I’ve frequently been asked by some very young students meeting Quinn: “Is that a blind dog?” While that typical question is intended to mean is that a “Guide Dog,” my usual tongue-in-cheek response of “I sure hope not!” takes on an entirely meaning with this week’s surprising and inspiring story.

A young golden retriever named Tanner in Tulsa, OK has been managing the challenges of blindness, seizures, and homelessness after the death of his prior owner in 2010. While being treated for his seizures at an animal hospital, his caregivers saw something incredible. Blair, a homeless black labrador retriever being treated for a gunshot wound, began to try and help Tanner. By picking up Tanner’s leash with his mouth, he would guide Tanner safely around the play area. Tanner had himself a spontaneous Guide Dog.

As often comes with the bond between the blind and their Guide, each began to benefit in a myriad of ways. Beyond the obvious mobility assistance, Tanner’s seizures notably reduced in number. Blair meanwhile began to gain in confidence in his newfound duty and his anxiety reduced as this pair became pals.

The New York Daily News was my first insight into this story. I followed the story to its the source, KTUL.com, and learned that the hopeful adoption for the doggy duo is receiving tremendous attention worldwide. It seems very likely that an ideal home for the pair is imminent. On their journey to that home, they are now “guiding” the way for other homeless animals, inspiring a tremendous boost to dog adoptions all around the country!

Nearing the anniversary of the day I lost my very sighted and excellent guide, Ostend, I am particularly moved by this tale. Ostend was a golden retriever like Tanner and Quinn a labrador like Blair. The notion that Blair could naturally develop the skills for which Quinn was raised and trained is incredible. The demonstration of power in a dog well beyond guide work is something I’ve often realized but never noticed in so powerful a demonstration.

I give my strongest salute to this marvelous canine with whom we are so fortunate to share our world. I hope we are ever striving to be as good to them as they are to us humans.

There’s an old saying that out of sight is out of mind. The following example is quite the opposite: three organizations have been requiring all legally blind athletes to be completely blinded in order to compete in their events, a decision which is very much in the minds of many.

Since March of 2010, the USA Triathlon, International Triathlon Union, and 3D Racing LLC have installed this ludicrous and hypocritical rule upon the legally blind competitors. They impose and enforce this rule without a single blind individual upon the committee which establishes this approach.

Prior rulings had multiple categories for the varying levels of vision which encompass the blind community. As the number of competitors did not, in their opinion, support these multiple categories, they chose to combine them into one category and then suggest that in the interest of fair play all of the competitors must wear the full occlusion glasses. They have done this at significant risk to all the athletes involved in their competition.

The immediate and primary concern with this ruling is safety. Requiring people who live their lives with partial sight to now undertake a challenging competition with no sight is a very significant risk to the individual and all those around them. The evidence of this is overwhelming, yet it’s two years of complaints later and there is still no change to the process.

The hypocrisy is clear in rules which prohibit wearing of headphones because of the significant risk added in the loss of hearing for competitors, yet they suggest removing any sight from the vast majority of a category. The vast majority of “legally blind” persons have some usable vision–statistics range from 83%-95% of them, depending on the source. People living with a certain amount of sight, however much impacted, will suffer considerable detriment to their safety when forced to lose of all those keys they rely on for normal skills and moreso under the duress of competition.

Besides, this very notion of leveling the playing field actually does no such thing–it creates an advantage to the totally blind individual who has already built up secondary skills to vision for managing such things. Their goal of fairness is removed immediately and to do so it adds an entirely unacceptable and likely illegal risk.

For that latter point, Aaron Scheidies, a visually impaired triathlete, has filed a lawsuit he explains on his youtube video. He is requesting no financial damages and his lawyer is taking the case pro bono as a strong indicator to their real intent.

The simple reality is there are many advantages and disadvantages experienced by all manner of competitors. Some have longer legs, some have better oxygen processing and certainly there is some impact to the training. Ultimately though, there is no way to create an entirely even competition and while attempts to do such may be reasonable if explored thoroughly, these should never jeopardize a reasonable safety, especially when these efforts don’t even produce the results they seek.

