Disability Dialogue with Bill

Quick Exploration of Boulder Creek Area: Plus Some Needed Relaxation

In July I had a couple of day’s free from my profession (work) which I truly enjoy although I wanted to take full advantage of my time off from work. Generally I work 5-7 days a week and approximately 50-60 or more hours a week and was ready for some relaxation.  I am completely blind and cannot drive myself to locations I enjoy although I could take a taxi even Uber to travel if I really wanted to get away by myself.  When my friend asked me to join him on an overnight trip to Bolder Creek I jumped at the chance to get away. I love mountains and I used to go to them weekly if not daily when I could see and drive myself. To be sure this was a successful trip I carefully packed my things I would need and made sure I could find each item by touch alone. My loving wife Kathy assisted me with packing even though she would not be accompanying me on this trip.

Time for Fun and Relaxation- Day 1:

As soon as we arrived at my friend’s cabin in Bolder Creek I got out of the car and felt the warm air against my skin and breathed in the fresh dry mountain air scented by the trees and shrubs which immediately began to relax me. After unpacking we sat out on the deck at the back of the cabin that overlooks the San Lorenzo River and had lunch. I could hear people laughing as they swam or waded in the river. I could also hear the occasional ducks quacking in the background as I imagined them swimming in the river.

After lunch we stopped by a nursery where I purchased a native California plant to plant in my yard to attract Monarch butterflies.

Besides some relaxing and visiting with each other as we drove around we went on a walk completing the Redwood Grove Loop Trail at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in Felton. I enjoyed the relaxing walk through the very large Redwood trees and through a variety of other native plants and trees. I even enjoyed feeling and smelling the trees bark and plants as we took our leisurely walk in the filtered sun. 

After our walk since my wife Kathy is full blooded Italian, plus I like Italian cookies as well, I had to stop by Ben Lomond Baking Company to sample some Italian cookies including Cucidatis (Italian fig cookies). 

To conclude our enjoyable Thursday my friend and I met up with one of my longtime friends who I have known since 1^st grade for a nice dinner and conversation in town at Scopazzi's Restaurant. Since the night was so pleasant we were able to enjoy our delicious dinner on the outdoor patio. To end our evening all three of us went back to the cabin where we continued our conversation.

Time for More Fun and Relaxation- Day 2:

After a nice breakfast at my friend’s cabin we visited with a few friendly nearby neighbors in the warm air surrounded by Pine, Oak and Bay Laurel trees with some birds chirping here and there. When we concluded our visiting and exploring the forest /woods we drove to Spanky's Cafe where we had an enjoyable lunch in this restored old farm house. When we finished our lunch my friend and I did some other exploring including visiting a place where they sell wooden carvings so I could feel the beautiful wood work and imagine in my minds-eye what each piece looked like.  We then planned to conclude our day by relaxing on Davenport Landing beach.

To get to Davenport from Boulder Creek we cut over the mountains and headed directly towards Bonny Doon Beach. The roads were windy with a lot of elevation changes until we eventually dropped off onto Highway 1and headed north to Davenport Landing Beach. Once we arrived we carried our beach essentials down a large sand dunes until we found a perfect spot near the ocean and a cliff face and cove. Relaxing in the nice warm air with the gentle breeze on the beach was very refreshing since it was 68 degrees which was more than 30 degrees cooler than BC which was 98-100 degrees which we had left earlier in the day. I also enjoyed listening to the waves and the people around us enjoying themselves by playing an acoustic guitar or playing music on boom boxes very softly off in the distance. It was very relaxing as I laid on my back in the sun on the soft warm sand imagining in my mind’s eye the surfers, wind surfers or others playing in the waves that were actually out there although I could not physically see them. 

Time to Conclude Our Fun and Relaxation:

When we concluded our enjoyable beach experience it was time to return home. After returning home to the very hot Santa Clara Valley (on that day ) it was time to unpack and return to my standard daily routine, which I also enjoy, although quite different than the exploration and relaxation I just experienced over the last two days.

Have you been able to find methods to relax like I describe above? Did you have any opportunities for exploration you were not expecting? Do you have any tips to make our opportunities turn out the best for all involved despite any perceived or actual challenges you may have?

