OPTICAL DIMENSIONS is a Newsletter which provides travel information and resources for blind people and individuals who are visually impaired: i.e. information on books, travel opportunities, national and local opportunities, and accessible materials.

CAMPANIAN SOCIETY, INC. TRAVEL PROGRAMS
Campanian Society, Inc., specializes in travel programs for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Our travel programs are designed to meet the specials needs of our travelers and to provide a rich educational experience unavailable on regularly scheduled sighted trips. Each travel program offers unique opportunities for tactile experiences; on-site lectures, readings and audio-description combined with music, enlarge the total sensory and intellectual enjoyment on our programs. Furthermore, our programs offer unique opportunities for relaxation and socialization. The programs are limited to approximately 12-15 participants. Sighted guides accompany all programs. Participants may be accompanied by sighted friends, colleagues or family members. Below is information about our Travel Program for 2000: (1) Key West (2) Washington (3) Cape Cod (4) Branson (5) Hawaii. Also information about our “Talking Monument and Tactile Programs.”

KEY WEST AND DRY TORTUGAS — SUNNY SHORES AND BLUE SKIES: With Optional
Opportunities for Fishing and Parasailing — January 25-31, 2000. There is still ONE space left on this program. If you are interested in participating in this program, please call us as soon as possible. Enjoy sunny Key West and Dry Tortugas when the rest of the country is knee-deep in snow. This island paradise, in the southernmost part of the continental United States, beckons you to visit its historic gingerbread mansions and palm-studded streets. In Key West, history lives, a carnival spirit entices and legendary sunsets are mesmerizing. Please call if you are interested.

TACTILE WASHINGTON IN CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME — April 4-9, 2000: Cherry Blossom time is spectacular in Washington. Please join us for this program. Washington is probably one of the most touchable cities in the United States. Monuments to Presidents and national heroes, indoor sculpture galleries and outdoor sculpture gardens and parks offer a wealth of tactile experiences. Through hands-on experience the city comes alive, the images of men, women and children become more vivid in the mind and knowledge of this great city leave a lasting impression on
all the senses. Our program at the National Building Museum will introduce us to a tactile Washington where buildings, spaces and sculptures create a living environment. On the following days of the program we will actively experience these objects. Sites included are: Union Station, a magnificent neo-classical structure; the U.S. Capitol, one of the most imposing building in the world; Statuary Hall where sculptures (all touchable) of American heroes and heroines stand as examples of our country’s genius and creativity; the Supreme Court, a veritable Roman temple; the Library of Congress, a glorious temple of Learning; the Folger Shakespeare Library, a monument to literary creativity and genius; The Mall, a national public venue honoring political leaders and citizens who served their country; the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where the dollars we have and spend are manufactured; and the Freer Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn Sculpture garden, where are displayed the wonderful creative works of great artist. All this awaits you on our program of tactile Washington.