Now, as a totally blind runner I do believe anyone with sight of any level may have some advantages over me. I even believe there’s merit to noting the impact of being any level of blind versus fully sighted. I absolutely want the opportunity to compete and remain in full support of the American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) protecting reasonable accommodation and full access to events. I similarly acknowledge that if any race attempted to separate every possible and reasonable category of fair play we’d have so many divisions and so many awards we might very well inhibit the existence of the many races which are one of the great experiences of our present world.

So how do we find balance and reasonable compromise to allow all these things? For me, the answer requires that the simple word “reasonable” always be at the root of any decision. In all the many responses by those involved, I have yet to hear one even remotely reasonable justification for putting athletes at risk. I’ve run and competed with full sight through partial sight to total blindness and do so safely in all of those conditions. During the times of transition I was at the most risk and struggled the most to be safe. The real purpose of competition is always to challenge ourselves to be the best we can possibly be and to raise that bar for ourselves. We cannot ever accomplish this when we deliberately and with disregard make people what they are not.

Good luck to Aaron and his cause!

No blind man had ever done the NH 48! As such, doing it in winter–or more dramatically, a single winter–was a tremendous goal and accomplishment. Along with the many well appreciated congratulations has come a significant question: so what is the point of finishing the 2020 Vision Quest hikes of the 48 in the summer season as well?

This is a fair question to which there are several answers. For me, the first and most important reason of all is to continue to experience the tremendous challenge and enjoyment each hike provides. These magnificent mountains and their trails provide vast and diverse rewards in the moment of each expedition. Each trip interlaces the wonders of nature with the bonds of friendship created by the different people coming together on the particular hike. I believe there will be tremendous value and benefit to the sharing of these experiences with our 2020 VQ community.

Our original goal was to summit all 48 in the summer seasons over the course of the ten years from 2010 until 2020. We believed in the possibility and as we experienced the hikes, we realized we would likely succeed in less time. In fact, given the present schedule, we expect to finish in the summer of 2013.

What is honestly and a little sadly uncertain is whether Quinn will still be able to perform his incredible guide work during that final summer, as he will be nearing possible retirement age. This, plus among other factors, are what motivated the single season success of this winter.

Why is hiking in summer different than winter? Summer creates different and significantly more difficult challenges for the blind hiker. See the pictures below to illustrate my point:

Would you rather walk on this comparatively smooth terrain...

...or this rough stuff? Now imagine it with your eyes closed!

While winter presents a different set of challenges for everyone–and realistically a set of blind-specific challenges as well–the basic task of walking is considerably more absurd when the snow is off the ground.

I really believe in the notion of “Challenge as Opportunity and Opportunity as Challenge!” I hope to enjoy the value of a hike for the rest of my life, and in regards to the 2020 Vision Quest, I cannot even begin to consider that the heart of the challenge is met yet.

In undertaking the goal of the 48, I intend to take on all aspects of the challenge and that includes completing the original goal under the impressively more difficult conditions of the summer. It really will be a fantastic complement to our winter accomplishment. While I certainly do not expect the fanfare of our winter success, each trip will be full of challenge and reward. I will find more than sufficient cause to appreciate and celebrate each and every peak along the journey.

“Live Now” is an approach I believe has tremendous positive impact upon the lives of all those who can choose it. I hope that each and every step of the 2020 Vision Quest can help us to show the merits of that very approach. It’s always more about the journey than the destination. I delight in our destination of all NH 48 in the summer and the winter. I hope you’ll be joining us for the journey!

I still feel the deep hurt and well of tears for my animal companions who have passed away when a particularly poignant reflection of their time with me is brought into focus. This is true whether it’s on a more personal anniversary, such as my twelve years without my dog Modi as of April 19, 2012, or when simply learning of a friend experiencing the loss of a beloved pet.

I reflect on my very fortunate time spent with each of my now deceased pets with a hearty appreciation for the times we shared together. Despite the overall positive experience in remembering, it takes very little for the feelings grief to gain strength again. This is all right; it is simply a measure of the depth of my love and appreciation for them and the resulting magnitude of the loss.

