[accesscomp] FW: cutting the lawn as a blind or low vision individual
- From: "Robert Acosta" <boacosta@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "tektalk discussion" <tektalkdiscussion@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2014 08:50:28 -0700
Robert Acosta, President
Helping Hands for the Blind
(818) 998-0044
www.helpinghands4theblind.org
From: dan Thompson [mailto:dthompson5@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, September 01, 2014 7:52 AM
To: dan Thompson
Subject: cutting the lawn as a blind or low vision individual
This week is dedicated to tips for blind or visually impaired individuals
to enhance their independene for all ages.
Monday, Cutting the Lawn as a blind or low vision person
Tuesday, FOR FATHERS (AND OTHERS), SOME TIPS ON ALTERNATIVE TECHNIQUES.docx
Wednesday, Adaptive Gardening Tips for the Blind
Thursday, CLOTHING CARE & SEWING TECHNIQUES
Friday, Sports, Games and Recreation for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped
Now on with today's tip. If you have any of your own tips in these area
which have proven helpful, please share them so I can compile them to sendon
to the complete members list.
Please send any tips to
Dthompson5@xxxxxxxxx
And in the subject line please write
Useful tips
A personal note from Dan: I have used many of the same tips below to cut
my own lawn over the years. However, I now have a paid yard man do the job
since there really isn't much room to store a lawnmower. I
Hope this week will provide some useful material or something to share with
a friend or family member to enhance independence.
*I. Mowing the Lawn
by Thomas Bickford
From the Editor: Tom Bickford is a frequent contributor to these pages. He
takes his Federationism seriously. Here he talks about mowing the lawn. This
is what he says:
When I was ten years old, I didn't care who mowed the lawn as long as it was
someone else. My parents had a different idea about it, so I pushed the lawn
mower around and cut the grass. Yes, that was in the days of the boy-powered
lawn mower, and I felt very much "put upon." After all, I had two older
sisters living at home, but that was before the days of women's liberation.
When I was thirteen, we lived in a different house with a bigger lawn, and,
even though I got paid, I discovered too late that I had underestimated the
price I should have asked. Result: bad feelings. Blindness came along in my
late teens.
Now that I am the home owner and feel some pride in home ownership and the
appearance of the yard, things are different. For too many years I didn't
think I could really do the job because I was blind. Then I went to my NFB
state convention and heard Fred Schroeder tell about his experiences mowing
his lawn as a blind man. It was a good story; he told it well; and I knew I
had run out of excuses. At this writing several years later, Fred Schroeder
is the Federal Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration.
Yes, some people, blind or sighted, cut their own grass, and some people,
blind or sighted, get someone else to cut their grass, but I decided that my
time had come.
The principle of mowing the lawn is quite simple: cut a swath. Move over,
and cut another swath. Keep doing that until the job is done. With some
practice you can learn how far to move without either cutting the same space
again or leaving some grass uncut. Anytime I am in doubt, I hold the mower
with one hand to keep the engine running and lean over to feel the area I
think I have just cut. If there is tall grass that I missed, the only thing
to do is to move back and make another pass at it, feel again for assurance,
and then go on.
The most efficient approach would be to cut long, straight strips which
waste less time in turning around. My trouble is that I don't walk straight
for more than six or eight steps while pushing a mower over slightly uneven
ground. The grass between the sidewalk and curb is just right, ten feet wide
and level. That is the easy part. The hard part is all the rest of it, about
five thousand square feet. That is a moderate amount by suburban standards.
The thing that makes the rest of the lawn hard is this. Even though the lot,
the house, and all the areas covered by concrete are rectangular, there is a
moderate hill along one side, and the house is set at an angle on the lot.
In spite of all the straight lines, the lawn area has a very irregular
shape. As you might expect, there are trees, flower gardens, and other
things to bump into or avoid. I deliberately bump into trees and cut past
them from all directions; then I put one hand on the tree and walk backward
around it while pulling the mower as close to the tree as possible.
There is a plastic strip marking the edge of the flower gardens which serves
two purposes. It helps to keep the grass from invading the garden area, and
I find that I can slide one foot along the strip as I walk backward while
pulling the mower. With the first pass up against the plastic strip and the
next pass a little farther out as I hold the mower by the corner of the
handle, I have enough space to stand while I cut straight away from the
garden. In case you wonder about my walking backward, I find that I am
leading the mower when I go backward and can direct it better that way.
Since I have a corner lot at the intersection of two streets, I have plenty
of straight edge along the sidewalk to use as a straight starting edge. I
can tell by feel if the two front wheels of the mower are going onto the
grass at the same time. Then, as my feet come to the edge of the grass, I
check again to make sure I am facing straight in. I walk in six or eight
steps and back out as straight as I can. Sometimes I do move over a bit and
try to cut some new grass on the way back, but I know I may be missing
something, so I lean over and check the cut. Fortunately for me I can reach
all the areas of the lawn by going in six or eight steps from each of the
borders. The hill is the worst part, so I get plenty of exercise by going
straight up and holding the mower as I back down.
How do I know where I am? I first learned the shape of the yard while raking
leaves in the fall. Raking covers the same area as mowing. I can hear the
rustle of the leaves and feel the pull of the leaves against the rake, but
it is not quite as critical in spacing as mowing is. With the lawn mower the
grass must be very high for me to hear the swish of the grass as it is cut,
but listening over the roar of the mower engine is one of the least
efficient ways to know what I am cutting.
One of the things I learned about moving over at the inner end of a cut is
that, when I turn to move, I usually leave a small area right at the corner
between the two cuts, so I angle back, go forward to be sure that the cut is
square at the top, and then back out.
When I am finished, or think I am, I usually walk along the more critical
areas while leaning over to feel for spots I may have missed. I also usually
have a sighted critic, my wife, check for spots I have missed. If I really
did miss some small area and I didn't know about it, the worst thing that
could happen is that it would keep growing until the next time. I think I
would be unlikely to miss the same spot twice in a row.
I am sure by now you have decided that some of my techniques would not work
well for you, and you may even have thought of some others of your own that
would work on your lawn. Happy lawn mowing.
Prayer for Inner Peace
Lord, help me to live in Your joy and peace. Give me strength and
understanding to resist anxiety, anger, envy, depression, bitterness,
hopelessness, loneliness, fear and guilt. Rescue me when "my spirit is
overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is distressed" (Psalm 143:4). I
refuse to let my life be brought down by negative emotions such as these.
When I am tempted to give in to them, show me Your Truth. You have said in
Your Word that by our patience we can possess our souls (Luke 21:19) Give me
patience so I can do that. Help me to keep my 'heart with all diligence,"
for I know that "out of it spring the issues of life: (Proverbs 4:23).
To subscribe to Dan's tips or dedaily devotions, send an email to
dthompson5@xxxxxxxxx with either "subscribe dan's tips" or "subscribe daily
devotion" in the subject.
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