Friday, May 22
By Katherine Schneider, for the CVPost
Here’s a riddle for you (courtesy of Mind Masher; see below for answer): Feed me and I live; give me a drink and I die. Who am I?
Growing up with a disability meant that it took me longer to get schoolwork done, so hobbies weren’t huge in my life.
Ditto for my working years. I’d say reading has been my main hobby throughout life. Arguably there’s more time now for hobbies, so I’m dusting off a few and will share what I’ve found that might be relevant to you.
Cards:
Yes, I play with marked cards—Braille markings in the corners to tell me number and suit. I play bridge with friends who are patient enough to say out loud what card they’re playing. It slows down the game a bit, so some organized groups won’t have me, but friends will.
There’s one book in Braille about bridge play and I can’t interest Braille presses in doing more. So, I remain ignorant of new tricks and rely on whatever basic card sense I inherited from my dad, who was a poker player.
Bridge Base and other computer bridge platforms don’t work with screen reading software so I’m stuck with playing with real people.
The usual suspects had a game awhile back and all played with clean hands and wearing masks. Wearing a mask for five hours straight was a little hot, but doable—especially since my partner and I won!
Scrabble:
I have a 60 year-old Braille Scrabble board and letters. The board is like a waffle iron so it holds the letters in one place while I feel around. Again it takes me longer to “look over” the board.
I started a Tortoise Division at the local Scrabble Bee for Literacy fundraiser so speed wouldn’t count in those games. It provided the same fun playing and raising money for Literacy Chippewa Valley.
Our team usually takes home the prizes for fundraising. We’ll see what happens this fall or whenever they reschedule the Scrabble Bee for. Until then, I’ll play against myself and try not to cheat.
Sudoku:
A friend has made me a Sudoku set, using magnets with Braille numbers on them on a cookie sheet. I think there is a brailled set that one can buy but it’s about $80.
A couple of Braille books of the puzzles are available, but the online ones don’t work with screen readers. I need a tutor to teach me some of the “tricks” that others can get from a book.
Puzzles:
I love word and logic puzzles, riddles and brain teasers. Again, not much is available in Braille, but Alexa has a lot to offer. Some of my favorites are:
Word puzzles like audio rebus, Guess My Word, Word Chain, Anagram Arena, Word Whiz, puzzle of the day (like a crossword puzzle), and word play.
Practical hobbies, like vegetarian cooking, from online recipes that my screen reader can read—yes!
Play on!
Answer to the Mind Masher riddle of the day: fire
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