I always try my best to express my empathy for those dealing with death and loss. I attempt to give the same countenance I urge myself to accept. I wish for my suffering friends the courage, strength, and support to manage the hurt until the solace of time might leave the good memories to overshadow the pain and grief of loss.

As I’ve just passed the anniversary of losing Modi and approach another date of significance for the death of Ostend, my first guide dog, I’m reminded of the words I wrote after Ostend’s passing. I share them here and hope they may resonate with all, especially those who truly understand the bonds we forge with our beloved animals!

When the Lilacs Bloom

Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Today there is the fragrant scent of lilacs on the air. Just over five years ago on April 19, 2000, I said farewell to my most loyal and loving Modi. On that day, my family through Rick and Monique gave to me a lilac bush to plant in Modi’s honor. Modi had the chance to approve of the bush before it was planted since we had time to prepare for Modi’s passing and this was time for the most loving farewell I could imagine. Each June near to my birthday, the lilac offers forth its fragrant bouquet in full view of my bay window into the back yard. Each time I detect the distinctive fragrance, I take time to warmly reflect upon the great companionship shared by Modi and myself. I consider it a delightful tribute to a more great experience than some may ever know. Such is the way of those magnificent bonds we forge in our lives. There is of course tremendous sadness with their passing even as there is a stronger and more marvelous connection which will outshine the bitter sharpness of pain and grief when first we lose beloved friends. So on April 19, the leaves of the lilacs may begin the budding rebirth of spring time so that in Modi’s passing anniversary, I may feel the continued yearly power of life and the continued potency of those many loving memories. Now we are in the season when the normal lilacs bloom and upon my table sits a vase full of them lovingly cut by my mother to ensure I could share in the delightful reminder. As my birthday remains a few weeks ahead, the bush from Modi is just starting to bud flowers. His is a Miss Kim Lilac which delays long enough to give me an annual birthday gift from my boy. Yet amidst the scents of the present lilacs and the recollections of Modi comes a sharing time.

Yesterday, May 24, 2005 at 5:54, my magnificent Ostend had the last beat of his heart while cradled in my lap. I laid in exactly the same room as I had with Modi some five years earlier and all the pains were equally sharp. Perhaps more so in that Ostend was a sudden and unexpected parting. Ostend had a tumor inside of his heart and it was bleeding steadily into his system. He was valiant and stoic to the end much like his counterpart in my Modi. While I know a myriad of marvels with each of these boys and while Ostend and I have a legacy of adventure in which our unique travels shall always hold infamy for our worlds, this is the time in which pain and sorrowful grief must powerfully overwhelm what will eventually become the same warm reflection I share with the memory of Modi. I know I must honor his life and our companionship with the strength to strive towards those times and so shall I manage. I already feel the hope of looking forward to that time even as I know it is far too recent a wound to my own heart for such to be readily reached. Still I take some small comfort in knowing such will come.

Modi left me in the early precursors to springtime, when April showers begin the return to the lilac’s life. Ostend said farewell when that precursor of life has surged into the bountiful flowers. They each shared such a similar and pivotal part of my life and my love for each was never diminished by my love for the other. That is the marvelous gift of love that requires no rationing to share its splendor with all those whom are valued treasures in our world. I shall love them each continuously with the fervor which is our way together. When the lilacs bloom I shall be reminded of the love which never wavered from each of these companions. Though it is always with me and I will reflect often upon this love, I am simple enough to appreciate the value of symbols and the reminders of the world around me.

In respect and tribute to Ostend he shall have his own symbol. There is a place in front of my home which has called for a planting. To this location I shall build a small shrine with a marvelous plant as centerpiece. There is a blooming bush known as a “bleeding heart” which in my visual days was always a delight to me. In honor of his bleeding heart and the pain to my own heart, such shall be my tribute to Ostend as well. It blooms a bit later than the lilac and with this effort I will know that when my first boy Modi has sent the lilacs, they are a preparation as well for the bleeding heart approach of Ostend. Equally poignant will be the reminder that in the bleeding heart is a beauty and delight which although symbolic in some ways of the pain is likewise symbolic of the beauty which was so great as to allow such pain. This hurt will go to splendor of recollection in which our beautiful sharing is recalled fondly and with warmth. Each year I shall look forward to the world reminding me of my boys When the Lilacs Bloom.