CAPE COD — THE REGISTRATION FORMS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR CAPE COD,
MARTHA’S VINEYARD AND NANTUCKET — JUNE 13-23, 2000.
The Cape! The mere name conjures images of clear blue light, circling gulls, rocky shores, white-washed porches, weather-beaten rocking chairs and Henry David Thoreau. “Cape Cod is the bared and bended arm of Massachusetts: the shoulder is a Buzzard’s Bay; the elbow or crazy-bone at Cape Mallebarre; the wrist at Truro and the sandy fist at Provincetown.”
This classic (and now legendary) description of the Cape’s countenance is from Thoreau’s Cape Cod, published posthumously in 1864. In this book, Thoreau offers a vivid and colorful account of  the landscape, seascape and culture of Cape Cod — all based on his three walking trips over the terrain in 1849, 1850 and 1855. Thoreau delighted in the simplicity of the Cape Codders’ ways, the bare beauty of the landscape and the ever-present ocean. With relish and good humor, he describes what he saw on his tramps about the wind-swept peninsula: remains of a shipwreck, windmills, seaweed, sea creatures, the changing water in its various moods, ships, lighthouses, birds, the scrubby vegetation, and especially, the people. Standing on top of the great glacial bluffs and facing the ocean near the end of Cape Cod, Thoreau wrote. “A man may stand there and put all America behind him.” The “beauty and mystery of this earth and outer sea” await your footsteps and participation.
The long, curved arm of Cape Cod—like the arm of a might weightlifter flexing his muscle—is surrounded by water on three sides, lined with more than 300 miles of beaches, and covered with dense forest, scrubby brush, and graceful, flowing sand dunes. The Cape is divided into four sections: Upper Cape, Mid Cape, Lower Cape and Outer Cape. Each area has unique features, fascinating history and exciting stories. In the Upper Cape, we will visit Falmouth, Woodshole,  Sandwich and Cape Cod Canal where history and technology flourish. Hyannis—with its famed Kennedy Compound— in Mid Cape will be our home base; Hyannis offers countless amenities: superb restaurants, easy walking and countless shops along its main street. In the Lower Cape we will visit Brewster where Helen Keller experienced her first whiff of salty sea air and hike the “Wing
Island Trail” through the upland pitch pine forest, across a salt marsh to the tidal flats and tidal creeks and the unique sassafras grove. The Outer Cape is incredibly diverse and mesmerizing: from the Cape Cod National Seashore at Eastham where we will enjoy the Buttonbush Trail (designed specifically for the sight impaired—with Braille and large print interpretive plaques) to Provincetown where the Pilgrim Monument and Heritage Trail through the town offer countless stories of the ubiquitous presence of the ocean and the artist’s life “at the end of the earth.”
Our program to Cape Cod will be augmented by three excursions off the “arm”— a day excursion to Nantucket (30 miles off the mainland), purchased by a group of colonists seeking economic opportunity and political and religious freedom for 30 British pounds and “two Beaver Hatts;” a day excursion to Martha’s Vineyard to visits Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, Vineyard Haven and the varicolored clay cliffs of Gay Head; and a day excursion to Plymouth where the 102 persons brought by the Mayflower stepped onto Plymouth Rock and almost half of died of exposure, cold and hunger. Poetry and history have immortalized this courageous lot of settlers: John Alden, William Bradford, Elder Brewster, Miles Standish and Edward Winslow.
You are invited to experience the many special wonders of Cape Cod with us on this special program to a place once considered to be the private playground retreat of Bostonians, but now a place which belongs to the world. To architects, Cape Cod is a style; to gourmets, a unique cuisine offering the opportunity to indulge in some of the world’s best and freshest seafood; and to artists, the muted blues, greens and yellows simmer in the gold sun creating breathtaking scenes for the artist’s canvas. Furthermore, Cape Cod is replete with history at every turn. This program has been designed for the Blind and individuals with low vision, their family members and friends. To meet the special needs of our travelers, this program has been carefully crafted to provide a rich educational experience unavailable on regularly scheduled sighted trips. This program offers many unique opportunities for relaxation and socialization. This program will be limited to sixteen participants. Sighted guides will accompany the program.

BRANSON: MUSIC & SONG IN THE OZARK HILLS—September, 2000 (dates not yet
available) Harold Bell Wright’s Arcadian-style novel, The Shepherd of the Hills (1907) sparked a nationwide interest in the Ozarks and brought the first wave of tourism into the Missouri Ozarks. Wright’s novel continues to live in the national popular attraction of The Shepherd of the Hills Homestead and Outdoor Theatre and numerous other attractions in the Branson area. Immediately after the publication of Wright’s novel, tourists flocked to Branson to see the beautiful Ozark Hills they had read about. While visitors today may appreciate a similar natural landscape, Branson is now America’s live entertainment center and mecca for music lovers — Broadway and Hollywood all rolled into one. The music of Branson echoes across the country to attract unparalleled attention
to the town.
Branson resounds with the best of American music. It has more of it than anywhere else in the world. It’s America’s Live Entertainment Capital, and among its performers are some of the biggest names in contemporary music. Country, pop, gospel, bluegrass, western, rock ‘n’ roll, classical, jazz and Broadway-style — Branson has it all. The highlights of this trip will be Branson’s live music shows. Among the musical shows are the following: Shoji Tabuchi Show—the spectacular virtuosity of Shoji’s violin playing is one of the outstanding jewels in the Branson crown of musical shows; and the Bobby Vinton Show with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. An additional 5 shows will be added to the program when the 2000 schedule is available.
Our Branson musical extravaganza program will be augmented by a variety of day tours: a tactile tour of the Ralph Foster Museum on the campus of the College of the Ozarks; a day excursion to Silver Dollar City, styled after an 1890s mining town filled with craft shops and the famous Marvel Cave. We will “Ride the Ducks” — World War II amphibious vehicles which journey over land and lake to explore the natural beauty of Table Rock Lake and Baird Mountain; and, we will enjoy a cruise aboard the Showboat Branson Belle for lunch and a musical show.

