A few weeks ago, the three members of my family that weren't in China headed out to the Indianapolis outdoor art park. For some reason, on the car ride there I decided that I was going to walk the entire park without opening my eyes. After their initial amusement, my mom and brother agreed to help guide me. The park is about 100 acres and features several amazing creations along a path that winds around a lake. In the popular book and movie by Indiana author John Green, the park is featured along with its famous giant skeleton playground.
When we first started, it was scary- terrifying even. Not knowing where to put my feet, or when to duck, turn, or stop made me think that I was always about to run into something. The longer we walked the more comfortable I got. For most of the time, I stood in between my guides or held onto their shoulders from behind. Eventually, though, I became comfortable enough to walk behind them, depending on the sound of feet on the leaves to tell me where to go. Many of the sculptures or other art in the park allows people to walk, ride, or touch them. Once I found the seat of the swing, I was able to push myself back and forth. With my brother leading, I was able to walk up and down the giant skeleton's body. Every time we arrived at one of the bend yellow benches, I figured out the shape. Other than moving incredibly slow, there was nothing we didn't do because of my "blindness".
With my eyes closed, I often became disoriented and had to be told which way to point, but I was able to focus on my other senses more than usual. I could smell the trees and hear the leaves rustle as they fell. By the end of the walk, we were moving just as fast as we would have with my eyes open. Additionally, we made it all the way back to the parking lot with no injuries what-so-ever. In the parking lot, however, was a different story.
The parking lot of the art museum/park has an amazing basketball court/art sculpture combination. Dozens of red and blue poles rise in and out of the ground, twisting around each other. Two of them reach up to basketball hoops, which people can actually play with- if they manage to avoid the poles. For several minutes, my brother and I slowly wandered through the maze of poles. We even climbed across some of the ones closer to the ground. Soon, my brother got bored of my slow, hesitant moving and climbed a pole on his own. Stubbornly, I decided it would be a good idea to keep moving, slowly, back to my mom.
Not even a few seconds later, my brother calls out "You got some...stuff right there!" Oblivious to what he was actually trying to say, I took a step forward and Bang! My head hit a pole and knocked me to the ground. Even with my eyes open, I couldn't see a thing for about 30 seconds.
So, with a pounding headache and my eyes open, my mom, brother, and I headed back home. Before the injury, it had been a fun and successful experiment. I came to the conclusion that blind is hard- and dangerous.
