Blog: Cane, part three

My musician friend, Tom Rozum, has a song Walking Stick, about a dandy, for whom such an item is an essential part of his appearance on the street. He sings "I'd be lost without my cane". My late father made use of a "stick" in his later years. Now it's my turn to need the support of a cane. Kaiser gave me one of their thick standard metal canes, with a hard rubber handle. I still use that, notably when I am taken to church on Sundays. My neighbor, Joan McQuarrie, gives me the "friendly arm" I need for stability. Then Barbara bought two tall matching canes, like ski poles without any prongs. She also bought two walkers and a metal cane with four-pronges Next, in Colorado, she bought a metal cane with a four-pronged base, which I mainly use to walk to and from a car there. She also bought a simple walker, which I use all the time, walking several times a day from the East side of the house (kitchen, pantry, "mud room", utility room,"half bathroom", dining room. office), to the center (living room0, and on to the West side (hot tub room, dressing area, bathroom, and our bedroom). Back in Berkeley, she bought two more canes with a four-pronged base. I bought a "Hurrycane" for myself. If I haven't forgotten anything, that totals eight canes and three walkers, a consequence of not wanting to dispose of one of our homes. None of the "canes" makes use of what I call a real cane.