Harper.
Like Harper Lee, who wrote one of Beth’s all-time favorite books, To Kill A Mockingbird.
Beth likes the name, and so do I. She’s not corresponding much because The Seeing Eye is keeping her way busy. But she did report that Harper doesn’t mind the rain one bit. That’s a good thing, because Hanni — despite her Lab lineage — absolutely hates the rain.
Say hello to Harper, or at least part of him. Thanks to Marcus for the photo.
One of Beth’s classmates — Marcus Engal, who’s a public speaker and writer himself — has an iPhone; apparently, the voice interface works really well and a lot of her classmates have iPhones, so who knows, maybe there’s one in Beth’s future. Anyway, this classmate took a stab at taking a picture of Harper. You’ll see it’s not maybe composed as well as we might like. It’s kinda’ hard to tell head from tail. But I think we can forgive the photographer, and you can tell that Harper looks a lot like Hanni, at least in his coloring.
Speaking of Hanni, she’s doing quite well, but the first couple days were a little trying. Luckily, I’ve seen it before. Years ago Beth visited our friend Sheelagh in Northern Ireland. Taking a guide dog overseas is problematic, so Beth left Hanni with me and made the trip accompanied by our friend Siobhan. They had a rollicking time from the get-go.
Meanwhile, for the first couple days Hanni moped, either lying near our condo door or near Beth’s office chair in hopes that her buddy would come home any minute. I was chopped liver.
But after Hanni figured out that I could serve the food as well as Beth, she started hanging next to me. We went for walks, she was off-duty, and she got petted lavishly. She played with other dogs, and their companions struck up dog conversations with me. So we bonded. At least until Beth got home, at which point I was again chopped liver.
It’s been like that this time, too. She was sullen at first (except for meal time), but she’s rallied, and we’re having a good time. She gets petted on every elevator trip or walk down the block. And I can tell she’s going to do just fine in her new life with our friends in Urbana.
I’m, like many others, loving your stories Mike and am a little like Hanni in that, with Beth away, you’ll do very nicely. I don’t want her to stay away but hope that you will write regularly as well when she returns – two wordsmiths are better than one
Much appreciated Tracie. Thanks for reading.
Harper and Beth, I like it!
Woohoo! Welcome Harper! Great name.
Harper…what a great name! Glad to hear Hanni is adjusting to her new life. Thanks for the update Mike. Keep em coming.
Beth, let me know the next time you visit C-U so I can meet Harper, and of couse buy you a cup of coffee!
Harpo….Harper. Oprah….Reprah. She’s gotta pick your book for “Oprah Book Club” now! Can’t wait to meet your southern gentleman, “Harper Lee”.
How ’bout Hoprah? Then we can get Obama on the show at the same time.
Hey Mike, Beth, Hanni and Harper… Glad to hear Hanni is slowly warming up to retirement. In the brief time I knew her (in Urbana, ages ago), I always had trouble letting her work because, well, she is just so sweet and social and appealing. I really enjoyed the couple of times I got to be around when she was off-duty.
If/when you all (or any subset of you) head out to the Bay Area, let me know! Would love to say hello and meet Harper.
Kate! Hey, an excuse to visit the Bay area! You’re right, Hanni has those brown eyes and she looks up at people in the elevator and makes it virtually impossible for them not to pay her some attention.
Harper! Can’t wait to meet him! The stars are aligned-good karma!
Thanks for the great update Mike. Aunti Flo wrote me that Beth was getting a new dog and I thought it would be really sad for both her and Hanni. It sounds like both are adjusting well. How many dogs has Beth had?
This is Beth’s third dog, all from The Seeing Eye. Kinda’ hard to believe.
I can already envision the new book…Hanni’s new home or maybe Harper and Beth, coming home..
I like your thinking, Michelle. And I know just the right person to illustrate it….
I was needlessly worried about EVERYBODY: man, woman and dog! (So sue me—it’s in my nature.) This is way comforting! You are all swell—to use an old-fashioned word! And I will follow the blog assiduously for updates. Thanks, Mike—and love to all.
Some other excellent associations to Harper are: the terrific magazine; the movie of the same name starring the not-too-shabby Paul Newman; and Valerie Harper, the wonderful Rhoda of Mary Tyler Moore fame.
Thanks for Harperpalooza, Benita. There’s also William Rainey Harper. Then again, we’re told by our Canadian friend that Prime Minister Harper is not particularly well-like up there.
Good theme for the welcome home party- Harperpalooza! Mike, I was wondering- does Seeing Eye provide you “transition tips”? You have helped everyone around you to make the change- how are you doing?
Thanks Marilee, for asking. I’m fine now that Hanni has perked up a bit, and that I’ve heard Harper munching voraciously on a Nylabone over the phone. I think he’s going to be a lot of fun. Watching Beth walk down the jetway without Hanni was kinda’ hard, but knowing The Seeing Eye was on the other side helped a lot. And I’ve gotten lots of really kind support from friends and family like you.
Mike,
What a great name!
The things we can’t wait to find out, not in any particular order on “Dog Day,” are:
What breed?
What gender?
What color is it?
What’s it’s name?
What size is it and
When is it’s birthday?
Then later we find out about the parentage of the dog, which is always interesting. I have had two dogs with the same father. I could see some similarities between them, although their personalities couldn’t have been different.
Glad to hear Hanni is making the adjustment. They are more resilient (most of the time) than we give them credit for. If we could only learn how they do it…
They live in the present; a lesson for us all.
Thanks for keeping us updated.
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