<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>This is an experiment. I have placed one of my poems in the chapter as an illustration if you will. I decided to do this as a result of Leonard’s question about my poem, Loving Amber Eyes. If you think it works,. I may choose other poems toad where I feel they would fit.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Add where they fit.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Chapter 9.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Girls Just Want To Have Fun<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>I know white cane users who view taking off into the unknown as an adventure. They love exploring and meeting the challenge of finding their way back. I like to try new things, but don’t enjoy getting lost or feeling vulnerable. Tammy walking beside me granted me the freedom to go boldly where I would never have attempted to go without her. I knew she would keep me out from under the wheels of the car unexpectedly turning right on red. She would guide me safely around the open manhole. I could approach other pedestrians to ask directions, secure that my guide would serve as a deterrent to them viewing me as a potential victim. We could quickly move away from anyone trying to engage us in conversation if they made either of us feel uneasy. Of course, a dog guide is not taught to protect. In fact, a dog that shows signs of aggression during training is eliminated from the program. Tammy had her own opinions on this matter. Once a panhandler approached us. When he asked if I had any spare change, her only reaction was to lick his hand. She obviously decided he posed no threat and perhaps needed a little affection from a friendly dog to brighten his day. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>One day, I arranged to meet Annie in Hayward to attend a powwow. She was supposed to meet me at the Greyhound bus station, when I arrived. Tammy and I boarded the bus, I asked her to find a seat. She moved down the aisle and stopped to put her head on an empty one. An older man scrambled to his feet. He spit tobacco juice on the floor in the aisle. He moved away declaring that he wasn’t going to sit next to no hippie girl and her hippie dog. In his mind, my long braids long Navajo style skirt and moccasins and Tammy’s blue peace symbol had tagged us counter-culture types! <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>When we got off the bus, Annie hadn’t arrived to meet us. Tammy and I went outside and she located a bench for us to wait. I placed my over-night case on the ground at my feet and Tammy curled behind it under the seat. After a few minutes had passed, a man sat down beside me. He moved to put an arm around my waist and murmured a crude proposition. I angrily pulled free and stood jerking on Tammy’s leash. As she scrambled to stand beside me I ordered fiercely. “Tammy! Kill!” Of course, that wasn’t one of her commands, so she stood quietly waiting to discover what I wanted. The man took off running down the street. An older lady chuckled and reported, “Honey, he’s about two blocks down and still running. He hasn’t looked back to see if she’s behind him.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>At the powwow, Tammy got carried away with the drums and the chanting. She hung her head over the railing of the bleachers and wailed along with the singers. A little boy performing the hoop dance was distracted and his eyes got bigger and bigger as he watched her doing her coyote imitations above him. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>It’s a funny thing, but if you carry yourself with head erect, turn to look in people’s direction when speaking to them and move with confidence, a lot of people don’t seem to believe you are blind. Annie told me about an overheard conversation she observed while working at the student bookstore. One student declared that if that girl brings her big dog to class one more time, he intended to bring his horse. His companion tried to explain that I brought Tammy because she was my dog guide. The first fellow refused to believe it because he said that he had seen me run down a hall leading Tammy. I probably did run a few steps to catch a friend whose voice I recognized without using Tammy. In a straight hall with no obstructions, I wouldn’t have felt the need to use her eyes. Although I hadn’t even light perception left after that final surgery when I was 8 years old, many people expected me to shffle my feet, walk with my eyes closed and my head down as many born blind children may do. Some of the people I know who are low vision, may look just like anyone else. They may have lost vision later in life, have such a narrow field of vision that they can read regular print, but only see a couple of letters at a time. They may be able to use peripheral vision or only their central vision, depending on the eye disease they have. These conditions may be insufficient vision to travel safely without using a mobility cane or a guide dog. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>On another occasion, Annie, Tammy and I decided to jump on the bus to San Francisco. We planned to do some shopping and celebrate Annie’s birthday by having dinner in China town. As we waited on a street corner for the light to change in our favor, two sailors came whistling and walking in step behind us. Tammy was sitting on the curb waiting for me to reach down and pick up her harness handle. The two sailors split up as they reached us and the light changed. A sailor took me by each elbow and continued across the intersection with me suspended above the ground between them. When they lifted me clear of the curb, I was so startled, I dropped Tammy’s leash. The two young men set me down on the up curb and continued on their way still whistling and walking in step. Annie and Tammy were on the other side of the street. All I could think to do was yell come to my dog and my two friends raced across to join me before the light changed again. My good girl had remained sitting until my call released her. Annie exclaimed, “DEE, I have heard of allowing yourself to be picked up by sailors, but do you have to be so literal about it?” Annie was sure everyone was staring at her. It wasn’t until she took her dark sunglasses off that she realized that her habit of resting her hand on Tammy’s back and walking on her left side had confused people into thinking she was the blind girl. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Later that day, it started to sprinkle, so Annie Tammy and I dashed to board a city bus. A female passenger became hysterical as we walked toward her down the aisle. Tammy showed me a seat and I hurriedly sat down. The lady continued to scream that she was afraid of dogs. Tammy became frightened by her hysteria and crawled half onto my lap trembling and trying to hide her face in my arms. The driver stood up and roared, “Sit down and shut up lady. You’re scaring the guide dog!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>I never stopped learning new things about Tammy as we went about our routines together. Occasionally, she twitched or gave a start in harness. Her head swiveled. It took me awhile to realize she was watching the antics of a housefly or other insect on the wing. If she was out of harness, she felt free to go in hot pursuit. Imagine a ninety-pound dog leaping five feet into the air to snatch an aerial offender on the wing with the snap of her jaws. She was really quite a good flycatcher. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>When we went to a black spiritual music concert on campus. The usher thought we should sit in the front row next to the stage. Tammy had more room and people could reach their seats without climbing over her. As the choir broke into a rousing rendition of Rock My Soul In The Bosom of Abraham, Tammy began to sing along. I grabbed her and tried to quiet her but it was too late. The choir director stopped the performance and leaned down from the stage to pat Tammy on the head. He proclaimed her “A soul sister!” I guess she took her designation as a black Labrador/German shepherd dog to mean she was a person of color. She obviously thought she could claim to be both an Indian dog and celebrate that black is beautiful too. After that I avoided taking her to events that included music, particularly singing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Tammy’s house manners were excellent. Although she had missed out on being raised in a 4H home, she didn’t climb on furniture or forage in trash cans. Every so often though, her lack of experience led to her making an error of judgment. For example, she tried to sniff a hot iron when I was hurriedly pressing a skirt on the floor without an ironing board. Only my quick response saved her from being burned. Another time, she tried to lick someone’s hand while the person was smoking. She burned her tongue on the lit cigarette and became afraid of that individual’s right hand. Tammy only allowed her to pet if she used her left hand. She seemed to think the right one would hurt her. Little incidents like these made it clear to me that being raised in a kennel had left gaps in Tammy’s education. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Scottie Hagedorn and I met during our sophomore year. She was a petite green-eyed blonde girl who was in both my beginning piano and French classes. One day she offered Tammy and me a lift home because it was raining. I asked her up for a cup of tea before she headed back out to her family farm. Although she got that tea, she had to crawl through a kitchen window because I had forgotten my keys. Sometimes, you are fortunate to meet someone who you seem to recognize as a kindred spirit. Practically from our first exchange of words, we could finish each other’s sentences and talk in fragments and understand what was meant perfectly. Scottie’s mom decided that she couldn’t tell us apart on the phone. She took us shopping for shoes one day. When the sales clerk got too friendly with us, she announced that she wanted us to have sturdy no nonsense shoes as we were twins and were going into the eighth grade. That definitely put paid to his flirtatious manner when dealing with us. She insisted on referring to me as her other daughter. She liked to call us Snow White and Rose Red because we didn’t really look anything like each other. Like sisters, we often exchanged clothes and talked late into the night. We both loved dogs. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Her dog was a foolish funny little beagle dachshund cross. Her name was Dippy, short for diploma because she had been one of Scottie’s graduation gifts from her mother. Dippy was a bottomless pit and managed to get into everything. She had a figure not unlike her namesake, long and round. Our two dogs seemed to like each other even though Tammy was a dainty eater who preferred to nibble one kibble at a time. Sometimes she took twenty-four hours to finish her food. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Having Scottie and her mom adopt me made up a little for having my family so far away. I could only make brief visits to see them each summer between summer school and the fall term <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>These visits showed me that family life was going on without me. Instead of being an important member, I was becoming a visitor. My baby sister was growing rapidly from toddler to pre-schooler. She made mom laugh when she imitated my habit of touching the frame of a door as I passed through it. I found her serious old-maid manners hysterical. If I dropped my sweater across the foot of a bed, she was sure to pipe, “Aren’t you going to hang that UP?” Donny was changing into a teenager and Rob and Ruben were developing more interest in their heritage. They spent a lot of time with tribal elders learning to dance and take part in ceremonies. They were rapidly becoming young men. It was hard being so far from all these changes. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Rob was dating his first serious girl friend, Kerri. They met at a roller rink. Both were excellent skaters and were asked to represent the rink at competitions for dance skaters. Her family didn’t approve of the friendship. Her father in particular held a prejudice against Indians. It was pretty flagrantly accepted dogma, among the people living near the reservation, that all Indian men drank and beat their wives. When Rob wanted my help convincing Kerri’s family that we were not the stereotypic dysfunctional Indian family, I agreed to go over to Kerri’s house to play cards with her sisters. It was strange being paraded before her family as Rob’s big sister who is in college in California. Mom did her bit by joining the same bowling team as Kerri’s mother. Although I knew that my family loved having me with them, it was clear that where they lived was no longer my home. Home was now the place where Tammy and I lived among our possessions. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>My college was located just outside a small farming town. When I got a lift from Scottie into Turlock to pick up a few necessities, I had to work my way around a large farm tractor parked in front of the J. C. Pennies. Inside the store the manager followed us up and down the aisles. I wasn’t sure if he was suspicious of college students or just curious about how a guide dog worked. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>When we stopped for a Frosty Freeze ice cream cone, I discovered another of my girl’s foibles. She adored ice cream. When we went to get into Scottie’s car, she jumped up on the seat, turned around and licked my cone as I tried to follow her into the car. She never got on car seats unless I had an ice cream cone in my hand. She knew that with one hand busy holding the cone and the other used to judge the height of the car, I couldn’t defend my cone! She never tried to eat anything not in her dish except ice cream. Woe to the toddler strolling innocently by minding his own business and eating ice cream. She was an expert at the quick swipe of the tongue as we sailed past. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Tammy’s desire to keep me always in sight caused her to fall in the pool while I was swimming laps. She had slipped her collar and escaped from where I had tied her to race back and forth keeping pace with my swim. Some girls objected to having a dog in the pool to the manager. Of course I had gotten her to the steps and out immediately, but they thought that her landing in the water was unsanitary. Mr. O’Neil, the apartment manager brought out a gallon jug of chlorine and poured a couple of cups of the solution into the water to appease them. He and his wife were very kind to us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>In my sophomore year, my roommate and I were not getting along well. She brought a male friend to the apartment who was suffering from some sort of drug reaction. She kept giving him sleeping pills and tranquilizers and trying to get him to eat. Finally I insisted she get another friend of theirs to take him to the hospital. She was angry because she knew that the hospital staff would report him to the police, but I didn’t want him to hurt himself or have an adverse response to the counter-measures she was taking. Since my name was on the lease, I didn’t want her to use or keep drugs in the apartment. I wanted to buy a small piano to practice at home, and she complained the noise would disturb her studies. I came home one afternoon between classes to find her in the process of moving out. I didn’t have enough money to pay the rent alone. Mr. And Mrs. O'Neil arranged for me to trade my one bedroom apartment with two girls who were sharing a studio apartment in the same complex. So Tammy and I were completely on our own. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>One day, they were resurfacing the road we crossed to the apartment and Tammy and I ended up with black tar on my shoes and her paws. I took off my shoes and changed them and tried to keep Tammy on the tile kitchen floor until I had retrieved what I had come home to get. I went and explained my problem and Mr. O'Neil helped me clean the tar off Tammy’s paws. When I came home that evening, he had cleaned my shoes and the marks her paws had left on the floor too. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>One day I was bouncing a ball to entertain Tammy. In her pursuit of the ball, she knocked my record player to the floor, breaking my favorite record album. I threw myself into a kitchen chair in dismay over the loss and it collapsed when Tammy jumped into my lap to apologize. When I told Mr. O’Neil about the breakage, he brought me a replacement without charge, exclaiming that the broken chair was obviously defective. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Tammy felt she should vet any one who came home with me. She decided if they should be allowed inside our apartment. One young man, who walked me home from a dance, did not meet her approval. She made him sit in a chair and growled each time he stood up. She kept herself stationed between our unwelcome guest and me until he finished the cup of coffee he had requested. Tammy saw him to the door with relief. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>I had to publish my phone number each term to hire readers. I began having some trouble with obscene phone calls. This meant that I had to change my phone number frequently, to avoid them. The first time it happened, the caller sounded so friendly that I kept thinking he had a wrong number. Annie came over to study and I warned her about the problem. She confidently expressed the opinion that she could handle such a nuisance by telling the caller that she had a venereal disease. We kept at the books until we were both ready to drop. I asked her to make some tea while I took a cold shower to wake up. As I was toweling off, she knocked on the bathroom door in a panic. She had answered the phone and started to take down a message for me before she realized what the caller was saying. I grabbed my robe and went to hang up the phone. Despite this, I felt comfortable living on my own with my furry roommate. There was simply no way my girl would permit anyone to cause me harm. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>When Curt came to give me a lift to the market, I put Tammy in the back seat of his car, but she insisted on pushing her head and shoulders between the bucket seats to supervise his driving and be sure I was still safe. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>During classes, Tammy often fell fast asleep. In an Introduction to classical music course, our professor got frustrated trying to catch the student who dared to snore during his lectures. This class was a large one held in the theater. The instructor was a former conductor of the San Francisco Symphony orchestra. He was very dramatic. The first day of class, he appeared dressed in full tuxedo and tails. He strode out on the stage and declaimed, “Music is God! And I am his prophet!