Walking the Fest

Many of you who've followed me for the past two decades know that I love our annual arts festival that brings artists from all over the country. On the flip side, I've also talked about how inaccessible the festival is to disabled people. For many years, I used a wheelchair which meant bumpy paths over tree roots, booths inaccessible becuase they required going up a curb, steep hills, and jewelry booths too high to view. In addition, people just aren't super in tune to wheelchair users and tend to make it difficult for us to navigate through the crowds.

This year, for the first time in 28 years, I actually walked the entire festival one evening with Chris. This is a HUGE victory for me on my healing journey. I also went down one night to see some music. In addition, I took Hank down one afternoon so that he could walk through the mister (over and over for an hour!). Thankfully, I found a shady spot to sit.

Being able to move through the world this way after having spent so much time unable to do so certainly amplifies the differences between navigating the world using a chair vs. not. It is a stark reminder of how much easier it is to do things when not using a chair.

I also thought about how many people park far away and walk to and from the festival, while I struggled to get one of 16 spaces left in a parking garage close enough to the festival so that I would still have spoons to walk around and see all of the artists. The price of parking was doubled for fest.

My disability is dynamic in that it is always changing. I try to savor these experiences I am having now since I don't know what my body holds for me in time.

Today's post is a celebration of being able to attend fest as well as have enough spoons to visit with friends from growing up.

Blessings,

Emily Photos: Visiting with one of my favorite artists that I see every year; Pool party with Jess and Kate who I have known for 40 and 36 years respectively; Hank and the mister; Abena who I have known for 36 years and her family.