Standing at the intersection, waiting to cross, the sun beating down on my head. Hot summer days are so much worse when you’re forced to relish in the heat. But I guess the experience is worth the hot torture. These are the thoughts that roll around in my head when a car, driving down the street, stops. Cars often do this when they’re telling people to go ahead and walk across the street. Do they not realize that I can’t see them waving their hands? They see the white cane, even brighter in the blazing sun. But then they drive off, and I, with my handsome looks and amazing skills, cross the street in a few quick strides.
Hello everyone! My name is Landon Bryson, writing to you with the hopefully exciting realization that this is not my last blog post. I know before, in the last blog post, I said I would only have one more. Well, the second-to-last is now a thing of the past.
Summers are always either hot or rainy. Or both if the world really sucks that year. This year, I’m roaming the streets of Aiken, South Carolina. Why?
This year I’m attending the summer teen camp for blind individuals. I’m studying different skills, such as street crossing, using different apps and technology for travel, budgeting rules, and cooking. Just being more independent in general. I’m really happy to attend this camp. Today marks the end of the first week. Next week will be focused on more science and technology activities, which I can’t wait for.
Anyone needs skills in order to live on their own. Blind people just have to work harder to obtain those skills, figuring out different adaptations and easier, more accessible methods for living. That’s what this camp provides.
We were given the experience of cooking, and while I had made meals before, I had never used an oven before. Each person contributed to the overall meal, two people cooking burgers, one cooking spicy chicken, another cooking honey barbecue wings and making salads. Originally I was going to make a chocolate fudge cake, which then turned into a chocolate cake, and then strawberry short cupcakes!
We also did the shopping for these particular items. Using money that the camp gave us, we had to make a list of the ingredients required for our meals. We then traveled to a nearby Walmart and used different apps to find what we were looking for. It was a new, challenging, awesome experience.
I expected the cupcakes to be bad. I was honestly picturing one of those massive baking disasters where the oven didn’t even turn on or the cupcakes were burnt or the batter exploded everywhere. I made twenty cupcakes. There are none left. So I guess they were pretty good. (Also, I only had one, I am not that big).
I know this is random, but I was sitting at graduation just listening to the names being called. All my friends, my brothers. I was thinking of how they were about to move to the next chapter of their life. It really hit me how hard some people worked to get where they are, and how hard they’ll continue to work. That’s one of the many reasons that I’m determined to learn and practice these skills. I need to do this so I can be more prepared. Even if it’s hard, even if it seems impossible, even when all you wanna do is sleep because you’re so drained from the sun and the rude comments, you just gotta do it.
Well, that’s it for this week. Hopefully I can keep writing these. I’d like to share my summer experiences with anyone who would be interested enough to read! So until next time, and I’m so happy I get to still say this, it’s your favorite blind Jacket!