Poem: "The Bird Cane"
Jun. 12th, 2022 08:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the June 7, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired and sponsored by librarygeek: "If you can't have your health, at least keep your style!" It also fills the "Seeds" square in my 6-1-22 card for the Food Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Arts and Crafts America.
Warning for cane users and woodworkers: This poem contains descriptions and links regarding customized canes that may be challenging to find or afford.
"The Bird Cane"
[May 2022]
Coral Orban was miserable.
Ey had injured eir ankle
at the last track meet
of the school year.
Ey had planned
to spend the summer
working in parks before
beginning college in fall with
a major in Environmental Studies.
Now the plans were in shambles
and Coral didn't know what to do.
Ey was moping on the couch
when eir neighbor Esther Reynolds
came over to see how ey was doing.
Esther worked at the public library
and they were good friends.
"I brought you extra copies of
National Wildlife, Audubon,
Mother Earth News, and
Garden Gate," said Esther.
The library duplicated subscriptions
so more people could read new issues,
but only kept one of each for back issues,
putting the extra copies on a sale rack.
"Thank you," said Coral, then sniffed.
"Do I smell cookies or something too?"
"I brought Everything Breakfast Cookies,"
Esther said, opening the bag. "They have
eggs, whole grains, walnuts, chia seeds,
and dark chocolate -- all good for healing."
"Oh, cookies make everything better,"
Coral said, stuffing one in eir mouth.
"What has you looking so down,
other than needing to rest your foot
for a little longer?" Esther asked.
Coral sighed. "I can start
moving around more tomorrow,
but I'm supposed to use a cane
so I don't put too much pressure
on my foot yet. They are so ugly.
They won't match my clothes at all."
Ey liked the lush, draping fabrics
of Victorian fashion but had conceded
to current circumstances by wearing
comfortable loungewear instead.
"Well, some people do prefer
the modern look, but there are
other options," said Esther. "Why
don't we browse a catalog or two?
I can buy you a custom cane as
a get-well gift if you find a good one."
"Really?" said Coral. "Even though
I'll only need it for a month or so?"
"Of course," said Esther. "If you
find one you love, you can keep it
as a souvenir. If not, you can
always pass it along later."
"Okay, I guess," Coral agreed.
They used a tablet computer
to look up places that sold canes.
Some were the plain metal or
printed plastic like the hospital had.
Others were made out of wood,
bamboo, bone, horn, or even antler.
There were inlays of pearl, shell,
and other materials on some of them
forming intricate, beautiful designs.
"Look at this," Esther said, pointing.
"This shop sells composite canes.
There are all different handles,
shafts, and tips to choose from.
Some are standard, others
can be custom-carved based
on this book of patterns."
Coral looked at the parts and
chose a simple wooden shaft
with a rubber tip at the end.
Ey liked the Victorian T-handle
but wanted something with
good ergonomics rather than
a fancy carving that would look
good but feel uncomfortable.
"What about these?" Esther said,
pointing to stylized handles that were
smooth on top but could be customized
with carvings on the sides and base.
Coral looked at the handles, then
checked the pattern book for options.
"I want a bird!" ey said, tapping a finger.
"It's just an eye and a curl of tail with
feathery wings on both sides."
"This says there's room for
an initial or other decoration
at the bottom if you don't want
any bird feet," Esther said.
Coral paged over to the page
for small embellishments. "I
like this sprig of leaves."
"Excellent," said Esther.
"I'll place the order. This
says that machined and
hand-finished canes with
simple patterns are usually
available the next day."
"That sounds good,"
said Coral. "Will they
deliver it here, or what?"
"There's an option for
delivery, but I can just
pick it up and bring it
over here," said Esther.
"Thank you," said Coral.
Ey traced a figure over
the image. "I like the idea
of a bird standing for freedom.
I still don't know what to do
about summer, though."
"You planned to work at
the parks," said Esther.
"Why not just shift that
to sit-down work? Lots of
scientific programs count
birds. You're good at that,
and you could do it sitting
at the observation windows."
