Number of questions :) I'll see if I can answer them, at least how I think about it. :) For me, color is abstract enough for me to be unable to imagine it. Asociating colors with objects is something a lot of blind people do, but it turns into parameters on an object that way. Color = blue; there's no description ... blue = null pointer exception; As for visual beauty, this is incredibly difficult at least for me to fully comprehend, because you sighties have the annoying habit of changing what you think is beautiful every so many years :P Beauty might be the smoothness of the sculpture, its simetry, its proportions being exactly right. That is the only, somewhat clinical, description of beauty I can think of, at least visual beauty. I must say that when it comes to beauty in humans I tend to disregard it completely. People look like what they look like and that is subject to change anyway as time goes on, no use worrying about it if I can't see it myself anyway. I myself live on my own, therefore I am forced to cook, clean, do my own laundry etc. if I like it or not. This, like a lot of other things, is something you learn to live with. I can safely say that yes, I am fully functional in my own home :) Changes in the kitchen area can be a little annoying, but would never severely throw me off. There's only a finite amount of place the knives could've gone, to use your example. I tend to lay out everything I need before starting to cook though, to avoid ...less than ideal situations when such a thing happens. Unfamiliar environments are a bit of a tricky thing. You are right in assuming a dog is an incredible help in such situations,I am hopefully receiving my first dog some time this year but I see time and time again how this affects the confidence and independence of blind people I know. To answer your question though, it really depends on the person. Some people have a very good sense of direction and wouldn't have a problem in a forest or would get used to another's house quickly enough. I myself have a bit more trouble with that, but I do hop onto a train to an unfamiliar city if I know someone will be at the final station to pick me up and take me where I need to go, thats not something every blind person would do. It depends on a huge number of factors.