"BED RIDER"

Eleanor Smith (an old friend and creator of "Concrete Change") sent these brilliant thoughts to me via email. She said I could repost them here.

"Taking off from the word “bed ridden”, in the past I contemplated editing a book to be called “Bed Riding.” Your post could have been a chapter! Kudos for touching on things no one else is writing about.

There was a guy (“bed rider”) I knew tangentially who was unable to be out of bed -- not in a wheelchair or anything that would cause his body to be bent toward sitting position. He was active in the movement, an organizer, held many meetings in his bedroom. On a strong frame a few feet above his face, aimed straight down at him, was a computer/tv etc. he was able to use. (The thought of it used to make me recoil, but in reality I guess it’s no more dangerous than the ceilings we all have above our heads.)

I’m quite a bit less mobile than I used to be, can’t jump around in bed to reach things. I have set up my little environment down to the inch. I drop multiple things. Sometimes I can recover them with my sundry methods, tools and things I make into tools."