We all look forward to hearing from you.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.tipton.39

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton 

Fresh Ocean Air, Quality Time with Family & Friends Heals & Revitalizes

In late June I was blessed to be able to participate in a family vacation in Aptos California with 18 members of my wife Kathy’s side of the family. What made this experience extra special besides the obvious of sharing exceptional memories with others one cares for, I had not been back to the ocean for a family vacation since 2012 which I describe in Family Vacation: Creating Memories, Enjoying Companionship and Nature.

Although I had an enormous amount of work to complete (which realistically for all never ends) I am grateful I allowed myself to take this needed vacation and had faith I would be able to catch up on my work when I returned.

As soon as we arrived at our destination I immediately sensed the stress melting away from my body as I felt the sun against my skin, listened to the ocean waves and breathed in the fresh ocean air. I had no idea such a vacation would positively and immediately affect my mental and physical health (beside one mishap I will explain later). Being completely blind I utilize other senses to interpret my environmental surroundings and mood of the occasion since I can’t see facial expressions. As I listened to the excitement of the others around me my senses instantly confirmed that we were about to experience a fun-filled vacation.

Just a Few of the Enjoyable Activities I Experienced:

• Lounging and relaxing while sitting by the pool feeling the warmth of the sun on my bodyRelaxing at the beach lying on my beach towel on the comfortable sand as the gentle sea breeze cooled me slightly from the heat of the sun
• Lounging and sitting out on the patio at the condo we were staying in listening to the ocean waves, breathing in fresh air and feeling the warmth of the sun on my body
• Sharing many meals with my family members including the ones we prepared ourselves and the ones we went out to restaurants for
• Listening to my cousin play his guitar as we sang along under the stars with the ocean waves glistening from the star light as our backdrop
• Listening to the happy laughter from my family as they played fun games together
• Going on nature walks with my wife Kathy as she described the beautiful scenery to me which was filled with the ocean, bushes, trees, hills and ravines which we crossed on footbridges
• Experienced the excitement of the others as they described to me the many dolphins jumping completely out of the bright blue clear ocean water which they could see from our condo’s patio and balcony
• In the mornings and the evenings I would picture in my mind’s eye as the others described to me such as the many fawns (baby deer) with their parents close by eating right outside the windows of our patio
• Engaged in many conversations in which I seldom have the opportunity to experience the sustained quality time together
• Experienced the joy of partnering with many as we shared living quarters
• Going to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with my wife Kathy, two of my great nieces and one friend we each drove the bumper cars, played arcade games, went on other rides, ate corn dogs, hamburgers and deep fried artichoke hearts
• Not letting a nasty fall the first day of our vacation slow me down in which I bruised and scraped up my left knee badly and slightly sprained my left ankle and foot (I found out about the sprain when I returned home and was examined by my doctor)

 Observations and Reinforcements of Experiences:

• Life passes us by very quickly therefore we should make time and cherish time with loved ones instead of focusing on non-critical activities or inanimate objects
• In our very hectic and fast paced world most of us live in today we can always justify not taking time out of life to spend with loved ones because we feel we are too busy
• Taking time for rest and rejuvenation actually enhances our productivity and creativity when we return to our career or other important personal or professional commitments
• If you are fortunate enough to receive invites to be with others do not selfishly decline thinking only of yourself because possibly others might benefit from your presence
• If you happen to fall and receive injuries like I did (which I am almost completely healed), it is best to have such good fortune of having an emergency room doctor see me fall, causing them to stop their car and get out to help my wife Kathy deliver first aid to me
• Lastly, you never know what will happen in life and the opportunity you pass up to share with others may be your last chance

Does anyone have examples of vacation experiences that benefited you? Do you have any other  experiences I did not list that reinforces the fact that we need to take time out of life’s busy schedule to spend it with others rather than spending our spare time focusing on non-critical activities or inanimate objects? Do you happen to have a disability like I do or have any temporary challenges that you were able to overcome in order to participate in family vacations?

I look forward to hearing your valuable comments to help us continue this important discussion.

