I found Potbelly's...I think?

The second day for me felt better. I think I was able to shake off my anxiety from yesterday and just walk. Sometimes I felt the faster I walked the straighter I traveled. I remember this from indoor mobility, but it was harder to convince myself to keep going fast today when I felt like I might step off the curb at any moment. The wall on the east side of Macomb helped me. The wall was much easier to shoreline with than the grass and dirt. I was also able to walk faster because my cane didn't sick into the ground, instead it just bounced off, making me stutter and stumble less, giving me more confidence.
Intersection analysis can be really difficult when there are not many cars around! I now know I have to give it time and wait until I am sure of what is in front of me. It's a weird transition from walking swiftly and breezing by things, to having to stop and stand still and pay very close attention to all the details the intersection has to offer.
I am happy with how straight I was able to walk on my way down College to potbelly's; execpt for the minor turn into the brick post. I do use my hearing a lot, and I thought once we went outside I would loose this skill because every thing is so open and there is not much closed space for sound to bounce off of. So today when I was walking fast and straight I noticed I was using the sound of my 2 point touch to guide my path. If I could keep a consistant arc and hit the cane to the ground at about the same width every time, in my mind it made two imaginary lines for me to stay between. The best way I can describe it is like if you were walking down the middle of a railroad track and your cane hit the left rail and then the right rail as you walked, and you had no choice but to stay in between the two rails. This way I was able to make the sound my cane made on the ground guide me. I know this could get me into trouble when things are in my way, but thats when I like to step to the side with one foot and drag the other over. I don't know if I would have known to do this if I had not seen how Katie got turned around in the cemetery. When Mickey said if you move your feet you'll loose your orientation I realized that when I get lost I need to move in very straight purposeful grid-like patterns, so that I can go back if I make a mistake.
I got some good landmarks today, like the stairs and round garden in the park on Park Ave, the low hanging tree branches where the leaf went into my ear, and whatever that dirt mound was that tried to eat my cane. I think with more practice I will be able to connect these things to figure out where I am. It was really fun walking back to Potbelly's and getting there was very satisfying. I am excited to keep practicing this, and then eventually get there without knowing where I am when I start.