How About That Thing?

Not going to lie, I think I need to take a break from animated sitcoms. Especially after something as IQ-lowering as Family Guy. I think I need to switch off the TV altogether, and spend this week on a book.

But I need something that is themed around blindness. After all, I said I’d dedicate this entire month to the visually impaired, in honor of disability month. Going through my library, I find that I don’t really have anything that fits that description… But I do remember a book my mom once gave me back when I was in third grade.

Sees Behind Trees is a work of historical fiction. Which is basically a really fancy way of saying that the story is totally made up, but the time and place it took place in is as accurate as humanly possible.

The story follows native American children going through the right of passage to become men, which includes a new test this year. One that a blind child ends up acing with flying colors.

The test is simple: stand out in the middle of nowhere, remain as dead silent as possible, and then, when prompted, tell the elders what you hear. The main character, a blind child who starts out simply known as Walnut, ends up overhearing THE single stealthiest member of their tribe, which blows everybody’s mind, and earns him his adult name, Sees Behind Trees. Maybe a little tacky, but it could’ve been worse. He could’ve ended up with the name Three Tries, like his friend.

I don’t know the first thing about what it’s like to be Native American. Or I guess they want to be called First Nation now? If that’s what they want. But I digress.

I’m not going to pretend my white ass knows the first thing about life as a first nationer. A lot of the cultural notes within this book is stuff that I pretty much have to take the author’s word on.

But as far as blindness goes… Now HERE is where I can way in.

The whole thing with the testing of hearing reminds me so much of things that have happened in my life. All too often, I’ve asked people: “do you hear that?”, and they have no idea what I’m talking about until they move a bit further in one direction or another. My mom has told stories about how I spoiled surprises because they THOUGHT they were far enough out of range, but then learned later on that I heard the whole thing. In more recent times, I impressed the hell out of my brother-in-law when I heard some high-pitched whining noise coming from our neighbor’s yard from the living room. Meanwhile, HE literally had to step outside onto the patio before he could hear anything.

The funny part is, to me, and most likely to Sees Behind Trees, this doesn’t seem all that impressive of a skill.

“You heard that?” someone would say to me.

“You DIDN’T hear that?” I’d reply.

As for Sees Behind Trees’s actual vision… They don’t really say what his exact condition is, but considering it’s, like, the 1600s when this book takes place, I don’t blame them. They probably didn’t have a name for it back then, outside of “you blind, yo.” Some of the descriptions the author uses to talk about how his vision, or lack there of works, isn’t QUITE how my vision works. When I was a kid, looking through this book, I still had both eyes, and my vision was pretty much 20-900. The way Sees Behind Trees’s vision is described, it MIGHT actually be worse than mine. Possibly in the same ball park, but maybe a little further into the outfield, if you know what I mean.

I’ll confess, there’s a lot about this book I don’t remember off hand. Not helped by the fact there isn’t much information about it. Seriously, it doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page! Do you know how obscure you have to be to not have a Wikipedia page?

But hey, that should just give you more motivation to pick up a copy for yourself. I recommend it.