I love you both my Modi and my Ostend.

A student recently asked me if having had sight makes it easier for me to be blind. While I obviously do not know what it is like to have always been blind, I have some insight into my personal experiences and some of the differences from those of someone who has been blind since birth.

To fully appreciate the answer, I think it helps to understand what we mean by blind. There is a tendency to think of blindness as completely blind, which is my present experience. The reality is that more than 80% of people who are blind have some amount of vision. Whether it is light sensitivity, motion, blurry images or a significantly reduced field, the reality is that many variances exist within the term of “legal blindness.”

Any significant impact to one’s sight creates a variety of challenges. Fortunately, there are many low-vision rehabilitation techniques that mitigate these challenges. Developing a plan that suits a person’s specific sight and needs is the essential part of easing the impact of the situation.

Transition is what seems to me to be the most challenging aspect to sight loss. In transition, one needs to evaluate the impact, understand the challenge, and create a plan for new solutions. My personal transition was the most difficult in the first episode of loss even though that occurrence had left me with the most usable vision I would have in any of the following episodes. The next most challenging for me was the final transition to total blindness. It required the most extensive solutions and removed the most common strategies for everyday skills. Those solutions were based in many cases on utilizing what limited sight I still had.

Calling back to the original question, the experience of having seen did result in my improved understanding of the visual world. I can relate well to all the meanings behind things that are largely visual in nature, such as colors. I can grasp the notion of the horizon, sky, ocean and sun very well. Shadows, light, and directional terms and expressions all have meaning to me that would not exist if I did not have a visual cortex as a result of my years with full sight.

I do, however, notice that spatial awareness without vision seems to be more challenging for me than my totally blind peers. Their ability to echo-locate information about their surroundings far surpasses my own still slowly developing skills. Their tactile speed of interpretation, particularly in the braille literacy, is vastly superior to my own. Each of these phenomena seem to have a correlation to active time spent in the experience. I am improving, but the extended time spent of those blind from birth, particularly in the brain forming early years, has a value which I may never fully appreciate because I lack of that experience.

What I absolutely observe and believe is that in either case, the quality of life is not so much dependent upon the level of blindness or the experience of any vision. Rather, it seems directly linked to the choices made by the individual to use the skills available to them as a baseline for their own appreciation of the world. In this I’m glad my experience is almost solely based upon an eager curiosity and a highly motivated approach to ensure that life is a rewarding adventure with or without the use of my eyes!

“Die Living!” This is the message Andy Campbell would like to share with the world. It’s a world he’s going to know pretty well as he undertakes a traverse involving 30,000 miles and more than 30 countries. He’s traveling from the United Kingdom to China, from there to Alaska and onward to Chile! This would be an impressive accomplishment for anyone, but moreso for Andy because he is partially paralyzed. He’s going to do it entirely hand powered, mostly via his wheelchair.

Is it even possible? Well, undoubtedly the wheelchair would meet its match many times along the route, but Andy will have a plan for every scenario, from the all-terrain wheelchair he’s dubbed “the tank” to an oversized Sea Kayak. Rock climbing, skiing, a parasail, hand cycles and something I’ve never even heard about: a kite buggy!

In execution, this is a two-year project, but folks watching Andy’s training in Scotland have already seen him dragging tires behind his wheelchair as he piles on the miles of strength and endurance building necessary for him achieve such a thing. I’ve often felt that Henry Ford said it very well with his “Whether you think you can or think you cannot, you are probably correct!” Andy Campbell clearly believes this is within the reach of his powerful arms, determined will, and tremendous support system he’s been building for the adventure.

I first learned about Andy Campbell story from Adventure Journal’s “Resolve This”. I followed his story to a fantastic video here.

Andy epitomizes the idea of Ability Awareness and his “broken but not beaten” philosophy is astounding. It takes only a moment of listening to him to realize that while he’s doing this for charity, raising £1m as a goal, it’s his love for the adventure of life that calls him forward. A climbing accident broke his back six years ago but nothing has broken his spirit. The “Die” portion of his mantra will come when it comes for each of us, but I am very certain he has an excellent grasp on the living part, with his hands on the “wheelchair around the world!”