"Oh, that's a good idea!"
said Coral. "I'll look it up."
"I'm happy I could help,"
said Esther. "Tomorrow
I will bring your new cane.
Until then, eat your cookies!"
"I will," Coral promised. Ey
was actually looking forward
to trying the new cane now.
It had planted the seeds of
something wonderful to come.
* * *
Notes:
Coral Orban -- Ey has fair skin, brown eyes, and long straight brown hair. Ey is genderqueer. Eir heritage is American; ey speaks English and Spanish. Ey is 18 years old in 2022. Coral loves nature, especially birdwatching and gardening for wildlife. Ey plans to major in Environmental Studies upon starting college in the fall. Ey also enjoys track sports. Coral wears unisex clothes, typically in shades of gray, ivory, melon, and turquoise. Ey enjoys Regency and Victorian fashions but also keeps comfortable loungewear for working out or relaxing. Ey is friends with eir neighbor Esther Reynolds, who works at the public library.
Esther Reynolds -- She has fair skin, gray eyes, and dark auburn hair cut at shoulder length. Her heritage is American; she speaks English, French, Greek, and Latin. She is 52 years old in 2022. Esther works in the public library. She is a bookworm who also enjoys crafts. She is friends with her neighbor Coral Orban.
* * *
There are various types of ankle injury, but most have the same treatment: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. After a few days, the pain and swelling should go down, and gentle activity may resume.
Top 10 Environment and Conservation Magazines
National Wildlife – 662,584
Mother Earth News – 493,239
Audubon – 420,471
Garden Gate has information on garden design, plant care, crafts, and other topics.
How to Recover Faster: 27 of the Best Foods for Healing
walnuts, nuts, seeds, eggs
20 best foods for strong teeth and bones
Best Food 2 : Milk
Best Food 3 : Whole grains
Best Food 6 : Eggs
Best Food 10 : Walnut
Best Food 17 : Oats
Best Foods for Ligament Repair
seeds, whole grains, nuts, eggs, dairy, chia seeds, walnuts
Vitamins and Minerals to Power Up Your Muscle Repair
eggs, dairy, seeds, nuts, dark chocolate, whole grains
Enjoy Whole Grain Everything Breakfast Cookies. They include many healthy ingredients good for injury repair.
Explore the history of canes. There are various ways to walk with a cane depending on why you need it. Try the one recommended for your situation first, but if that is uncomfortable or unstable, try other methods until you find one that works for you.
See the Bird Cane. While canes may be made from a single solid piece of wood or metal, often they are composite tools which makes it possible to mix and match parts such as the handle, collar, shaft, and tip. This allows users to customize the appearance, weight, and function of the cane.
The brain treats tools as part of the body. This includes tools as well as prosthetics and mobility aids such as wheelchairs or canes. Therefore, it is vitally important that such equipment feel compatible with the personality, as well as meeting physical needs. Grafting a mismatched item onto a body is miserable and can be less effective than a more suitable one if the mind resists the merger. In this setting, people intelligently address the issue by offering a variety of options. You can pick and choose the handle, shaft, and tip of your cane according to your needs and tastes, or even have a custom one made. Customized aids are common as get-well gifts, much like signing a cast here.
Counting birds is a popular type of citizen science, and some projects include professional scientists or paid employees. This is just one of many sit-down science activities suited to people with temporary or permanent mobility impairmetns. Read an introduction on counting birds with further instructions on large numbers, mixed flocks, and feeder counts.
librarygeek: "If you can't have your health, at least keep your style!" It also fills the "Seeds" square in my 6-1-22 card for the Food Fest Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Arts and Crafts America.Warning for cane users and woodworkers: This poem contains descriptions and links regarding customized canes that may be challenging to find or afford.
"The Bird Cane"
[May 2022]
Coral Orban was miserable.
Ey had injured eir ankle
at the last track meet
of the school year.
Ey had planned
to spend the summer
working in parks before
beginning college in fall with
a major in Environmental Studies.
