Dancing with the Stairs – a new Hit?
Who needs dancing with the stars when Dad can bring you his own rendition of a more exciting event! Monday evening we
went to the University of New Hampshire in Durham where I’m told Dad spent four years of his life in getting his BSEE –
whatever that means. What is apparent is that he’s forgotten a lot about the location and/or it’s changed tremendously
since that time. He worked in the M.U.B. for all four of those years yet didn’t know the building was no longer a
rectable but now an “L” with an enormous addition. Here it was that Sherpa John’s Documentary “48″ was on display for
the fifthe year anniversary of the release. Since we are poised to climb the 48 it seemed a natural to take a look –
particularly since the rumors are we have a Documentary being filmed of our project as well.
So there we were with Tracy strutting our stuff on the college campus and sleeping through most of the Documentary, hey
I’m a doer not a watcher! When all was said and done, introductions, farewells and all that we started out and Dad was
a little distracted as he was talking to Brent Bell while we walked. We could hear Brent’s wife Beth explaining to
their Birthday boy son Holden about my stopping at the top of stairs to warn Dad. All seemed in perfect order except I
might point out Dad had slept only six hours in the prior 72 because he’s been a might busy with the 2020 Vision
Quest’s foundation and other such things. So after seemingly for him managing all the flights of stairs I took him to
another set…which he decided to interpret as a curb rather than the first step of a long staircase. Sure I imagine
for the blind the difference between a curb and the start of a staircase is confusing at times but the non-distracted
are aware this is a real danger and so pay attention. Particularly when wearing his size 14 winter hiking boots which
can, and did, dwarf the individual steps. Now amidst the precursor events for this moment was also our Sunday 5 mile
run which I’ll cover in detail later but suffice it to say he was walking a little gingerly from some apparent muscle
soreness which had converted his normal legs into lead rather than the gold most alchemists might prefer. So stepping
off a curb usually has a little more distance to the step then the tightly stepping staircase requires. Thus when his
first step put his heel on the edge of the first step and it tipped quickly down such that his towe went past the next
one…we had disaster in the making. I really couldn’t tell you how many steps existed, though it was not
inconsequential, because for the next many steps by both him and my four paw drive, there was an incredible dance
routine by Dad. No railing in reach, hand on my harness and big feet flying to keep under his downward hurling form
and yet never able to catch solidly on the too small steps. Tracy watched in horror as did Brent since the only
outcome expected was a trip to the hospital to see how much damage he could do by this maneuver. I, however, had other
plans. I rode it out with him giving him a steady supply of harness tension and support such that at the bottom of the
stairs, Dad was still on his feet, reeling a little and stunned at how he’d managed to not sprawl anywhere in the
process. Tracy later described his “graceful dance” as somewhat akin to watchng the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz.
All neurological inferences aside, it’s probably an apt analogy!
So in Guide Dog terms I did my job taking him to the edge and stopping. Where he should have tapped with his foot and
then proceeded he stepped and I just made up the difference of adjusting n the fly (literally). I hope he recognizes
this in future interactions with edge detection because my job is a lot more challenging if he doesn’t. After all, I
am in charge of his safety…which brings us to that five mile run. Sure we have been jogging the Matt Goldwyrm loop
on occasion but not often enough and not recently enough for a five mile run to be a great idea for him. We walked the
route on Saturday and I did a pretty solid job of showing him I had the route well in paw. Alas on Sunday he had some
weird based bole harness which Kara wore as the group of Dad, Tracy, Kara, Derek, Carrie and Scottie all began the
trek. To my amazement and considerable concern, Dad was not with me, rather relegating me to just a leash and Tracy.
I expressed my concern continuously and moreso as they headed off at the higher pace and left us behind. I was not a
happy dog. I have spent my entire life training for the purpose of Guiding him, I am on duty 24/7 and lately we seem
to almost tax that extent. So when I see him putting his trust in a human not given to quite my pedigree of
deservedness, I see disaster as likely. Let me tell you it was clear early on she didn’t get it either as she would
swing out too wide on corners and a couple of times even crossed at non approved points for crossing. I wanted to be
with him and ensuring his safety. Now admittedly he seemed fine albeit perhaps desirous of an actual running shoe for
the next trip. Still when I caught him n the return trip I had been passed off to Carrie who was pretty fun if I
wasn’t so worried about Dad. We ran with him for a ways and I was whining and trying to tell him I wanted to be his
Guide. Finally he paused for a moment to tell me all was ok and I immediately tied him up with the leash to keep him
from getting away. He untied me and I did it again, I take my job seriously. He used those thumbs of his against me
though and soon he was untied and out of reach and back to the run. I was reassured though and kept with him for most
of the rest of the trip. During their cooling walk I actually joined him directly and life was right once again. I
think we should re-open the union talks that might keep the wrong folks from doing my job…the economy is not so flush
I can risk the competition! Where would a Lab go for work and kibble supplies if humans start invading our work
territory?!?!
So that’s the quick hit gist of my recent trek. I will tell you that Dad just read “A Sense of the World” by Jason
Roberts. This non-Fiction piece details the life of the World’s Greatest Traveller – a man from England who went
totally blind at the age of 25 and yet was the most prolific traveler of his era (1786-1957. All this blind travelling
without the merit of a Guide Dog! Sounds too incredible to believe and despite amazing accomplishments and celebrity
during his time, it’s perhaps more amazing history had almost erased his record if not for the research to unveil this
2006 Best Seller. Read on and realize my Dad’s got a lot of ground to cover if he wants to impress!
What are these Frosty Paw things Dad is trying to hide from me?
The Mighty Quinn
& his tall blind lug
