Bear Lake

My family spent a couple of days at Bear Lake last week. It was fun to take Racer with us this year. The cabin was nice and had a rustic wooden swing on the porch. Racer was excited to go on an adventure and loved running back and forth in the cabin with his bone while we unpacked. In the late afternoons, he enjoyed sitting on the porch and watching passersby while I listened to an audiobook and Bob read the newspaper. Our family doesn’t get together very often so this Bear Lake tradition that my sister started last year has been a good idea. In the evenings we all congregated in front of Carolyn’s cabin around a campfire. Racer didn’t like the smoke very much but I usually sat with him away from it. The day we headed out to the lake it started raining after awhile but we had time for Racer to play in the shallow water before the rain. He had so much fun twirling and prancing and splashing. My family had never seen him act so playful. I’m so protective of Racer that I didn’t feel like I could just leave him with someone in my family while I went into the water. If I don’t have his leash in my hand I’m constantly worrying about how he is doing. He seemed to happily go along with the Bear Lake adventure but when we arrived home he jumped for joy in the living room back with all his toys and comfy bed. The first morning back to work he seemed especially exuberant to head out for the bus. Once on the bus, as we neared our stop he leapt up and ran to the bus door to exit and finish the last leg of our journey. It was so funny to see his enthusiasm for our route and I could see how much he really loves his routine. I’m so happy that he loves his work and loves guiding me. I have heard someone say that there guide dog didn’t like putting on the harness or acted like they didn’t want to do guide work. This week it seemed so clear that Racer loves his role and wants to work.          

     

Introducing Racer

Sorry I haven’t posted anything for awhile. I received my new guide dog in March and his name is Racer. He is a Yellow Labrador Retriever. People tell me he has the most expressive eyes.The kind of eyes that say, “I can get you to do anything for me!” He is my little racecar. It has been a whirlwind. I have been learning so much. We take the bus to work in the morning and he is a great guide. We have our ups and downs and are still learning each others personalities. He is very easy going. Every dog is so different they all have strengths and weaknesses. Although many guide dogs bark when they are not in harness, Racer has never barked EVER. Even when he is playing and off duty. He never tries to chew any of my belongings. He knows the toys that are his and never disrupts my stuff. He never tries to climb on my bed or furniture. He loves to follow his nose though when we are outside and he can get distracted by bushes an flowers growing along our path so I have to give him reminders that we need to catch that bus. Even though he is distracted by flowers I can’t help but think how sweet it is and I tell him he is such a romantic.

My favorite part of the day is in the evening when I know that Racer has been fed, watered, relieved, exercised, and now is just lying on his back with a toy in his mouth making little piggy snorting sounds. Sometimes when he is lying on his back with his paws in the air I take his paws in my hands and play patty cake. I also massage his paws while watching a movie. He loves to be groomed and brushed out on my balcony and it’s a big treat to have his teeth brushed with his poultry flavored toothpaste. He runs in circles around me once he catches a scent of that tube of yumminess.

Bob and I eat out a lot and Racer has perfect restaurant manners. He slides himself right under the table and quietly checks the area for a crumb or two but settles into a comfy position and is very content until it is time to go. Most of the time after the hostess has seated us, the server isn’t even aware that Racer is under the table.          

Determination

, I recently read an article written by Blair Anthony Robertson

about an inspiring guy named Hoby. I loved what Hoby said in his interview about having to work hard despite his disability. His words really resonated with me. Here is an excerpt from the article… Hoby Wedler is a rising star in the world of wine. Blind since birth, he's a phenomenon in the world of sensory science. Hoby now, on the verge of earning his chemistry doctorate, plans to have a career in the wine industry (and possibly beer and olive oil) and use his advanced degrees in his spare time.

Wedler typically has 110-hour work weeks. He operates a nonprofit, Accessible Science, which conducts three-day chemistry camps for blind and visually impaired high school students.

In 2012, he was one of 14 people recognized in a ceremony at the White House as Champions of Change for their work with inspiring people with disabilities in the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math.

Yet, he has a humility that resonates.

“I don’t let on that I have bad days – ever,” he said. “I’m a non-complainer because no one has to deal with my day. I have to work two or three times more hours than a sighted person. It means very little sleep, but if I said, ‘Woe is me; I need my sleep,’ I wouldn’t get anywhere.”