On June 2, 2012 in Concord, NH, our 2020 Vision Quest team will participate in the New Hampshire Association for the Blind’s Walk for Sight, walking 3 km from their office to the State House and then back. We invite you to join our team. Sign up here!

My goal is to have at least one team member for every mile I walk in honor of this 100 year anniversary. The catch is that I’ll arrive in Concord after having traversed 100 miles! In honor of this organization to which I owe a debt of gratitude, I will walk across the State of NH linking the Concord and Seacoast offices. Our vision is to achieve at least 100 members.

I don’t expect you all to join me for the back-to-back 50 mile days we are hiking before this walk, but I hope you’ll help me reach a little higher with this goal of celebrating in style with one incredible team for the 3k! Whether joining us live, virtually, or by donation, your involvement will make a tremendously positive influence on the event.

Last June, more than 400 people – young and old – came together for the 3k Walk for Sight and did what they could to raise as much as possible for the vital rehabilitation services and programs provided by the New Hampshire Association for the Blind. With your help, this year will be just as successful and just as much fun!

The Association is celebrating its 100th anniversary and organizers of the Walk are planning additional activities at this year’s walk, such as eye screening and eye safety booths. As always, lunch is provided. There will also be awards, live entertainment, and door prizes.

For a registration fee of only $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for children under 12 (which includes all of the above plus a special 100 year anniversary t-shirt) you can see how easy it is to say “yes! – I’ll walk the 3K to help support the Association’s mission ‘to advance the independence of persons who are blind and visually impaired in NH.’”

I’ve reached plenty of peaks over the last few years and in large part due to some tremendous help and support. Now with your help, we can reach another tremendous milestone.

So please consider walking with me and my team. If you can’t walk this year, a donation of any size would also be greatly appreciated to help us reach our goal.

As the event draws closer and we close in on our goal, I hope to be able to share more exciting events connected to this day. Thank you for the consideration and I truly hope we pull together a record breaking team!

Randy & the Mighty Quinn

Spring has brought us some fantastic weather here in New England and it also ushers in a return to our school presentations. Most recently, Quinn and I did a presentation in Ashland, NH which inspired a lively round of questions. One question was so important to the student that he convinced a teacher to seek me out afterwards to obtain the answer: “What does Randy see?”

While I am totally blind and have absolutely no light sensitivity at all, this doesn’t mean as some might assume that everything is black or dark. In fact, because I remember my time with full vision and the time where I was transitioning to total blindness, I have developed a way to describe and demonstrate the actual sight within my mind.

Keep your focus forward and hold a finger uplifted in front of you. Keeping those eyes looking straight ahead, slowly move your arm and finger steadily towards the side until it reaches the very edge of your side (i.e. peripheral) sight. Hold it there–what do you “see” when you look just a little further back than the edge of that sight? I call it a sort of “gray nothing.” It isn’t necessarily dark or bright and is probably a bit more of the nothing than the gray, but that is what I “see” unless deliberately trying to imagine an image.

A important (and flattering) question came from a teacher after our talk: “Why do you charge nothing for this fantastic presentation?” The answer is that our 2020 Vision Quest mission supports and believes in the educational and inspirational aspects of this project. We require absolutely no donations to 2020 Vision Quest from schools and non-profit presentations, though we do, of course, welcome them. For our corporate and other presentations, we do request a donation to the charity, as this helps encourage and support our efforts and alleviate some of our time spent fundraising for the two charities, NHAB and Guiding Eyes, to whom we send our full fiscal support.

Ultimately though, the answer is very simple: we hope to reach many more people than peaks through our outreach efforts.

If you want to host us for a presentation please send us an email at Randy@2020visionquest.org or visit our For Educators website! We are always eager for the opportunity to spread the word for our cause.

“You made it seem easy!” I heard this sentiment from a few folks in celebration of our accomplishment of climbing the NH 48 this winter. Not so fast with that notion–looks definitely can be deceiving.

