Good morning blind wisdom seekers!
On Sunday I walked along Dunedin’s town belt as part of an 8.2 km event called Town Traverse! I’ve done loads of walking events before, but there was something different about this one. Maybe it was the magnificent views of the city overwhelming so many that made people focus on the visual, whatever it was, I seemed to attract a wealth of comments about not being able to see the view. At one point one woman wanted to give me her eyes so that I could see what I was missing!
Little did she know I was missing very little. The smell of the city forest as we weaved our way through the hill, the feel of the Autumnal grass under my feet, the sound of the sweet birdsong and the taste of the Turkish delight at the top, accompanied me along the way.
The small comfort I can take from this response from others is that Helen Keller had to put up with exactly the same kind of thing. In fact when she went to the top of the Empire State building in New York in 1932, she was written to by Dr John Finlay asking her “what did she see?”
Below are some quotations I have extracted from Helen’s response to Dr Finlay that were published in the New York Times on January 13, 1932.
For me, I am grateful that I am not the only one who sees with her mind! Thank you Helen!
“I was so entranced seeing that I did not think about the sight.”
“ I gave gratitude to God for having given the blind seeing minds.”
“ Until we have looked into darkness, we cannot know what a divine thing vision is.”
“ The strange grass and skies the blind behold are greener and bluer than ordinary eyes see.”
“ Imagination creates distances and horizons that reach to the end of the world.”
And maybe just perhaps …… “I beheld a brighter prospect than my companions with two good eyes.”
I wonder what the sighted really saw on Sunday? I know what I did! A magnificent young city, that had been forged by pioneers who came to our shores with nothing, yet left behind a legacy of learning and heritage that are gifted to Dunedin citizens on a daily basis. The green belt that runs along our city’s mount, forever in our face, a vision of the past that we now enjoy in the present!
And who says we can’t see??????
Loving you all from a sunny Dunedin today where it truly is magnificent!
All those years in Dunedin and I never thought to walk the length of the wonderful, and as far as I know, unique town belt. We must do it next time we come to visit you. As to your experience of it, I am entranced with the idea that you can improve upon what others only see with their eyes. Thanks again for an enlightening blog.
Thank you Dot! Well of course we the blind can see things, and in a lot of cases, improve upon them, especially when it comes to men! âAll men are handsome to meâ is my usual response to a chat up line! Ha ha ha!