That's me at the Ela library. A great crowd showed up, and the library is a tremendous facility. Say eee-lah (not Ella, despite the title of this entry).
In last week’s post, I listed all the things we did with our friends from Northern Ireland while they were visiting. One thing I forgot to include: my visit to the Ela Area Public Library In Lake Zurich, IL.
Well, actually I didn’t forget to include it – I left it off the list because it didn’t really qualify: Sheelagh and Beni didn’t come along on that trip. October 13 was Sheelagh and Beni’s last day here. Instead of taking an hour-long train ride with Hanni and me to the suburbs, they opted for one last meal in Chicago. Who could blame them? Chicago has some pretty darn good restaurants!
Sheelagh and Beni are both vegetarians — while they were happily munching away on Moroccan Style Eggplant and Portabella over Lentil & Rice at Andie’s Restaurant on N. Clark, Hanni and I were being chauffeured to the Ela Library. My friend Chris lives in Lake Zurich, and she met us at the train station.
An enthusiastic (and large!) audience greeted us at Ela Library — more than 40 parents and kids were there, and it was a school night! During my talk, I explained three rules to keep in mind when you encounter a guide dog with a harness on: don’t pet the dog, don’t feed the dog, and don’t call out the dog’s name. “Those things can distract a Seeing Eye dog,” I told them. “It’d be like if someone nudged you or kept calling your name wile you were working on your spelling words at school. You wouldn’t be able to concentrate on your work.”
I suggested we come up with a fake name for Hanni. “If you use her fake name to say hi to her, she wont’ notice,” I said. “She’ll think you’re talking to someone else!”
I went a little off-topic from there, explaining that while the word “Ela” in “Ela Area Public Library” begins with a long e sound – it’s pronounced “Eela” – my talking computer says it like “Ella.”
“So for tonight, let’s call the dog ‘Ella,’” I said. “You know, like Ella Fitzgerald.”
The name suited Hanni. She’d make a good Ella, actually. And gee, in that one moment, the kids learned a lesson in phonics, adaptive technology for the blind, and…jazz history!
Kids lined up after my talk to have me sign copies of Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound. As always, I enjoyed talking to the kids one by one.
Our hero Mike arrived at the end to drive us home –that way we were back in Chicago in time to join Sheelagh and Beni after their meal. We met them at Hackney’s, our local tavern, for one (or two) pints of draft beer. Monday was the Irish pair’s last night in Chicago, after all. It was important to toast their vacation!
We so enjoyed having Beth & Hanni visit with us in Lake Zurich at Ela Library. Later last week our Information Desk called me to meet a woman who had come in with her guide dog in training. Turns out she’s training the dog for work with the physically disable. The 8-month old yellow Lab, Twister, was appropriately “dressed” for her job in a blue vest declaring her a “working dog”. I resisted the temptation to give her a friendly pat since I’d just learned the major “rules” Beth had instructed us on regarding working dogs! Since we’re an early voting center, Twister had the opportunity to experience her first elevator ride upstairs to the election site. I took some great photos of Twister all around the building. Since our human resources person is a foster parent for a breeder dog for Leader Dogs for the Blind we’ve all learned alot this year about guide dogs.
I bet Twister’s human companion was impressed you knew the rules. Well done, Christy!
I enjoy your BLOG because
it keeps me connected to whets going on with you and yours. Sounds like a great time with Sheelagh and Beni. The post about the Schwinn reminded me of our tandem bike ride along
the river when you were living in Geneva. Good memories.
It was wonderful to have you out in our burbs, and glad that you got a chance to appear at our great library. I liked the way the kids held your books like treasures with two hands after you had signed them. Sounds like the library really is getting an education in several ways about guide dogs. It was too short a visit though (being a “school night” and all), maybe we’ll have to check out your watering hole down there sometime.
Had no idea the kids were clutching their books like that — thanks for the visual. You’re right — the visit was much, much too short! C;mon down to our watering hole anytime — it’s not as splendid as your library, but probably has as many characters!
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