Now the plans were in shambles
and Coral didn't know what to do.
Ey was moping on the couch
when eir neighbor Esther Reynolds
came over to see how ey was doing.
Esther worked at the public library
and they were good friends.
"I brought you extra copies of
National Wildlife, Audubon,
Mother Earth News, and
Garden Gate," said Esther.
The library duplicated subscriptions
so more people could read new issues,
but only kept one of each for back issues,
putting the extra copies on a sale rack.
"Thank you," said Coral, then sniffed.
"Do I smell cookies or something too?"
"I brought Everything Breakfast Cookies,"
Esther said, opening the bag. "They have
eggs, whole grains, walnuts, chia seeds,
and dark chocolate -- all good for healing."
"Oh, cookies make everything better,"
Coral said, stuffing one in eir mouth.
"What has you looking so down,
other than needing to rest your foot
for a little longer?" Esther asked.
Coral sighed. "I can start
moving around more tomorrow,
but I'm supposed to use a cane
so I don't put too much pressure
on my foot yet. They are so ugly.
They won't match my clothes at all."
Ey liked the lush, draping fabrics
of Victorian fashion but had conceded
to current circumstances by wearing
comfortable loungewear instead.
"Well, some people do prefer
the modern look, but there are
other options," said Esther. "Why
don't we browse a catalog or two?
I can buy you a custom cane as
a get-well gift if you find a good one."
"Really?" said Coral. "Even though
I'll only need it for a month or so?"
"Of course," said Esther. "If you
find one you love, you can keep it
as a souvenir. If not, you can
always pass it along later."
"Okay, I guess," Coral agreed.
They used a tablet computer
to look up places that sold canes.
Some were the plain metal or
printed plastic like the hospital had.
Others were made out of wood,
bamboo, bone, horn, or even antler.
There were inlays of pearl, shell,
and other materials on some of them
forming intricate, beautiful designs.
"Look at this," Esther said, pointing.
"This shop sells composite canes.
There are all different handles,
shafts, and tips to choose from.
Some are standard, others
can be custom-carved based
on this book of patterns."
Coral looked at the parts and
chose a simple wooden shaft
with a rubber tip at the end.
Ey liked the Victorian T-handle
but wanted something with
good ergonomics rather than
a fancy carving that would look
good but feel uncomfortable.
"What about these?" Esther said,
pointing to stylized handles that were
smooth on top but could be customized
with carvings on the sides and base.
Coral looked at the handles, then
checked the pattern book for options.
"I want a bird!" ey said, tapping a finger.
"It's just an eye and a curl of tail with
feathery wings on both sides."
"This says there's room for
an initial or other decoration
at the bottom if you don't want
any bird feet," Esther said.
Coral paged over to the page
for small embellishments. "I
like this sprig of leaves."
"Excellent," said Esther.
"I'll place the order. This
says that machined and
hand-finished canes with
simple patterns are usually
available the next day."
"That sounds good,"
said Coral. "Will they
deliver it here, or what?"
"There's an option for
delivery, but I can just
pick it up and bring it
over here," said Esther.
"Thank you," said Coral.
Ey traced a figure over
the image. "I like the idea
of a bird standing for freedom.
I still don't know what to do
about summer, though."
"You planned to work at
the parks," said Esther.
"Why not just shift that
to sit-down work? Lots of
scientific programs count
birds. You're good at that,
and you could do it sitting
at the observation windows."
"Oh, that's a good idea!"
said Coral. "I'll look it up."
"I'm happy I could help,"
said Esther. "Tomorrow
I will bring your new cane.
Until then, eat your cookies!"
"I will," Coral promised. Ey
was actually looking forward
to trying the new cane now.
It had planted the seeds of
something wonderful to come.