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>During his class, we suffered a power failure. The theater was located in the middle of the classroom building with no exterior walls with windows. The room was thrown into total blackness. The only light came from the glow from the professor’s pipe. His rich baritone boomed out “Is the little wood nymph and her dog in the room?” When I answered that we were present, he asked, “Would you kindly proceed to the door and open it so we may see to find our way out?” He continued to refer to me as the little wood nymph the rest of my time at school. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>One of the tricks Tammy occasionally played on me involved her location of seats in a classroom. Anywhere else, she showed me an empty chair by putting her nose on the seat. In classes, she located a chair and dove under it. This was fine, except about once or twice a term she chose to dive under an occupied chair. I ended up sitting down on startled classmates’ laps a few times before I caught on to her tactics. She never chose chairs with girls sitting in them, only those occupied by male students. I apologized and turned bright red while explaining that my furry friend thought I needed to improve my social life. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Of course, she didn’t approve of any social activities that didn’t include her. I liked to dance, and from time to time went out with girl friends to some place to enjoy this activity. The first time I left Tammy tied to a table, she followed me towing the small table out on to the dance floor. After this incident, I left her home. She hated being left and wailed piteously. One time I returned to a friend’s house to find Tammy curled in my suitcase fast asleep. She had made herself a nest in my clothes. After that, I learned to bring along a familiar sweater or other object of mine for her to curl up on to be able to go off with friends. The presence of my scent seemed to reassure her that I would return.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>Tammy injured a forepaw when someone giving us a lift pushed the seat back before I had gotten her properly settled. The paw was badly bruised and her gait was too uneven for her to guide. My rehabilitation counselor thought I should have some cane lessons. This was the first time I had ever used a white cane. I knew my way around campus and only needed the basic techniques. I found though that I tended to walk too fast and caught that dratted stick on things. I ended up doing a lot of pole-vaulting with the cane, putting a permanent bend in it. Tammy strenuously objected to being left alone while I went out with that stick. During my first lesson, she howled so loud that Mr. O’Neil came up to the apartment to be sure I wasn’t hurt. It was such a relief for us both when she was able to return to guiding. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'> The fluid grace that a good team can achieve is like dancing. Each of the partners responds to subtle almost imperceptible body movements and reacts to those cues almost without thought. It doesn’t happen instantly, but over the first year, the teammates develop an understanding of each other’s reactions. Communication becomes as natural as breathing. Perhaps the following poem I wrote about a 16 block to a dentist appointment will give you a sense of what I mean:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>Dancers<span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>By DeAnna Quietwater Noriega<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We are cloud dancers,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>You lead and I follow.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Our steps synchronized<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Our bodies swaying to the same rhythm.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Swept along in the current of the jet stream.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Floating lightly on the swell of an updraft,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Swooping into a glide down the slope of a down draft.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Side slipping around a gaggle of migrating geese.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Pausing a few beats to let a thunderhead rumble past.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Through fog and mist through falling snow we whirl,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Our movements in perfect unison.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Where your paws lead, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>My feet follow.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>What does it matter,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>If only we two hear the music.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We move together as one being.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We are Cloud dancers, you and I. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'>There is also an emotional bond that makes a dog guide very responsive to its handler's moods and state of well-being. Tammy always knew my true feelings even when other friends were fooled by my efforts to project a smiling exterior. When I was actually frightened or unsure, she was never deceived by my pretenses of composure or confidence. She could always make me laugh or relax. One way she did this was to give air kisses. Someone had tried to break her of licking faces. She brought her face close to mine and flipped her tongue in and out rapidly without actually touching me with it. This never failed to make me smile. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;line-height:200%'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:200%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>D.Q.N.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:Quieth2o@charter.net">Quieth2o@charter.net</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>