TREASURES OF HAWAII: PACIFIC PARADISE ISLANDS—October, 2000 (dates not
yet available) Hawaii has a special magic all its own. “The loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean” wrote Mark Twain about his visit to Hawaii; the famous “aloha spirit” makes friends of strangers, melts cultural barriers and inspires understanding. First-time visitors will find Hawaii to be everything they dreamed it would be; those who return make new discoveries each time, yet are comforted by what remains unchanged. Hawaii — the Aloha State — is an island paradise, with its swaying palms and mysterious green mountains alive with waterfalls; embraced by long stretches of sandy beaches and surrounded by turquoise seas that sparkle in everlasting sunshine, Hawaii is a land where rainbows grace the skies daily and flowers, growing in profusion and abundance, perfume the air. History, legend and folklore arrest the traveler at every turn: Hawaiian legends are full of adventurous chieftains, deities, and heroes such as Maui who snared the sun to make the days last longer in this island paradise.
You are invited to join us on this trip to Hawaii. This program has been designed for blind people and individuals with low vision, their family members and friends who may wish to participate in this tour. To meet the special needs of our travelers, this program has been carefully crafted to provide a rich educational experience unavailable on regularly scheduled sighted trips. This program offers many unique opportunities for relaxation and socialization. This program will be limited to fifteen participants.
Program includes: Airfare from LAX to Honolulu; Inter-island Airfare. Accommodations in first class hotels; Continental breakfast daily, 4 dinners (including Luau); Professional lecturers throughout program. All entrances fees to museums and sites.
For additional information, Registration Forms, itinerary and cost of the individual programs, please contact us for details.

CAMPANIAN ENTERPRISES TALKING MONUMENTS AND TACTILE PROGRAMS.™ Our first program was held in New York City on November 9th. The program included a morning at the Federal Hall National Memorial; following lunch, we visited the New York Stock Exchange and Trinity Church. It was an exhilarating day for all. Our next program in New York will be during the week of March 13th (2000). Details will appear in the January issue of the Newsletter. Our “Honolulu Talking Monuments and Tactile Program” will take place in late April (after Easter) at Waikiki Beach (an outrigger outing will be included as part of this program). The “Cincinnati Talking Monuments and Tactile Program” will be in March. Please contact us if you are interested in one of these programs.

SPECIAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCES:
BLIND-TRAVEL List (blind-travel Blindness-related travel issues and recommendations) This blind-travel list is welcome resource for sharing and posting information about travel opportunities, discussion of books on travel, local travel information and resources. Please join this list and contribute to its success. The list owner is Lisa Carmelle; her e-mail address is: lcarmelle@NTWRKS.COM
The following subscription information gives details about how to join and participate in BLIND-TRAVEL list: Write to listserv@softcon.com, In body of the text write: subscribe blind-travel First name Last name. You will receive a confirmation message and you only have to reply with OK in the text only. Provided your mail program is a standardized one you should be able to just hit the reply to the confirmation message and make sure there is no quoted text but include only "ok" without the quotes. Please feel free to share information about BLIND-TRAVEL with
you friends and colleagues.

THE AUDIBLE LOCAL LEDGER (ALL) is an affiliate of the Massachusetts Radio Reading Service, a special state-wide radio information network that provides the reading of daily newspapers, current periodicals, shopping guides, best selling books and other materials previously available only in print. Audible Local Ledger broadcasts this material over closed-circuit radio state, cable television audio channels and on secondary audio program channels or television stations. For information contact: ALL, 346 Gifford St., Falmouth, MA 02540. Telephone (877) 255-2260; Fax: (508) 540-8801. E-mail: allradio@capecod.net