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton 

Family Vacation: Creating Memories, Enjoying Companionship and Nature

On a recent family vacation this July, I was grateful to have the ability to visualize in my minds-eye multiple dolphins jumping in groups and individually, whales spouting water into the air from their blow holes with each breath as they surfaced and swam in the vivid blue Pacific Ocean in Monterey Bay, CA. there were adult and baby deer grazing in the nearby fields, seagulls squawking, pelicans and many other birds flying overhead and running on the ground. There was even one raccoon who was attempting to get into one of the places where some of our family members were staying.

I am truly thankful to have had the opportunity to experience this trip with 11 other family members, which included my wife Kathy, two of my nieces, two of my nephews, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, 3 great nieces, 1 great nephew, and my great niece’s friend, ranging in ages from 8 to 71 years.

Even though all I see is blackness due to my blindness, I can still look into the deep blue ocean, clear blue sky, hills, mountains and ravines filled with grasses, bushes and trees to see, feel and sense nature surrounding me. I am also grateful to have had family with me who did not mind describing some of the surroundings and wildlife, as we walked or rode to local destinations, in golf cart type vehicles that were provided to assist guests in getting around the facilities and the local recreational activities at the place where we were staying.

Besides the enjoyable companionship, I enjoyed waking up each morning and listening to the sound of the peaceful ocean waves, birds singing, seagulls squawking, experiencing the warm breeze and the feel of the sun’s rays warming my body, which  created a truly relaxed atmosphere. The fragrance of the flowers, bushes and trees were exhilarating and awakened senses that are, in my opinion, stifled, living in cities or large towns away from nature. 

During our vacation, we enjoyed many wonderful activities, including going to the beach multiple times to enjoy the sun and water. After lying on the beach relaxing on a blanket in the sand, I decided to cool off. I walked into the ocean water with my support cane and felt the crisp, cold water splash up against my legs as the ocean water rushed in all around me. Lying on my back in the sun I listened to the thrill in my family’s voices as they watched the dolphins jumping and the blue whales spouting in the magnificently blue ocean. This was a wonderful experience. I had never seen a dolphin in the wild and never been so close to a whale in the wild when I had eyesight, therefore I was grateful to have these experiences seeing through my family’s eyes and their descriptions of dolphins and whales swimming so close to all of us.

Listening to my great nieces and great nephew riding boogie boards, and building remarkable sand castles filled the environment with very cheerful sounds of joy and exhilaration.

There was also the sound of happiness of others watching one of my nieces and my wife Kathy wading in the ocean surf, as a large wave caught Kathy off guard and got her a little more wet than she anticipated as she yelled out with joy when the wave splashed up against her. From the sounds that filled the air I could sense everybody was having a delightful time, including me!

While my nephews played Frisbee, the rest of us enjoyed just being together, eating, laughing, playing and having a great day at the beach.

We all enjoyed sharing great meals together on our vacation. One of the highlights was when we had a delicious dinner, perfectly cooked barbeque (BBQ) with a variety of delicious side dishes and salads some of us caringly prepared to go with the BBQ. We had such a large group we all could not sit together, therefore some of us enjoyed our dinner inside and others sat outside while we watched dolphins and whales jumping and spouting in the ocean just off the seashore. After a delicious dinner we all went to the beach and sat around a large fire under the twinkling bright stars in the dark sky, where we all roasted marshmallows and made smores, which were delicious. The smell of the burning wood and the crackling sound of the campfire was relaxing, since these smells and sounds reminded me of camping.  While we all enjoyed each other’s companionship sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows and making S’mores, large brightly colored fireworks exploded above our heads on the beach. They exploded with bright shapes in all directions as my family described to me so I could vividly visualize this in my minds-eye. Other highlights of our vacation were eating delicious breakfasts, drinking coffee, tea or juice each morning with the companionship of family while breathing the clean fresh ocean air and listening to the ocean waves outside. Each morning we would look out the windows of the place where we were staying and could see deer grazing with their fawns which had white spots.  This was a wonderful and peaceful sight with the grey blue ocean just off in the distance.

What also made me happy was when other family members would visit each morning to share gratitude and joy, (and food and beverages too), while we prepared to experience a wonderful day at the ocean. I say visit us, because of the size of our group we needed to stay in two places.  Our places were so close to each other, we could walk to them when we wanted to. 

