Accessibility . . . as Art!

My husband and I had big plans for the day, which was to say we intended to have a huge, lovely breakfast, buy some fresh sweet corn, do a little shopping, and go swimming somewhere nice, before the holiday weekend crowds showed up!

So we tucked ourselves and our stuff into the car and headed for Altoona, which hosts the closest Eat 'n Park. My husband dropped me off at the edge of the parking lot where Himmel's had a truck selling sweet corn, freshly picked. He went in to Eat 'n Park, where I would join him after acquiring the corn. I figured I'd be 10 minutes or so.

Little did I know that with only about a dozen people in front of me, it was going to take at least a half an hour of standing in the hot sun on hot pavement to obtain the much-touted butter and sugar sweet corn.

It was to be the first decent sweet corn of the entire summer, and yes, it was going to cost me: $7 a dozen, and half an hour in sweat. I have also been haunting their Facebook page for a while, watching for details about the Altoona deliveries. If you have done such a thing in your life, all for sweet corn, you might just be from central Pennsylvania!

The price on our breakfasts goes up at 11 a.m., so we always try to be there before 11 to order. I was watching the clock, and saw it was ticking toward 11. Should I continue to stand in line? Should I give up? I hoped my husband was ordering for both of us!

Finally, it was my turn in line. I paid my money, I got my bag of corn, I hoofed it on over to the car, tucked the corn into a cooler in the trunk, and then zipped in to Eat 'n Park. And got there . . . a few minutes after 11, had a quick stop in the ladies' room, and got to the table . . . just as our food arrived! "Don't you just love it when you come back from the bathroom and find your food waiting for you?"* I asked. And sat down, and ate!

Our senior super griddle smiles were excellent, and we polished them off post haste. We saved our grilled stickies for later, as we were too stuffed to eat them there, and stickies are so lovely late at night, heated up and fed to you by someone you love.

Anyway, it was shopping after that: a quick bargain hunting trip to Big Lots, which is right next to the Eat 'n Park. So we bought a few bags of deals and headed for the car, to make our trip to Canoe Creek State Park, where we have only swum once so far this summer.

We found the water much cleaner than expected, and not too warm and not too cold. It wasn't TOO anything. In fact, it was Just Right, as Baby Bear might have said in that Goldilocks tale. We had a great swim and a lovely visit at the park before heading home at the end of the afternoon.

There is an accessible ramp with railing to provide support for helping people get in and out of the swimming area. (As a former Manager of Access at Penn State, yes, I still notice all things related to accessibility. And yes, access, when it happens right, is a beautiful, beautiful thing!) As I was swimming, I saw the railing was reflecting on the waters, and suddenly I realized it was a great photo op! I planned to come back after showering and changing clothes, to grab some shots.

When I got out of the water, I went into the shower, and what an adventure that turned out to be. Some showers have another accessibility aid: those little stands you can put down, to sit on while you take your shower. I usually put it down and lay all of my stuff on it: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shower poof, soap.

Except that when I put it down - with a loud CLINK! - I saw something large and brown also fall onto the floor. It was a huge grasshopper of some kind, and initially, it seemed like no biggie. Just me, naked in a strange public shower, and a huge grasshopper to keep me company. Goodie gum-drops.

But then the water wouldn't go down in my shower, and it started to rise, swirling around and around, and finally went into the shower next to me, where it began to drain. In the meantime, the water was indeed rising quickly and the bug was getting nervous. I have to admit that *I* was getting nervous too.

Then the bug got jumpy, and my nerves got worse. The bug began hopping all around, trying to evade the rising flood waters. I tried to push the water into the next stall so the bug would live. I could not imagine how to help it, but I knew this: I would not let the bug drown!

The bug, for its part, finally climbed up the wall an inch or so, where it sat and observed me, naked. Then it fell back into the water and I was afraid for it. I finished my shower quickly and grabbed a plastic baggie, which I used to lift the bug and carry it out of the shower to safety. Hooray!

Now, dear reader, if you are ever in a state park restroom and see some strange, wet, naked lady run out of the shower, trying not to scream, carrying a huge bug on a piece of plastic, don't worry; it's just me! Do me a favor and look away! Pretend you did not see!

I calmed down and dried off and changed my clothes, and met my husband outside. "You won't believe it," he said; "I had the biggest granddaddy long-legs I have EVER SEEN in the shower with me!" (I think I was supposed to be impressed.) "Oh yeah?" I said. "Do tell!"

And then he told me how he rescued a big bug using his sandal, and lifted it up and placed it into a window well, where it seemed quite happy. Delighted to be free, and dry, apparently. Yes, TWO bugs who might have drowned got happy endings on this day!

Here's some advice straight from me to you: the next time you get in a state park shower, CHECK FOR BUGS before you even take off your clothes! This is someone who knows, speaking! Think of the biggest bug you can imagine, and then think of your own naked self and that bug, battling for purchase on an increasingly wet cement floor, with the water rising, rising, rising. Yeah, LOOK FIRST!

And then I finally went out and photographed my accessible railing at the beach, and it was lots of fun, because the reflections were cool and gold and blue and squiggly, as you can see here. When I posted the photos on Facebook, a friend identified the squiggles as "calligraphy." I love that!!! The beauty of access! The words are written on the waters!

Now, it is my custom to include a soundtrack song, and this one is for the bug I rescued from certain drowning in the shower waters at Canoe Creek State Park on this day: Johnny Cash, with Five Feet High and Rising.

P.S. The sweet corn was delicious! Worth every penny, and worth every second of standing in a hot, sunny parking lot!

*This quote is a line from the film Pulp Fiction.