My scooter

My scooter was probably one of my most cherished toys when I was growing up. As a matter of fact, it was a present to my brother Jeffrey from our Auntie June but then I quickly adopted it as my own and no one seemed to mind.

It was red and it was a two wheel toy. I would stand on the metal foot part and there was a wheel to the front and one to the back. I held tightly to the handlebar and whenever I could, I would go racing around the yard. It was such a wonderful feeling to be able to do this and with precious little vision I was very careful not to bang into cars and other objects in our yard.

I was free! I was independent! I went as quickly as I could! I raced against myself and I loved it all! No doubt, my parents kept a very watchful eye on me each time I did this but they never made me feel as if I could not do it. I never discussed this with them but if they never worried or rather if they never told me that they were concerned then it is probably why I had even more fun!

With one foot on the metal foot part, and the other one on the ground, I could push off, glide, and go as fast as I could. I loved gliding and racing and looking back now it is probably what helped me learn to ice skate later on. Ah yes, my scooter forever.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan
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This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"Each time we raise our voice at someone else we are engaging in bullying! Each time we raise our hands to slap or punch someone else we are also engaging in bullying and each time we engage in actions to either manipulate or force someone else to do what we want we are also engaging in bullying!

There is no room in this world for bullying and each day we fail to take action against bullying it is another day that we allow others to bully us and our kids. Our heros and role models are the ones who have made us proud, those brave young men and women who gave their lives for us in past wars and those who continue to do so. They are not the ones who choose to be racists and those who believe that their bad behaviour in public is acceptable.

I write and record audio mysteries that are being used at such events as murder mystery evenings as well as at public awareness and team building events. I promote understanding, tolerance, and problem solving and my audio mysteries continue to be broadcasted around the world and you can listen to them anywhere! On the plane or train! In the car or right there in your home! On your i device or computer!

Please join my campaign against bullying (CAB) by supporting my efforts to keep on writing and recording!
If you truly care then you will certainly dare!"

Spinning around the floor

This was one of my favorite things to do when I was a kid. Sometimes my twin brother, Jeffrey, used to do it with me but for the most part I would do it alone and boy did I have fun.

I would stand off to the side in our large kitchen and from my spot I would proceed to spin around the floor. Vivid colors would go flashing by and the red and white tiles of our floor would whiz past my visual radar. I could feel the air whirring through my hair and I would say to myself, "Going! Going!"

I am not sure if anyone ever noticed me doing this because no one ever said anything to me. If they did then they never said anything because they probably felt that it was completely harmless, just another childish pastime of mine.

I can still remember doing it and the fun that I had. Once in a while I would tumble to the floor but as quick as I could I would pick myself up and keep on going. Ah yes, just another childhood memory for me to share!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan
Visit our online store to either purchase or subscribe for unlimited access to our library at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html
Or subscribe to our free monthly newsletter at www.donnajodhan.com.

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"Each time we raise our voice at someone else we are engaging in bullying! Each time we raise our hands to slap or punch someone else we are also engaging in bullying and each time we engage in actions to either manipulate or force someone else to do what we want we are also engaging in bullying!

There is no room in this world for bullying and each day we fail to take action against bullying it is another day that we allow others to bully us and our kids. Our heroes and role models are the ones who have made us proud, those brave young men and women who gave their lives for us in past wars and those who continue to do so. They are not the ones who choose to be racists and those who believe that their bad behaviour in public is acceptable.

I write and record audio mysteries that are being used at such events as murder mystery evenings as well as at public awareness and team building events. I promote understanding, tolerance, and problem solving and my audio mysteries continue to be broadcasted around the world and you can listen to them anywhere! On the plane or train! In the car or right there in your home! On your i device or computer!

Please join my campaign against bullying (CAB) by supporting my efforts to keep on writing and recording!
If you truly care then you will certainly dare!"

Meditations from my rocking chair

Ah yes, for a breath of fresh air and just that simple precious moment to sit in my rocking chair and meditate. This is probably one of the few times that I get to sit and allow my imagination to wonder and ponder.