Over the couple of days we all spent together I never felt like I was limited by not having any eyesight. I participated in all of the activities and fun. If I needed assistance, there were family members around to assist. Even my great nieces and great nephew were happy to sight guide me to some locations I was not familiar with. I felt so comfortable on our vacation, if I got disoriented while walking outside by myself using my long white cane for navigation and short support cane, the strangers I met on my walk were so friendly, accommodating and helpful with any verbal guidance I ask for, I never experienced any limitation I could not overcome. Having my wife Kathy to also assist significantly helped to ensure a successful and wonderful vacation.

I understand that packing, planning, prioritizing and preparing for a vacation is time consuming, especially if you have a disability or are experiencing other challenges which may limit some of your activities. I also understand without assistance it might not be possible to go on a vacation for many reasons. Since I am completely blind and can’t drive  a motor vehicle, and public transportation is not always available or accessible without the assistance of others getting to some locations, and receiving some assistants locating what I need to pack for a vacation I might not be able to attend such vacations. And there are some people without any challenges or limitations, who choose not to participate because they do not want to take the time to plan and prioritize their personal or professional life to experience an enjoyable vacation.

I hope you will not let any challenge deter you from participating in trips or vacations with family or friends. I also hope you can cherish the value of sharing companionship with others, and the value of unselfish behavior and attitude. Even if some trip modifications and assistive technology (Low or High Tech) are necessary for an effective and enjoyable vacation, it is worth the planning and sacrifices to create lifelong positive memories.

We all look forward to hearing your comments, vacation stories and the value of sharing your experiences and how they were of value to you and others. 

Bill Tipton

 

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

Dining in the Dark: In the Dark

I recently attended an enjoyable and informational Dining in the Dark event hosted by the Foundation Fighting Blindness with my wife Kathy and colleagues.

We all had an enjoyable experience at this valuable event. In my opinion one of the highlights of the evening was listening to the many outstanding researchers, doctors and entrepreneurs talking about their fight to cure certain types of eye diseases and the tools they have developed in an effort to help fight blindness.

 

Another key highlight of the evening was to allow the attendees to experience what it would be like to be completely blind. To assist with creating the appropriate environment, when it was time to be served dinner, all the lights were turned off and all possible light sources were completely blacked-out to engulf the room in complete darkness. None of the attendees were allowed to leave their seats once the lights were turned out during dinner, to help prevent injuries of untrained attendees attempting to walk in complete darkness without the proper orientation and mobility training a person who is blind would receive. When the lights were out I was told it was so dark that you could not see your hand directly in front of your face. I am completely blind and this complete darkness is normal for me.

Waiters who were blind/ visually impaired served our meals in the complete darkness, and then the fun began. I listened to the exploratory and inquisitive voices of the others at our table attempting to determine what was on their plates, and what we were all eating. My technique is to feel the texture and shape of the food from the feedback in my fingers from the utensil touching the food. I can tell the shape of the food by the sensation, and the sound of the utensil touching the border of the food compared to the plate surrounding the food. From a combination of the smell, taste and texture I can mostly tell what I am eating. Comparing our non-visual clues with others at our table, we were able to determine what we were eating. I listened as I heard the others at my table working through their challenges of dining in the dark. Since I have been completely blind for a few years I had no trouble during the Dining in the Dark experience. Soon others at my table asked me my techniques to help them find the food on their plate in complete darkness, which I graciously provided some tips to assist. I believe this type of event is invaluable to allow all of us to get a very short glimpse of what it is like to be completely blind and increase blind / low vision awareness.

 

Has anyone attended a Dining in the Dark event and want to share your experience and describe what was most valuable to you? Even if you have not attended such an event from my description, what do you think you would learn from experiencing such an event? How would events like Dining in the Dark or any other disability awareness events increase your awareness of people with disabilities, enabling all to work more effectively to enhance relationships and productivity in our professional careers and personal lives?

I hope everyone can have the chance to experience a Dining in the Dark event.

We all look forward to hearing your comments and experiences.