I consider setting a goal like this as “Positive Adversity.” I have challenged myself with a task which I must then problem-solve and persevere to achieve. The more worthwhile a challenge, the more it is going to seem like it has a few brick walls. Randy Pausch, author of “The Last Lecture” said it rather well:

“The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.”

This is why I think the idea of “positive adversity” is so important–because the goal has to be sufficiently rewarding to justify the effort and potential pain involved in the process of achieving it.

While I didn’t choose to become blind, I no longer look at the blindness as my adversity. The goals I set for myself become my adversity, and my lack of sight is one of the potential challenges connected to the process of achievement.

This winter, my goal was to summit all 48 of the New Hampshire 4,000-ft mountains in the limited time of a single winter. This required considerably improving my conditioning, which meant regular training. I heard “no pain, no gain” many times as I pushed the borders of feeling tired and exhausted to ensure I would be ready for some of the physical challenges that awaited on the frozen mountains. Speed and the ability to be steady would be essential in the cold mountain trails and both of those were new challenges for me.

While I walk, my feet become my eyes in many ways. With each step on the trail, in an instant I have to discern as much information as possible as the next step is already on the way. The fact that I broke multiple sets of micro spikes and wore out a pair of boots over the winter is a solid testament to the stress that my feet, ankles, and knees endure upon the trails.

I rarely find that perfect step–I most often settle quickly on “good enough” and endure the resulting impact on body and gear. I’m fortunate that my ankles have some natural flexibility and strength, though it was a rare day that I didn’t have a little swelling and discomfort. The lower snow this winter meant many lower elevation trails were harder for me–the snow didn’t fill in the holes, gaps, twists and rocks which can snag the blind stepping foot. In fact, ice or slippery low snow were added to the mix and at times made my choice of winter goal seem questionable! Fortunately, higher elevations gave me a break and eased much of that particular challenge.

My hands are my eyes in managing equipment, food, water and of course Quinn. In the frigid air up on the mountains, I had to be as good as possible with gloves and/or mittens to limit the time of complete hand exposure. This required constant learning and improvement of processes and dexterity.

Unfortunately for me, my hands are always out on harness and hiking pole, which starts me out at a disadvantage. Worse still, I’m not apparently genetically gifted with high cold tolerance in my hands. On many hikes, a few simple seconds with gloves off left my hands without feeling and unable to work the key gear I needed. Even the simple manipulation of a zipper becomes impressively challenging when you can’t see to align it and your hands have gone numb.

In these difficult moments, my greatest fortune was the eager help of so many hiking partners. Justin, Dina, and Bob each risked their own exposure time often to help me deal with these challenges as we steadily became better at organization.

Early in the season, I slipped on my driveway at home and dislocated my left thumb–hard to believe that falling injury came at home on flat ground. But luckily it was my left hand, which meant I could continue. My left hand is the one I hold Quinn’s harness with, and it didn’t require extensive strain on my thumb. Had it been my right hand, the quest would likely have ended in early January.

My long legs are a tremendous benefit to me as I stride up or down particularly steep terrain. However, along with that benefit comes the fact I was the tallest person on each of my hikes, which becomes a liability when ground snow lifts you higher on the trail and branch snow presses the branches lower.

A common winter challenge is knowing when and how to duck beneath these snow-laden branches. While Quinn can show me these and did when requested, finding what he’s warning about (footing, side obstacles, or head obstacles) can greatly slow down the key need for speed on these hikes.

We developed a system of others telling me key duck points while for the non-critical points I frequently “grazed” the branches and dealt with the snowfall onto my head and back. This often made me colder and certainly led to some interesting “snow face” moments. It also meant all of my gear tended to get more drenched than the typical hiker, which adds both weight and drying time. The number of mild scratches and bumps was also probably a bit above average, but I accepted this as just part of the choice I was making in this goal.

Overall, we were tremendously fortunate in many ways throughout the process. I fell a bit more than most but kept vastly free of injuries of consequence. Not until our final week did I receive the first significant health challenge on a hike.