* * *
Notes:
Coral Orban -- Ey has fair skin, brown eyes, and long straight brown hair. Ey is genderqueer. Eir heritage is American; ey speaks English and Spanish. Ey is 18 years old in 2022. Coral loves nature, especially birdwatching and gardening for wildlife. Ey plans to major in Environmental Studies upon starting college in the fall. Ey also enjoys track sports. Coral wears unisex clothes, typically in shades of gray, ivory, melon, and turquoise. Ey enjoys Regency and Victorian fashions but also keeps comfortable loungewear for working out or relaxing. Ey is friends with eir neighbor Esther Reynolds, who works at the public library.
Esther Reynolds -- She has fair skin, gray eyes, and dark auburn hair cut at shoulder length. Her heritage is American; she speaks English, French, Greek, and Latin. She is 52 years old in 2022. Esther works in the public library. She is a bookworm who also enjoys crafts. She is friends with her neighbor Coral Orban.
* * *
There are various types of ankle injury, but most have the same treatment: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. After a few days, the pain and swelling should go down, and gentle activity may resume.
Top 10 Environment and Conservation Magazines
National Wildlife – 662,584
Mother Earth News – 493,239
Audubon – 420,471
Garden Gate has information on garden design, plant care, crafts, and other topics.
How to Recover Faster: 27 of the Best Foods for Healing
walnuts, nuts, seeds, eggs
20 best foods for strong teeth and bones
Best Food 2 : Milk
Best Food 3 : Whole grains
Best Food 6 : Eggs
Best Food 10 : Walnut
Best Food 17 : Oats
Best Foods for Ligament Repair
seeds, whole grains, nuts, eggs, dairy, chia seeds, walnuts
Vitamins and Minerals to Power Up Your Muscle Repair
eggs, dairy, seeds, nuts, dark chocolate, whole grains
Enjoy Whole Grain Everything Breakfast Cookies. They include many healthy ingredients good for injury repair.
Explore the history of canes. There are various ways to walk with a cane depending on why you need it. Try the one recommended for your situation first, but if that is uncomfortable or unstable, try other methods until you find one that works for you.
See the Bird Cane. While canes may be made from a single solid piece of wood or metal, often they are composite tools which makes it possible to mix and match parts such as the handle, collar, shaft, and tip. This allows users to customize the appearance, weight, and function of the cane.
The brain treats tools as part of the body. This includes tools as well as prosthetics and mobility aids such as wheelchairs or canes. Therefore, it is vitally important that such equipment feel compatible with the personality, as well as meeting physical needs. Grafting a mismatched item onto a body is miserable and can be less effective than a more suitable one if the mind resists the merger. In this setting, people intelligently address the issue by offering a variety of options. You can pick and choose the handle, shaft, and tip of your cane according to your needs and tastes, or even have a custom one made. Customized aids are common as get-well gifts, much like signing a cast here.
Counting birds is a popular type of citizen science, and some projects include professional scientists or paid employees. This is just one of many sit-down science activities suited to people with temporary or permanent mobility impairmetns. Read an introduction on counting birds with further instructions on large numbers, mixed flocks, and feeder counts.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-13 03:59 am (UTC)I liked this a lot. Of course, being a cane user I would, and I would have to be careful about visiting some of the sites you link to. Especially mix and match parts. Um... it may be too late for that.
Oops ...
Date: 2022-06-13 04:29 am (UTC)Yay!
>> Of course, being a cane user I would,<<
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
>> and I would have to be careful about visiting some of the sites you link to. Especially mix and match parts. Um... it may be too late for that.<<
Sorry about that. I have added a warning accordingly.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-13 02:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-13 05:09 pm (UTC)When I finally had to start using a cane, I saved up for a really nice one that I still love and have no issues with using.
Yes ...
Date: 2022-06-14 10:07 am (UTC)I am pleased that another cane user has read the poem and resonated with its perspective of egosystonic canes.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-15 07:17 pm (UTC)Carve a figure in wood, shaped as an applique one would tack onto a cane or staff. Then cast it in silicone, for use making wax casts for lost-wax metal casting. Or alternately, one can do metal casting using special sand (it's got a silicone oil in it to help hold the shape), using a solid form like the wood carving.