 

Bill Tipton

 

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Twitter: http://twitter.com/wdtipton

Demonstrate Gratitude and Embrace Thankfulness

To increase effectiveness in our professional and personal life we should demonstrate gratitude and embrace thankfulness.

This month gives us extra encouragement to celebrate. Let’s take advantage!! Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. If your country does not celebrate Thanksgiving, that should not be a reason not to participate in celebrating such positive emotions.

Why I am thankful and grateful:

I am grateful to have my loving wife Kathy by my side. Ten years ago we experienced some difficult unexpected challenges listed below that altered our life’s plans forever.

• Suddenly going into a coma for 3 months, after awakening finding out I had completely lost all vision.

• Going through multiple surgeries and painful procedures during a 7 month hospitalization to save my life.

• Being told I would never walk again.

• Owing the hospital and doctors many thousands of US dollars, accumulated after I lost my medical insurance.

With the above seemingly difficulties and challenges I have a lot of gratitude and thankfulness to celebrate:

• I feel I was the lucky one lying in the hospital bed during my 7 month hospitalization. I cannot envision how difficult it must have been to be my wife looking at me with many tubes in me, on a ventilator, wondering each day during my 3 month coma, and more months after until I was out of Intensive Care if I would live or die.

• Having Kathy to help me with everything when I first got home from hospital; loosing over one-third of my body weight, new to being blind, no medical insurance, inability to walk; or even sit up in bed required a substantial amount of assistance, time and care.

• Having Kathy to take care of our pets and everything around the home I used to help with enabling me to recover and put my full energy, drive and passion into engaging in physical therapy and re-skilling myself.

• Having my wife as my partner to share and learn together how we would adjust our lives’ to live our new life we were blessed with.

• Ability to be grateful and accept life’s challenges, not waiting for external encouragement. Ability to move on and learn how to walk again, learn essential blind skills and successfully returned to work as a productive employee in just less than one year after going into my coma.

• Was blessed to be given real life lessons to learn from, enabling me to increase effectiveness in my professional and personal life.

I could not have had the time to devote my full attention to the re-skilling needed to obtain my strength and so many new skills so quickly without the support of my loving wife Kathy. I am also very grateful for family, friends, and co-workers that provided valuable support and help when I got home from the hospital. I am grateful for all the dedicated doctors, nurses, therapists, volunteers, Nuns and Chaplains at the Catholic hospital I called my home for the majority of 1999.

I plan on celebrating gratitude and thankfulness with my family and friends. I will also reflect on past challenges and successes. I will remember back to when I was fortunate enough to smell turkey and all trimmings lofting through the air as I celebrated Thanksgiving 1999 in the hospital. I am very grateful that by November 1999 I did not have a feeding tube, was able to eat solid foods and enjoy my turkey dinner. I’ll re-live in my mind, the simple successes, like when I was first able to go outside by myself in my new constant blackness, feel the fresh air blowing against my face, smell the trees and flowers and experience the freedom from my hospital bed. Developing an attitude of sincere gratitude for your current blessings unleashes the power for receiving many more.

Some of you might have read about a few of my past challenges from my other blog posts. I feel re-living difficulties, humbly stating and graciously accepting will strengthen gratitude and thankfulness. . I will not forget people who are less fortunate than me and are experiencing challenges and can use our thoughts and prayers.

I am not beyond learning by any means. That is why I reach out to all of you to allow me to learn how to best keep thankfulness and gratitude in my actions. What do you have to be thankful for? How will you celebrate thankfulness and gratitude this Thanksgiving Day? Do you have any examples of how thankfulness and gratitude has benefitted you and others?

Bill Tipton

Contributing Author,

Global Dialogue Center

http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/wdtipton

Facebook: http://profile.to/wdtipton

Simple Holiday Gifts of Great Importance

                    
During December we have many opportunities to celebrate cultural, spiritual or religious holidays in our own unique and thoughtful ways. Just a few examples are Sinterklaas, or St. Nicholas Day, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve.

How do you enjoy celebrating your special holidays?

If your special holiday tradition requires the purchase of material gifts, I understand such traditions and partake in such customs as well, like I talk about in Decorating a Christmas Tree with a Disability.