BRIEF HISTORY LESSONS:
Most ancient societies had a festival celebration built around the winter solstice — the 21st or 22nd of December. (Yuletide is an example). In Rome, this festival was called the Saturnalia, named for
the Roman god, Saturnus.
Romans evidently originally celebrated it on December 17th, but it spread to several days in December. On December 17th, there was a public sacrifice at the Temple of Saturnus near the Forum in Rome. This was followed by a public feast; after the banquet, the revelers went through the city shouting: “Hail Saturnus.” During the festival, all business ceased, there was a general holiday, and on this occasion in the year people were allowed to play gambling games in public.
On December 18th and 19th, which were general holidays, the day began with an early bath; then followed the family sacrifice of a suckling pig. Then came calls on friends, congratulations, games and the presentation of gifts. All manner of presents were made, as they still are at Christmas; among them, the wax candles deserve notice, as they are thought to have some reference, like the Yule log, to the returning power of the sun’s light after the solstice. The wax candle tradition descended from the Saturnalia into the Christmas ritual of the Latin Church. Little paste (or earthenware) images which were sold all over Rome in the days before the festival, and used as presents, also survived into Christian times; thus, we find that all kinds of little images were on sale at the confectioners’ shops, and even in England the bakers made little images of paste at this season. But the best known feature of the Saturnalia is the part played in it by the slaves, who were waited on by their masters, and treated as being in a position of entire equality. Everyone wore less-formal clothes and soft caps; each household chose a mock king to preside ove the festivities. The Saturnalia was probably the most popular of Roman festivals. Eventually the Saturnalia was replaced by the festival of Christmas on December 25th. Christmas is first attested as being celebrated in 336 A.D.
Statius (a Roman epic poet) begs the gods inspiring poetry to go away at this time so he can play, and Martial (a Roman writer of epigrams) comments on the gift exchange and the equality of all men that are part of the season. the writer Gellius, who was away from home at the festival, celebrates the Saturnalia in a foreign land. He says: “We spent the Saturnalia joyfully yet modestly in Athens. We many Romans, who were in Greece, met for dinner. We gave dinners in order and after dinner offered a prize for solving problems. The prize was a book of authors either Latin or Greek and a crown woven from laurel. The host asked as many questions as we were people present. A casting of lots gave the question and the order of speaking. Therefore the questions answered received a crown and a reward.” The real Santa Claus, Bishop Nicholas of Myra who lived in the Roman Empire, is a historical personage. His habit of giving gifts to children at this time is probably influenced by the Saturnalia.

A VISIT FROM SATURNUS: The following poem (penned years ago by the Newsletter Editor) is included here in the spirit of the Holiday Season. To all Newsletter Readers, we offer Holiday Greetings for happy and joyous Saturnalia celebrations. As a Classicist (teacher of Latin and Greek) the Latin words are understandable (just pronounce them out loud and you will get the idea, and recall the “original poem on which this parody is based); and for those who once studied Latin, these words will test your memory and attention to grammatical cases (remember — Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Vocative and Ablative!). With Best Wishes to Everyone from All of Us at Campanian Society for a Happy Holiday Season.