I am not going to wonder what it could or would have been like if my vision had not left me and I do my best to stay away from the big what if question. Instead, I allow my imagination to wonder far afield and to fetch those precious and cherished memories. So many for me to choose from and I never tire of retrieving them and examining them whenever I can.

I will tell you that having become an audio mystery writer has helped me to preserve my memories. I just love to sit in my rocking chair and meditate on stories for my audio mysteries. I started writing in 2010 and to date I have written three seasons of episodes consisting of 13 mysteries per season. I am presently writing a special suite of mysteries for Christmas time and I have titled it the 12 days of Christmas. I plan to write a special box set for kids as well.

Ah yes! I do all of my meditating from my rocking chair and that's the way I like it! Just those precious times when I can sit quietly, relax, and meditate!

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan
Visit our online store to either purchase or subscribe for unlimited access to our library at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html
Or subscribe to our free monthly newsletter at www.donnajodhan.com.

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"Each time we raise our voice at someone else we are engaging in bullying! Each time we raise our hands to slap or punch someone else we are also engaging in bullying and each time we engage in actions to either manipulate or force someone else to do what we want we are also engaging in bullying!

There is no room in this world for bullying and each day we fail to take action against bullying it is another day that we allow others to bully us and our kids. Our heroes and role models are the ones who have made us proud, those brave young men and women who gave their lives for us in past wars and those who continue to do so. They are not the ones who choose to be racists and those who believe that their bad behaviour in public is acceptable.

I write and record audio mysteries that are being used at such events as murder mystery evenings as well as at public awareness and team building events. I promote understanding, tolerance, and problem solving and my audio mysteries continue to be broadcasted around the world and you can listen to them anywhere! On the plane or train! In the car or right there in your home! On your i device or computer!

Please join my campaign against bullying (CAB) by supporting my efforts to keep on writing and recording!
If you truly care then you will certainly dare!"

When the Internet failed

At the best of times it is always a huge inconvenience whenever the Internet goes down, but thank goodness that it does not do this very often. As a matter of fact, very seldom for me.

Most of the time I can tell when the Internet goes down. First I check to see if I can access it and when I am unable to do so I then check my emails. If both are unavailable then something is wrong, but if only one is unavailable, then I wait. I also use my iPhone or iPad to help decipher things for me.

On this particular day when it did indeed fail, I felt like a fish out of water, so to speak, but this is the way I suppose that many would feel as well.

I was able to ascertain that indeed the Internet had gone down but here is where the fun started. When I called my ISP to find out what was going on they kept telling me that it had not gone down and that it was a problem in my own home. Just imagine the panic I felt at hearing this. What!? How? Why? What to do now? The technician kept telling me that it was my modem and because I could not tell him whether or not the modem lights were on, it posed a royal headache for me.

The technician suggested that I find a sighted person to help me and on that day my neighbor, Sandra, was there to rescue me. It was not just the modem, but the connector to the modem. Matter solved and something new for me to keep in mind to check on the next time my Internet goes down.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan
Visit our online store to either purchase or subscribe for unlimited access to our library at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html
Or subscribe to our free monthly newsletter at www.donnajodhan.com.

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"Each time we raise our voice at someone else we are engaging in bullying! Each time we raise our hands to slap or punch someone else we are also engaging in bullying and each time we engage in actions to either manipulate or force someone else to do what we want we are also engaging in bullying!

There is no room in this world for bullying and each day we fail to take action against bullying it is another day that we allow others to bully us and our kids. Our heroes and role models are the ones who have made us proud, those brave young men and women who gave their lives for us in past wars and those who continue to do so. They are not the ones who choose to be racists and those who believe that their bad behaviour in public is acceptable.

I write and record audio mysteries that are being used at such events as murder mystery evenings as well as at public awareness and team building events. I promote understanding, tolerance, and problem solving and my audio mysteries continue to be broadcasted around the world and you can listen to them anywhere! On the plane or train! In the car or right there in your home! On your i device or computer!

Please join my campaign against bullying (CAB) by supporting my efforts to keep on writing and recording!
If you truly care then you will certainly dare!"

Colors on a wall

This is one of the ways that I use when I want to keep my favorite colors close to me. Now that I no longer have enough vision to see them, I use my imagination and memory to conjure up images of them. This is what I do.