I have found the simpler, non-material gifts have more meaning and are just as valuable as anything that can be purchased, in my opinion.

In   Special Thoughts During Holidays I talk about the gratitude and joy that can be experienced from non-material gifts, as I laid in a hospital bed for 7 months.

In Holiday Traditions I talk about how after I went completely blind I am still able to experience my enjoyable traditions that include family and friends.

It is far more important to be grateful and find meaning in simple meaningful gifts of human companionship and helping others when we celebrate our traditions. With the global instability in the world we are experiencing, these attitudes and actions are even more important to help us enjoy the holidays and others during this time of joyful and caring celebrations. 

Even a simple gift of a glass of lemonade can be cherished with extreme joy! To learn how and why a glass of lemonade can taste so good and be the best gift of all, if this was your first drink of cool liquid in many months, listen to Lemonade on the Road to Recovery on Podcasts at the Global Dialogue Center.

My Thoughts Of Valuable Simple Gifts Of Appreciation

 • Give the gift of  your personal companionship by spending time with others.

 • Offer your expertise to others to help them. In return, you will find the person you help can help you equally and mutualisticly.

 • Work to help the less fortunate, or those who are in need.

 • Offer some of your time and energy to help others in your community and in the world.

 • If you are in a position to give, give to others and organizations that can use your aid.

 • Teach, mentor and give guidance to people in your personal and professional life.

 • If in your professional life you are in direct contact with customers, treat them with respect and caring, like you should do for other co-workers.

 • If you are working, educate yourself for innovation and leadership thinking, even if you’re in an individual contributor role.

These gifts I list are equally reciprocal  as gifts to yourself. When you give the gift of oneself, there are others that receive your gifts through the people you touch you will never know benefited from your generosity. These gifts of ones self spread from person to person like wild flower seeds blowing through the wind and sowing an open field of dry grasses with the seeds of life. With kindness and gratitude and helping to create a better place for all I picture the gifts of California Poppy, Purple and pink Lupine seeds covering the hillsides for miles and miles. Soon a field of beautiful bright orange,  vivid purple and vibrant pink flowers cover the fields where once only dry grasses, rocks and dirt  in a variety of brown and tan hues existed.

During this holiday season, let’s plant some wild flowers of joy for others by giving the unselfish gift of our self.

How do you like to celebrate your special holidays? How might you celebrate this year? Will you be the one who gives the gift of a drink of lemonade to a person who was not able to drink any cool liquids for many months and make their day?  We all look forward to hearing from you, so we can celebrate this enjoyable season together.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/

Holiday Traditions

Hello All,

Do any of you have special traditions you like to participate in during the holidays? Some of you might have limited time, failing health, medical conditions or a disability which limits the way you participate in some of your favorite traditions. After I went completely blind instantly one day after work I was able to find new ways of continuing with some of my traditions I enjoyed so much throughout the years. Even if you can not participate in your favorite tradition the way you used to; I hope you can find a way to carry on with your traditions in some way. We do not want these cherished traditions to be lost forever like some have over the years if they are not passed down from generation to generation.

Some other traditions I had to give up completely because I could no longer participate safely without any eyesight. One example of a tradition I had to give up was picking out a fresh Christmas tree from our local mountains. I used to drive to our local mountain range in my four-wheel drive vehicle. My wife and I would drive down the steep rocky and bumpy dirt trails that twisted and turned through the trees at our favorite Christmas tree farm to find the perfect spot to cut down a wonderful fresh Christmas tree. These trees had that fresh pine smell I love so much. The needles were so bright green and soft to the touch as I inspected the tree for imperfections with my fingers. Besides the joy of cutting down the tree with my family; half the fun of this tradition was the complete outing. We would get to the tree farm early in the morning. The air was pleasantly fresh, clean and cold. Sometimes you could see the fog as it wisped through the trees as the wind blew the fog and clouds up from the coast. This mountain range where the tree farm is located is near the Pacific Ocean. You could look off to the distance for miles and miles over the tree and brush covered mountains and hills. It was a very beautiful sight to behold with all of the varieties of colors outstretching as far as you could see. Some times it would be raining on our outings. On rare occasions snow would be covering the ground and the trees. We would bring hot coffee or hot chocolate in thermoses to help keep us warm. We would bring snacks and doughnuts to keep us nourished. We would also bring pieces of tissue to mark the trees as we walked through the trees so we would not get lost as we wandered in search of our perfect tree laughing and talking as we trudged up and down the hillsides with great big smiles on our faces.