As our winter window started to narrow, our Presidential Traverse kept us waiting for nearly two weeks before giving even potentially acceptable weather. When we finally did get on the hike, we did it in frostbite-warning cold. I had to do it with new boots, which caused blisters on the heels we couldn’t treat in the moment with moleskin because of the danger of exposure. We decided to push through due to the time pressure.

Before long, bloody and deep wounds became part of the challenge. In adjusting the foot repeatedly to avoid rubbing them, I inadvertently drove the nail on my big toe back into the foot seriously enough to require the nail to be removed and the area patched up by a specialist.

But that minor surgery couldn’t take place until after the next day’s hike of the Wildcats, and our final hike on Cannon three days later. Our Wildcat hike was the most physically challenging of all as a result. Part of pushing through the challenge was knowing the reward of success was close and with it would come plenty of opportunity to rest.

I share all of these challenges not as part of a pity party. Far from it. The experience full of incredible moments and rewarding experiences that I will recall for a lifetime. My intent in the sharing is to make clear that much is required in to achieve a great reward. The higher the cost, the sweeter the reward may often become.

Our immediate team is absolutely jubilant from the experience and the achievement. Support and congratulations have steadily poured in from many fantastic people. All of these quickly help diminish the costs which were part of the process.

In the full reflection of this winter, I wanted to be sure not to forget the price paid by many along the way for this achievement. For me, the monumental nature of the accomplishment far outshines the investment. I hope that as many pursue goals, they find motivation through the challenge in the reward awaiting those who can persevere.

Lack of adversity isn’t the goal. In fact, that is closer to stagnation than I would wish for anyone. The goal is an adversity we craft to be worth its weight in reward. Obstacles are opportunity–that’s my vision of this winter and the entire world!

There are so many misconceptions about interacting with a service animal that I thought this week we might discuss the best practice guidelines and rules. Quinn is certainly charming, and I know my rather biased view of his magnificence would make it hard for me to resist. In fact, I frequently give him verbal praise, a rewarding pat on the shoulder, and the occasional Charlee Bear treat for his great work. I find others undertaking many other approaches and part of our educational outreach is to cover the correct things to do.

The basic rule is this: you should never interact with any dog without the express permission of the handler, which is usually signified by the person on the other end of the leash. This is true for absolutely all dogs and particularly true for service dogs. “Interact,” as I tell many students, means call, touch, or offer a slice of pizza! You might think that would be obvious, but it’s a rare week that one of those does not occur. While Quinn is trained to ignore these distractions, they are similar to grabbing the steering wheel of a car in motion.

Each service dog and handler have different levels of ability and comfort with distractions. Many choose to eliminate all forms of interaction with their guide. As always, different people take different approaches to education and communication, making it challenging to know what is the right approach for any individual. The rule of thumb is to always ask the handler to learn preferences or needs.

In the case of Quinn, I know how much he enjoys receiving the command from me that he is off duty and free to say hello to a person who wants to interact. There are in fact many times where a person assumes they can’t request this, and I can tell by their interactions that they want to ask but don’t know if it’s appropriate. I’ll usually encourage them to ask because I love to reward Quinn with just such a treat when it’s appropriate. Again, asking the handler is the key–not every dog, handler, or situation will prefer this.

To that point, I only request that folks consider a bit of judgment before asking. In the middle of a task such as crossing a street or navigating a narrow and steep mountain trail, it might not be the best time. Just as with initiating conversation with people in passing, there are times when we might be moving along at a good clip with a time schedule to keep and there is not really the time or opportunity to stop for petting.

I know Quinn is amazing, perhaps more than anyone else could fully realize. Still, if every time you travelled a block in your car, someone jumped out to pronounce what a swell car it is and ask to look under the hood, life could become a mite challenging!

Fortunately, it’s quite often where a leisurely stroll or a pause in travel presents the perfect opportunity for me to talk about one of my favorite topics, the Mighty Quinn. Please know how much I’ll enjoy letting him get a well deserved greeting if you don’t mind asking and waiting for me to let him know he’s off duty!

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If you’re looking for stories about our hike up Mt. Cannon, the final hike up the NH 48 in the wintertime, stay tuned! They are coming soon.