Thank You. + for low vision to do rocks

[fernwood]

Wanted to thank everyone here for the support I have received since returning.  

Know that dealing with someone with low vision is tough.  

I have been adapting in so many ways to continue my rock appreciation.  Go by colors and shapes when hunting.  Then wash/scrub everything I found and photograph.  Next is enlarging photos to see what it is.  Then photographing individual rocks.  More computer work to see what it is.  

My fields have had extra work this spring, so am finding some amazing stuff on the limited areas I can get to.  Still have 14 acres of stuff waiting.  

On to advice for avid rock hounds who now have low vision to still experience the joy.

1.  Be sure someone is with them while hunting.  (Yes, do as I say, not as I do, lol).
2.  Be sure to hunt in overcast condition.  Amazing how bright sunlight can distort things.  
3.  Be sure there is easy walking in the area.  (Another do as I say, not as I do).
4.  Have some sort of magnification along, so person can inspect certain finds right away.
5.  Do not dismiss their finds as junk.  One person's junk is another's treasure.
6.  Above all support them in their quest to continue to enjoy doing something they love.
7.  If they cannot do so themselves, help them refine their finds.  Cutting, polishing, cabbing, etc.  Help them remember the hunting trip by providing a special item from it.  Something they can see/use daily would be perfect.
8.  For the finds they found special but you thought were junk, help them make a rock garden, put their finds on a tray or in areas around house, yard, deck, patio, etc.  

I have over 35 years experience assisting those with a variety of challenges and education in the field.  Now applying what I did for others to my own life.  Kinda tough.  But, still wanting to share my expertise with others.  

[coloradocliff]

What a warn, useful and encouraging post.
Thank you !

[geodes4u]

Thank you for your willingness to help others to live rewarding lives. You give a good reminder to us all.

[fernwood]

Would love to see examples of how others have helped people with challenges continue their passion. I remember pushing someone in a wheelchair for 1/2 mile. This was after helping Load them onto an ATV and securing them for the 2 mile trip to the site. Their chair was in another ATV. Thankfully there was a logging road that ran next to the outcropping we were going to. Pushing the person to the outcropping. We then rigged him with equipment. He crawled the 20 ft from the trail to the site and found some great things. We made sure he remained safe the entire time. Seeing his joy is something I will never forget. Felsenmeer in NW WI. He had never been there before, but always wanted to. I was so caught up in his joy, did not do any exploring myself. He was my main priority. He later gave me something for all the help. Still have that one.

[metalsmith]

Only a couple of bits and pieces.

On my way home from the office, I marvelled at the number of people who could walk past a guy struggling, trying to push his wheelchair up a hill. I don't doubt that he would have done it, but I asked him if he wanted a push and he agreed. On the way I introduced myself... He worked in an office just around the corner from mine and not far from the station - which was all uphill. I took him to where he wanted to go. After that I bumped into him quite frequently, tho it was never a regular thing.

A year or so (could have been 2 with my memory) I was on holiday in France when I helped an Irish paraplegic learn to shoot recurve archery. I'm training to be a coach at the moment.

Finally I bumped into a chap from work outside the office; not literally. He is blind and we walked and talked which was a little difficult, as I went a little in front and tried to be an obstruction to the guys'n'girls coming the other way with their heads down in their phones. I was trying to stop a collision, but I wasn't entirely successful. At the station, he thought he would miss his train, so I got him to hold my arm and quickly guided him through the turnstiles. His train was leaving imminently so I tried to help him to hurry. We got faster and faster with him holding onto my arm and gaining in confidence as we sped up. Finally we were running headlong down the platform, him with his white stick waving uncontrollably - he said it had been years since he'd run. That was so funny! And he made the train.

[rockjunquie]

Great list! I don't think you would have to have sight limitations to appreciate it.

After being 100% abled for all of my very active life, I am now faced with mobility issues. orrum is my hero in this.

[orrum]

Hey thanx Tela!!!! You my hero too!!! I ain't shy, I crawl up banks, scoot down mine waste piles on my butt like a four year old! LOL. Best thing is to ride with Tony/Catmandew rockhounding, he an Chris his lively wife take me into some rough places with their truck! LOL It has Billy goat climbing 4x4 abilities!!!

Fern just keep putting one foot in front of the other an get a super strong magnified glass!

[metalsmith]

When I was in my late teens I joined the Territorial Army. A piece of bridge and I had an argument and I lost. I went from running 70 - 100 miles per week, 4-minute miles, the international squad, training with and kicking special forces butt on the mountains back to zero. The mainstream doctors were surprised that the backwater hospital I stayed at hadn't removed my leg. It was a mess and I was told it was unlikely that I would ever walk again - and certainly never run.

The doctor clearly liked jigsaw puzzles. Despite an almost complete lack of the ability to speak English he put me back together. I was walking of sorts within six months. I had another two operations and given more broken bones to reset; finally they cut my scars off.

It took me fifteen years to run again; nineteen years to run a marathon and on the twentieth anniversary I ran the mountain marathon I had done back with the TA - just as fast. I've now run four mountain and two road marathons in eight years. Not bad counting in a road cycle crash and three years of chronic pain.

I worked out that all those folk with disabilities didn't have a choice in the matter; that they did everything we did despite an additional burden and grew admiration for their efforts. Now if I see someone I can help - if I can then I offer to do so... though I know they would do it without me anyway.