Since I lost all of my vision instantly one day after work in 1999 and my loving wife does not drive on such treacherous dirt trails we had to give up this cherished tradition of cutting down a fresh Christmas tree in the mountains. Even if you have challenges I hope you find ways to carry on the traditions that are true to your heart. As you will read in my story I call Decorating a Christmas tree with a Disability you can read how I carry on with one part of this treasured tradition. Below are just a few examples of traditions others celebrate around the world that might bring back memories.

Hogmanay
Maybe you participate in Hogmanay like they talk about on BBC - Food - News and events – Hogmanay.
Hogmanay was a time for friends and fun. Friends and neighbours would get together and have drinks and the obligatory shortbread (often eaten with cheese), sultana cake, black bun and such delights as ginger or blackcurrant cordial - as well as, of course, the obligatory drams of whisky.

St. Lucia Festival, Hanukkah, Jewish Festival of Lights
Maybe you participate in St. Lucia Festival, Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah or other traditions like they talk about in the California Report: Audio Archive.
Kingsburg's St. Lucia Festival
Drive a stretch of Highway 99 near Fresno, and you'll see it: an enormous coffee pot rising above the vineyards and orchards. It's really a water tower in disguise. To the 12,000 townspeople of Kingsburg, it's a proud symbol of their hamlet's Swedish heritage. The folks there rave about their Swedish coffee.
We visited Kingsburg as it celebrates a festival from the old country.
Celebrate a festival of lights -- and stays warm in the kitchen to learn the family secrets to Poppy's potato latkes, just in time for Hanukkah.

Some Great Italian Traditions
Search for Authentic Ravioli Forges Family Bonds From NPR.
New Jersey food writer Laura Schenone spent five years finding and perfecting her great-grandmother's authentic ravioli recipe.
The New Jersey writer set off on a quest to find her great-grandmother's hand-rolled ravioli recipe. Along the way, she reunited with relatives and helped mend frayed relations with others around the dinner table.

My wife and her family are full blooded Italian; so I know what a great tradition food fits into our celebrations. We have a great time on every holiday with food being the central point around family conversation and companionship. My wife told me how her grandma and mom would completely cover her bed with freshly rolled out homemade ravioli’s so they could properly dry. In the other room the sauce would be simmering on the stove giving the complete house the mouth watering aroma of tomatoes, oregano, onions, basil, beef, garlic, sausage and other ingredients as the fresh pasta sauce flavors married together to perfection. Her family would spend hours making a variety of Italian holiday cookies for us all to enjoy. I love them all; but my favorite Italian cookie is a fig cookie called Cuchidahti. The center is filled with a soft fig mixture with a delicate covering of tasty slightly crunchy dough with a delicious glaze. I am part Swedish, Scottish and Cherokee - Native American Indian; so I fit right in to my extended Italian family and do not hesitate to participate in the family food traditions we share during the holidays.

Going completely blind does not stop Bill from continuing a family tradition
I personally still like to decorate my Christmas tree. I no longer drive in the mountains where I live to cut down my own tree since going completely blind. This does not stop me from carrying on with my tradition of decorating our Christmas tree. I now decorate an artificial tree I can put together myself. Actually my loving wife Kathy helps me and we put together tree as a team. All the lights are already strung on the branches which makes it a bit easier for us. Read my story I call; decorating a Christmas tree with a Disability to help you get into the spirit of the holidays and share with me one of my favorite holiday traditions.

Do any of you have special traditions you like to participate in during the holidays? Any traditions you like to participate in other times of the year? Any traditions you have had to modify or quit because you are not able to participate any more? We wood all like to hear your tips to help us continue our traditions; if you have figured out ways to overcome any challenges you might have to allow you to continue your tradition. Any special traditions you celebrate in other parts of the world you want to share with us?

I wish you the very best in following through with your traditions; if only in your heart.

Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/