-two days. https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/eyes/c_dg_lens_luxation
It is settled for now. We still need to learn about "how to prevent glaucoma". We all need to stay strong no matter what.
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