I stand in front of a wall and then I put my imagination to work. I don't necessarily have any order in mind, I simply allow my mind to go to work. It does not take too long before the colors come flooding back to me. Yellow of course is my favorite followed by purple, blue, orange, red, pink, green, and then the rest follow.

Sometimes I may use my sense of smell to help things along. It goes like this: I think of the beach and the fresh fragrance of the sea breeze and yellow comes quickly in to greet me. Then I would probably think of a rainy afternoon with a rainbow sitting high in the sky and purple comes sauntering in. Then I would probably think of a warm summer's day with a sky as clear as anything and blue comes sneaking around the corner.

If I can muster up the scent of roses then red would probably reveal itself and if I could think of sitting on my mom's balcony on a quiet evening then either a pink or orange sunset would suffice and these two colors would come marching in.

It's lots of fun for me and this is how I remember my colors.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan
Visit our online store to either purchase or subscribe for unlimited access to our library at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html
Or subscribe to our free monthly newsletter at www.donnajodhan.com.

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"Each time we raise our voice at someone else we are engaging in bullying! Each time we raise our hands to slap or punch someone else we are also engaging in bullying and each time we engage in actions to either manipulate or force someone else to do what we want we are also engaging in bullying!

There is no room in this world for bullying and each day we fail to take action against bullying it is another day that we allow others to bully us and our kids. Our heroes and role models are the ones who have made us proud, those brave young men and women who gave their lives for us in past wars and those who continue to do so. They are not the ones who choose to be racists and those who believe that their bad behaviour in public is acceptable.

I write and record audio mysteries that are being used at such events as murder mystery evenings as well as at public awareness and team building events. I promote understanding, tolerance, and problem solving and my audio mysteries continue to be broadcasted around the world and you can listen to them anywhere! On the plane or train! In the car or right there in your home! On your i device or computer!

Please join my campaign against bullying (CAB) by supporting my efforts to keep on writing and recording!
If you truly care then you will certainly dare!"

Remembering the Disney videos

When I had enough vision to see it all, one of my favorite pastimes was to sit and watch those treasured Disney videos. Oh how much I enjoyed them. From the Lion King to Cinderella, and from Snow White to Toy Story and much more. I used to fill my favorite bowl with pop corn and there I would be, sitting close up to watch my videos.

I could see the action as it happened and if anyone was around to watch it with me then I would have an additional pair of eyes to enhance my watching. Mom would often be with me and she would describe the action and sometimes my niece Martha would do the same. I had so much fun! I allowed myself to slip back into childhood and my imagination would dance with scenes of the day's viewing as I lay in bed at night waiting for the sandman to escort me into dreamland.

As I sit writing this blog I can still see it all in my mind's eye and I can hear the voices piercing through my concentration. I still have my treasured collection on my shelf and sometime in the near future I plan to start watching/listening to them once more.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

Follow me on Twitter @accessibleworld and @author_jodhan
Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authordonnajodhan
Visit our online store to either purchase or subscribe for unlimited access to our library at www.donnajodhan.com/store.html
Or subscribe to our free monthly newsletter at www.donnajodhan.com.

This is a personal message from author Donna Jodhan
"Each time we raise our voice at someone else we are engaging in bullying! Each time we raise our hands to slap or punch someone else we are also engaging in bullying and each time we engage in actions to either manipulate or force someone else to do what we want we are also engaging in bullying!

There is no room in this world for bullying and each day we fail to take action against bullying it is another day that we allow others to bully us and our kids. Our heroes and role models are the ones who have made us proud, those brave young men and women who gave their lives for us in past wars and those who continue to do so. They are not the ones who choose to be racists and those who believe that their bad behaviour in public is acceptable.

I write and record audio mysteries that are being used at such events as murder mystery evenings as well as at public awareness and team building events. I promote understanding, tolerance, and problem solving and my audio mysteries continue to be broadcasted around the world and you can listen to them anywhere! On the plane or train! In the car or right there in your home! On your i device or computer!

Please join my campaign against bullying (CAB) by supporting my efforts to keep on writing and recording!
If you truly care then you will certainly dare!"