A VISIT FROM SATURNUS

‘Twas the night before the Saturnalia
when all through Italia (i.e. Italy)
Not a creature was stirring
no animalia (i.e. animals),
The Penates (i.e. household gods) were placed
on the altar with care
In hopes that Saturnus
soon would be there;
The Romans were nestled
all snug in their beds
While visions of Empire
danced through their heads;
And Mater (i.e. Mother) in her ‘kerchief
and I in my tunic
Had just settled down
for a long winter lunic,
When out in the courtyard
there arose Bacchic cries.
I sprang from my bed
to see what did arise.
Away to the window
I flew like a Rumor
Tore open the shutters
and saw there a Furor (i.e Fury).
Luna  (i.e. the moon) on the breast
of the new-fall nix (i.e. snow)
Gave a luster of mid-day
to res (i.e. things) below.
When — mirabile dictu — (i.e. marvelous to tell)
my eyes did define
But a miniature chariot
and eight tiny equine,
With a little old Auriga (i.e. Driver)
so lively and earnest
 I knew in a moment
in must be Saturnus.
More rapid that eagles
his hippoi (i.e. horses) they came
And he whistled and shouted
and called them by name:
“Now Pegasus! now Pherenikes!
now Chiron and Eurytion!
On, Xanthus! on, Eros!
on, Hippos and Equus!
To the top of the tectum (i.e. roof-top)!
to the top of the valla!
Nunc currite! currite! (i.e. now dash on, dash on!)
Currite omnes.” (i.e. Dash on, All)
So up to the house-top
the hippoi (i.e. horses) they flew,
With the Chariot full of dona (i.e. gifts)
and Saturnus too —
He was dressed in a toga
from his head to his toes,
And his purple stripe was all tarnished
there was a run in his hose.
A bundle of dona (i.e. gifts) he had
grabbed from his currus
And he looked like a Greek
just ‘rived from Tenedos.
His eyes — how ox-eyed.
his dimples — such an omen,
His cheeks were rosy-fingered
his nose — how Roman.
His droll little mouth —
such an archaic smile!
And the beard on his chin
shaped like a file.
He had a broad face
and a little round pot
That shook when he laughed
like a tight Argonaut.
He was robustus (i.e. robust) and plumpus (i.e. plump),
a veritable Satyr
And I laughed when I saw him
both now and later.
A wink of his eye and
a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know
I had nothing to dread:
Non dixit sed laboravit (i.e. He did not speak but he labored)
Labor omnia vincit. (i.e. Labor conquers everything)
He gave dona (i.e. gifts) to all
then turned with a jerk
And laying his finger
aside of his nose
And giving a nod, through
the impluvium (i.e. hole in the ceiling of the house) he rose.
He sprang to his currus (i.e. chariot - sleigh)
to his hippoi (i.e. horses) gave a shout
And away they all flew
like the Gauls from a rout.
And I head him exclaim
‘ere he drove out of sight
Felicia Saturnalia omnibus (i.e. Happy Saturnalia to All)
omnibusque Good Night. (i.e To All ...).
 

MILLENNIUM NEWS:
The A.D. system devised originally by the tallish Russian monk Dionysius Exiguus around 530 had become standard reading on the millennium by the mid-8th Century (much due to the famous Bede of England). Since the Book of the Apocalypse, or Revelation, declared that the Second Coming would occur after one thousand years there was great concern. A recent book by Robert Lacey and Danny Danzier — "The Year 1000: What Life Was Like At The Turn Of The First Millennium — An Englishman's World" (Boston: Little, Brown, 1999). There is a wonderful millennial story of how Pope Silvester II and the Holy Roman (viz. German) Emperor Otto III, the rulers of the spiritual and the temporal world (as Christendom saw them), went up on to the Aventine on the night of 31 xii 999 to await the Second Coming, hand in hand. Next morning they came down and went their ways. Salutationes prope bimillennarias.
There is a very nice discussion of the last "turn of the century" in Stephen Jay Gould's "Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown" (Harmony Books, 1997), pp. 119-23. Here are some extracts to whet your appetitite: “The 1890s version displays the clearest division of high versus vernacular culture. A few high culture sources did line up behind the pop favorite of 1899-1900. Kaiser Wilhem II of Germany officially stated that the twentieth century had begun on January 1, 1900. A few barons of scholarship, including such unlikely bedfellows as Sigmund Freud and Lord Kelvin, agreed. But high culture overwhelmingly preferred the Dionysian [i.e. Dionysius Exiguus] imperative of 1900-1901. An assiduous survey showed that the presidents of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania all favored 1900-1901 — and with the entire Ivy League so firmly behind Dionysius, why worry about a mere Kaiser? In any case, 1900-01 won decisively in the two forums that really matter. Virtually every important public celebration for the new century, throughout the world (and even in Germany), occurred from December 31, 1900, into January 1, 1901. Moreover, essentially every newspaper and magazine officially welcomed the new century with their first issue of January 1901. I made a survey of principal sources and could find no exceptions. . . . Such reliable standards as The Farmer's Alamanac and The Tribune Almanac declared their volumes for 1901 as "first number of the twentieth century." On December 31, 1899, The New York Times began a story on the nineteenth century by noting: "Tomorrow we enter upon the last year of a century that is marked . . . .” A year and a day later, on January 1, 1901, the lead headline proclaimed "Twentieth Century's Triumphant Entry" and described the festivities in New York City . . . .

CAMPANIAN SOCIETY, INC. CUSTOMIZED PROGRAMS.
If you are interested in a special program for a small group (4-6 persons) or for larger groups interested in travel, please contact. We are able to provide you with all services to make your travel as easy and pleasurable as possible. If your have any questions or comments, please contact us.

Happy Saturnalia to Everyone and Best Wishes for the New Year (the New Millennium)!