How Do You See The World?

Good morning, Family Trails readers.
 I realize that I have not been meeting my goal of the "Weaver Wednesday" post very well. Sure, there are a few reasons for this….mainly LIFE. No complaints in that department for sure...life is good, and I wake up every day thankful for the gift of a new day. Though I may have missed quite a few posts deadlines, my mind is always looking for inspiring ideas to share with you.

For a long time, I have had some images in my mind from one of the trips that sister, Rebecca, and I took to Talladega. During the annual "April in Talladega" tour of homes, we had the opportunity to tour Manning Hall on the campus of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.  The main floor in Manning Hall holds a museum of the institute since its conception in 1858. There were many artifacts to view:  photographs, books written in Braille, portraits, school desks, old clothing, and old records, but one item stood out to me and its image has not left my mind. That is why I have named this blogpost,
"How Do You See The World?"

How do you see the world?
Do you wake up every day and look out of the window to check the weather?
Do you click on the TV to watch the news of the world?
Maybe you travel and experience the vast size of our country and even fly across the oceans to exotic destinations.
And of course, we all can see the world through books. A book can transport us into a secret garden, or Neverland, or a deserted island; we can ride alongside a cowboy or sit in a covered wagon, enter a spaceship and orbit the moon, or hike the Appalachian Trail with a man and his faithful four-legged companion.
We can also spin a globe of the Earth and run our fingers across the colorful countries as it spins.
Do I take these these opportunities for granted? I admit that I do, but touring this museum helped to remind me to "walk in someone else's shoes" for a bit and imagine how a child without eyesight sees the world.

In the museum in Manning Hall, there is a very old map of the world to help children begin to see the world. 

These maps grabbed my attention. They were hand-made in Louisville, Kentucky in 1882 by the 

American Printing House for the Blind. As you can see, the 2 sides of the globe were hand-carved to help children envision the vastness of the world in which they lived. Children could touch the shape of the continents, feel the mountain ranges, and rub their little fingers across the oceans to get an idea of just how large the Earth really is. 

Thankfully, these maps are preserved in this museum. There are only 2 of these sets that have survived in this country. 

As in a previous post, I would like to pay tribute to four of the Weaver ladies who taught school at the  Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind. I am in awe of their commitment as teachers, and especially as teachers to children with such special needs. 

When I was a little girl, I understood in a childlike way that my grandmother, Ivera, taught children who were deaf. She taught me to sign the alphabet and to sign my name, which I can still do. And one of my most favorite memories has to be when she got frustrated with the 3 of us. I am sure we gave her fits at times. When she needed to discipline us and couldn't get the words out fast enough, her hands started signing. There is no telling what she was saying, but it sure got our attention! We would stop in our tracks and just stare at her red face and her little arms and hands just signing away!  

That's just a little memory of mine, and I hope you enjoyed it. 

And I hope we all continue to "see the world!"

With love,

Mariellan