stairs

I'm glad we had a rainy day today to spend some time on stairs. I really needed to work on them, since I have not been on stairs under blindfold in a while. Going up is so much easier, and less stressful than going down stairs. I think it has something to do with my fear of falling down stairs, because you can't really fall up stairs. I guess you could trip, but that's all, you wouldn't roll and keep rolling like you would if you fell while going down.

I think it also has to do with how much information I get from my cane. When going up I hit each step, I hear it, I feel it, and when I get a rhythm going it's so easy to tell when I have reached a landing. However, going down is very different, my cane is floating, I don't hear or feel anything until the very end. Sometimes I drop my cane too low and hit a step, then I think I'm at the bottom, take a weird step and scare myself when I realize there are more stairs. So the next time I go down the stairs when I really do hit the bottom I second guess myself, and take awkward cautious steps to be sure I really am at the bottom. I think this will be something I have to work on, and will build more confidence as I go.