15. Back to work.

The rain has passed and on a bright but chilly morning I was off to join one of the Cotswold Voluntary Wardens work parties I mentioned in my last blog. I really enjoy being a Warden and not only because of the activities or the satisfaction of helping maintain our rural landscape but also because of the excellent company of fellow wardens. I haven’t missed the fact that my deafness doesn’t seem to bother anyone and that people do keep an eye out for me and don’t seem to mind repeating a few things when I ask.  The fact that I turned up mistakenly thinking I was going on a postponed activity was down to daftness not deafness on my part. The task involved coppicing and bonfires on Crickley Hill for the National Trust, an activity that I’ve done many times before but not with a transmitter on the side of my head.  The hard hat was the first problem because the headband of the hat passed right over the transmitter and the internal receiver making it unusable.  Still, there was always the fire to tend where a hard hat was not essential.   Later I tried a brush cutting hard hat, which had a large adjusting knob at the back, which allowed the headband to expand and contract easily.  With a beanie to cover the electronics I could expand the headband so that it went over my head without knocking the transmitter off and then tighten it until it was secure.  Problem solved!

I felt more confident talking to others and although the shrillness has diminished a little I still have to tell myself to concentrate on the chipmunks!  Lunchtime banter provided me with snippets of conversation, which had been beyond me previously, but I realise that I’m some distance from being able to comfortably engage and eavesdrop in that situation. However, talking in smallish groups was better than before.  The wind doesn’t help either as it whistles across the microphone so I’m going to look out for a furry cover like those used by sound recordists.