Freedom encore

This new found freedom is a total blast. The effort needed to get out and about is not such a mission and is minimal. That first jaunt down the road has set the tone and was a learning curve. The temperature here is dropping and my hands get cold and stiff very quickly so Friday I went across the road to a sports shop and found myself a pair of gloves. Of course the shop assistant forgot to remove the antitheft tape and all the bells and whistles let it be known that Kuster had been in the shop and, I was already in a get away vehicle.
New gloves on, it was time to go look for a lake and hunt up some coffee. Miriam was with me but she doesn’t actually know this part of Etoy. This is the first time that she’s going walk/jog about round here. Most of her patients are not up to a short walk let alone a couple of Kms.
I’m now going off the beaten track and there are no bicycle lanes and I have to remember to keep right which is totally wrong for me and keep an ear out for cars behind me.
I didn’t find the lake although I know it’s there, I did get some tantalising glimpses through the trees of a forest which is right on my doorstep but that’s as close as I got. The forest was cool and quiet with birdlife murmuring in the back ground. It was quiet enough to hear a tree make a sound as I glided through.
An hour and a half later I emerged onto a main road just down the road from home and I had to dodge moving traffic. At the end of the day, no lake and no coffee but tomorrow’s another day.

Yesterday, Saturday (17 Oct), Miriam came over in the afternoon and said that we would go further afield and promptly loaded me up with my power chair. Twenty minutes later we were at a place called Ouchy which is in Lausanne. Yes I chuckled at the name but it’s pronounced Oochy. The view of the mountains was stunning and they were capped with snow. We offloaded the chair and I was off along the lakeside. Everything is so wheelchair friendly and there are bicycle lanes everywhere.
It didn’t take long before a café called and soon we were sitting sipping hot coffee whilst gazing over the mountains. There was even a small square of 70% dark chocolate mixed with orange to nibble on.
We moved on shortly and then it began to rain. I wasn’t a good boy scout, I hadn’t come prepared. I haven’t been out in the rain in years and I enjoyed every second of it. Yes I could have found a roof to hide under, I passed quite a few but to be in control of whether I played in the rain or not was too good to pass up. It was just me who was getting wet and I probably attracted some strange looks from those under cover.
Then a pancake shop started to call and the taste buds responded. Normally I would have ignored the place especially in the manual chair. There were tables and chairs all over the place and a serious sill to get in the front door. What a breeze with the power chair. It turns on a sixpence and weaving through obstacles is child’s play and as for the door sill, a quick wheelie and I was in.
A savoury pancake ended a totally awesome day.