Beyond his determination to succeed, Wedler’s ability to taste wine and his skill at talking about it help him engage beginners and wine aficionados alike. With his young palate still identifying benchmarks and calibrating the many complexities of wine, Wedler has already impressed academics, winemakers and serious wine tasters.

Having memorized his routes in Davis as he did in his hometown, Wedler now is creating his own route to success in the Napa Valley. He knows what he wants and, it just so happens, he has been developing the appropriate skill set since childhood.

“Life is a competition. I am by no means winning, but I am competing, for lack of a better word, with sighted people who have more efficiency – blindness is merely a lack of efficiency. If you want to compete, you just have to put in the time and not give up. You have to push yourself as hard as you can, expect nothing and hope for everything.”

 

 

 

Cankle

I haven’t posted any news in awhile. I had one of those moments while staying at Snowbird where I thought, I’m having so much fun and life is so good right now I sure hope nothing bad is about to happen. Three days after arriving back home I tripped and twisted my ankle. I instantly felt faint and lightheaded. Bob had to take me to the hospital. I was so afraid that I had broken something. The huge concern was that if it was broken it would delay the date to meet my Guide Dog. How could this happen? I NEVER hurt myself falling. Sure I stumble from time to time but I always correct myself and carry on. I walk all over the crumbling old sidewalks of my neighborhood daily and never have a problem. I’m like a Billy goat on a mountain top, so sure footed. The X-ray showed that it was just a bad sprain and the prescription was R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate). When I reached down to touch my puffy ankle all I could think of was, that isn’t an ankle it’s a cankle! About three weeks have passed and it is feeling much better. I’m expecting the hospital bill any day now and I’m sure I will feel faint again once I open that piece of mail. 

     

Snowbird

We spent a week at Snowbird Ski Resort. Bob’s kids were here a couple of days and a few members of my family visited as well. It was fun and relaxing. I enjoyed listening to podcasts and running the stairs while everyone hit the slopes. The hot tub and steam room in the evening were a good way to end each day.

We did break away from the mountains one day this week in order to visit the orthodontist. I finally got my braces off this week! I had to deal with those awful things for three years! I feel like eating loads of corn right from the cob, chewing caramels, chomping on popcorn…etc…you get the idea, right? Finally I feel like I have my mouth back. I’m so excited to be able to floss like a regular person now. My teeth feel so smooth and I’m totally kissable again.

Dog Names

Over the past year or so as I contemplated applying for a guide dog, I read the following books about people and their guides. I cried and laughed through all of these stories.

Long Time No See - Finke, Beth

Beyond The Bear: How I learned to live and love again after being blinded by a bear - Bigley, Dan

Breaking Barriers: Working and loving while blind - Altschul, Peter

Two Seeing Eye Dogs Take Manhattan! - Burlingame, Lloyd

Thunder Dog: The true story of a blind man, his guide dog, and the triumph of trust at Ground Zero - Hingson, Michael

Confessions of a Guide Dog: The blonde leading the blind - Mark Carlson

 

I am filled with anticipation to meet my dog in March. As the time draws near I go about my day with  thoughts creeping in:  How will it feel to take my dog shopping? or How will the dentist office react when I take the guide dog to my appointment?

I don’t get to pick my dog’s name. He or she has already been named and is formally being trained right now. I am constantly wondering what the name might be. I speculate out loud every night about crazy name possibilities. Bob teases me and says I am more concerned about the name than about the hard work and care that will go into providing for this dog. My daily routine will change immensely. I can’t wait!!!

Books in 2014

I read 34 books in 2014. Here are 6 titles that I either enjoyed or they just really made me think. They weren't necessarily published in 2014 but that is when I discovered them. The first three are fiction and the latter three are nonfiction.

1. The Circle

Eggers, Dave

2. The Silent Wife

Harrison, A. S. A

3. Delicious!

Reichl, Ruth; Whelan, Julia.

4. Empty Mansions: The mysterious life of Huguette Clark and the spending of a great American fortune

Dedman, Bill; Newell, Paul Clark

5. Twelve Years A Slave

Northup, Solomon; Gates, Henry Louis

6. Secret Gift: How one man's kindness--and a trove of letters--revealed the hidden history of the Great Depression

Gup, Ted