Most of us have heard of the Virtual Reality Goggles called Medigait. Several who have tried them have reported that the darned things actually work. Unfortunately, unless you have wonderful insurance the $2000 price tag makes one pause.

I don't begrudge the company a dime, especially since they provide the best kind of deal going - low monthly payments and return it at anytime.

However, those of us comprising the Great Unwashed (or simply Po' Folk) just can't afford it but we need it. So, with that incentive, I have tried various ways to lash together a Neanderthal version of some sort, and I may have succeeded.

The idea is to superimpose a series of horizontal lines on the path in front of you as a graphic prompt to lift your feet and walk. You use it 30 minutes a day and can phase that out as your brain retrains itself.

When you think of it that way, as a therapy unit rather than a permanent gadget to depend on, new possibilities open up. Such as, "Hey! I can make that out of paper for five bucks!" And I have and it seems to work pretty well so far. Here's how I did it and you can do your own version.

I simply took a dozen big clasp envelopes and slipped folded newspaper in them for weight. Then I laid a path from my chair (or "Command Center" as I think of it ) across the room, down the hall and to the bathroom. I spaced them so that I could step between them (not on them) and have to strain just a little to increase my stride length. And I think it worked! I could feel the little grey cells waking up! Try it. You can just use the folded newspaper, for that matter.

I am going to practice and try to "burn in" the image of the path and see just how well I can imagine them before me. It might be handy when out in public.