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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Hi group 1,</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><o:p><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Our submissions are due today for next weeks meeting.
Anyway, that’s what my calendar tells me.</FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">My own submission is below. It is intended for my column
in ‘dialogue’.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So it is meant for
visually impaired readership. Tell me howl I can improve it.</FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
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class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">Leonard</FONT></P></DIV>
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face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">f Not Exactly a Guide Dog </FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>by</FONT></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Leonard
Tuchyner</FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">No one would ever suspect Barney of being a guide dog --
in fact, not even a help dog. Though the way he leans up against me with a full
body press, stares at me with soulful big brown eyes, just before burying his
tawny head in my lap, is enough to melt the hardest of hearts.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Does he fetch? That’s beneath him. Does
he come when called? Only if he is coming anyway or if he thinks there’s
something in it for him.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This husky
fellow is only forty-five pounds soaking wet, but pulls like a seventy-five
pound sled dog.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>When he takes me
for a walk, he goes where he wants to go. If I don’t want to go there, it’s a
tug-of-war. </FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Consequently, our walks can be interesting
adventures.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In those
often-competitive events, I’m tied to him by a retractable twenty-foot leash.
This is more than enough distance for him to get up a full head of steam before
he comes to a jarring stop, or pulls my arm out of its socket. </FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">On these walks, I have enough vision to know whether I’m
close to the edge of the unmarked roadside.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>However, I make mistakes. I can count on
wandering off the tarmac at least three times a week.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>A couple of times a year, I’ll trip over
a neighbor’s rock border or plow into a driveway marker. The old toy commercial,
“Weevils wobble, but they won’t fall down,” definitely applies to me.
</FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Barney’s not the only dog in the neighborhood, and often
one or more of them happen to be on their own jaunts at the same time. Since
anyone beyond fifteen feet is invisible to my eyes, I can’t see them coming.
That means there is barely enough time for me to rein my dog in before he is
within tangle distance of an approaching human/dog duo.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Tangling distance, in Barney’s case, has
two meanings.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>One of them
translates into leashes becoming overly involved. Barney can wrap up another
canine’s human like a spider wraps up a fly. The other meaning of tangle is as
in, “Don’t tangle with me.” </FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Barney is generally a good-natured dog-about-town kind of
guy who only wants to play. But there is the rare occasion when his currish
counterpart and he do not see eye to eye. In that case, fur may fly. If given
enough warning, I can tell what’s on Barney’s mind and can control the
situation. The operative word is “if.” Which is why, if my wife is with me, she
will say, “Dog ahead!” </FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">One reason why Diane, my wife, walks our larger dog is
because Chloe can be counted on to leave her smelly contributions in designated
areas. If she is about to violate pooping rules, her mistress will see it coming
and take corrective action. I would not necessarily be aware of the impending
crime. Barney usually uses these safe zones, but he is kind of weird in that
department. He doesn’t go once. He goes several times, leaving little tiny
tidbits. I really can never be sure whether he’s gone or not. He kicks dirt out
behind him four to six times a walk. If I had to use a pooper scooper, I would
not be able to find the scat. To tell you the truth, I’m happy to be ignorant
about this issue.</FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Most of the people in the neighborhood probably know I am
short in the visual department. However, a while back, my next door neighbor
asked my wife why I never say hello, or smile back at him. I’ve told him I’m
blind, but apparently, he doesn’t get it. She had to explain to him that I
didn’t say hello because I probably didn’t even know he was there. Even if I
did, how would I know if he were friend or foe or whether he was smiling. She
explained that he would have to come up to me and say something. So far he has
not done so. Of course, this is an old story for low-visioned individuals who
don’t carry a white cane all the time. </FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">We live on a lightly traveled dead end street. So that
when cars pass by, I often wave and smile. If the passing motorist reacts, I
rarely know. It sometimes feels like I’m waving at a passing cloud. It seems a
foolish thing to do, but I frequently do it anyway, just in case. </FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Yesterday, I was startled by the sound of a car’s tires
coming out of a driveway just behind me. There was no motor sound. You got it --
I was snuck up on by a Prius. The nerve of some people driving a
stealth-mobile.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I must admit
however, that I say this with some chagrin, since our own car is a
Prius.</FONT></P>
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face="Times New Roman"> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Automotive traffic can be a cause of anxiety for any
pedestrian. Barney doesn’t help the matter. He doesn’t believe that anyone on
his road would hurt him. He pretty much doesn’t worry about anything, except how
to get loose from his tether and go after that cat or deer who is tantalizing
him with their exotic aroma and enticing presence.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>So in his state of danger denial, he
constantly crosses from one side of the street to the other, and I obligingly
follow. Usually, the sound of a vehicle on the road gives me plenty of warning
of their approach. So far, in his nine years on this earth, I have been
successful in keeping him from running out in front of these mechanical demons.
</FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">Finally, when we arrive back at home-safe-home,<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>he heads straight for his water bowl,
where I slip off his collar and collapse gratefully onto a couch to rest
and<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>count my blessings.</FONT></P>
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