THUNDERSNOW and endless Flurries in April limit Mobility

Snowed In?

-- How do you maneuver through the slippery streets of Minnesota winters?  

If pedestrians had clout, the sidewalks would be clear and dry and the cars, not the people, would have to deal with avalanches of plowed snow from the boulevards. It's hard enough for an able-bodied person to slosh through the thoroughfares of the Twin Cities, with routes reduced by snow piles and narrowed by ice. But what about the rest of us? 

It's time for Minnesota drivers to recognize that road-worthy wheelchairs are not in the way of traffic-- they ARE traffic. If a sidewalk isn't shoveled well, it's safer to drive your wheelchair on the side of the plowed street, with the direction of traffic. Regardless of the frustrated drivers who are confused by seeing wheelchairs on the road, taking the street is often the wiser choice because you don't even know if  a cleared sidewalk will have a clear curb-cut at the end. 

Curb-cuts are the vital little slopes from sidewalk to street that are so easily blockaded whenever the plow pushes snow to the curb. In the summer you have to deal with gawking pedestrians who stand right on the slope you need to drive down, as well as inconsistent curb-cuts-- some sidewalks & bike paths leave you high and dry. In the winter, you can't always tell which sidewalks are accessible because the plow's piles are in the way!The city pays shovelers to do the grunt-work of clearing curb-cuts-- be sure to thank them whenever you see them!

It's unfortunate, however, that the city prioritizes the downtown walkways, considering them the most highly trafficked, without getting to all the curb-cuts we need.

  Without a vehicle, you really could be snowed in this winter, especially if you live in a suburban or rural community.

But going out & visiting friends this holiday season & into the new year is still important & quite possible --our communities don't hibernate & neither do we.

So, as you head out into the wind,

bring a flashlight,

remember to charge up your cell phone & powerchair,

& boldly go where few powerchairs have gone before this season.Someone's gotta make those first tracks in the fresh snow!

  Do you have any other tips for winter mobility?

On My Bookshelf...

How did we get here? Why are we here? Is life fair-- or could it be? How long have humans been asking these questions? If we find answers, how can we relate such ineffable answers to each other?

I turn to books for hope-- hope for the secret curiosities in me that I cannot articulate any longer for their complexity. But some authors, older and younger than I, have found their own ways to explain and test the mysteries of the inner life, the ancient, and the interpersonal ether.

I was thirteen when I found Frank Laubach's Letters by a Modern Mystic in a library basement in Fort Worth, Texas-- and soon, Soul Searching by 16-year-old author Sarah Stillman.

 With acceptance of different mystical paths, I found writing to be part of my path. My goal was to get published by the time I was sixteen.

 Once I had met this goal, the poetry anthology and high school yearbooks that printed my words sat on the bookshelf gathering dust. I continue sharing poetry and local news articles in small publications, for the importance of awareness and the joy of recognition and mutual appreciation. But public expression of my thoughts hasn’t answered any questions—it’s just brought forth new ones.

  Can anything said be original? Are popular printed words adding to the world’s collective knowing—or taking away from the creative possibilities that writers could have, in their future struggles to be original? Why is groupthink considered bad and the collective unconscious considered benign?

 The logical urgency of my conscience compelled me to dive into news, and that's what I read, except in the spare minutes between stresses and sleep when I still reach for the spiritual memoirs and manuals.

 If reading my palm has provided any real insight at all, I know that the spiritual dimension will save my life one day. The hope that glimmers just beyond the next page turn is for more than that-- more than a long, healthy life. There is hope for all the lives past, present and future, united in some elusive way... that only stories can get at. The stories that make you feel, question, remember…

 I believe in planting small, private libraries in unexpected places, ruled by curiosity and the honor system. So my collection of pensive memoirs and helpful how-tos on everything from intuition to ecstasy has dispersed-- it's among the donated books in the Augsburg College Women's Resource Center, the Minnesota Indian Women's Resource Center, the Germanic-American Institute's little library, a friend's SoulHome lending library, and Little Free Libraries around the city.

  Maybe someone else, thirteen, uncertain and far from home, will stumble upon a new perspective that they've needed.

---

I recommend 

I Love Female Orgasm by Dorian Solot and Marshall Miller

My Life So Far by Jane Fonda

Memoirs of a Spiritual Outsider by Suzanne Clores

The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy by Cyndi Dale

Energy Medicine by Donna Eden