Although he has seen, and sometimes been the subject of, many graduation photos, Edward Loong of Milsons Point has just received one that is particularly impressive. “It shows Summer, having successfully completing 18 months of intensive training who, instead of wearing the familiar mortar board and gown, proudly wears a harness. To quote her new handler: ‘I could not have wished for a better dog!’” Yes, with the help of her trainer Leigh and Guide Dogs NSW (and the sponsorship of Edward and others), Summer has graduated to become a guide dog. Congratulations Summer!
“My American friend (C8) who has lived in Australia for 50 years, still talks about his dog needing to go to the bathroom when it’s time for a walk, ” writes Dianne Burgoyne of Neutral Bay.
Like Tom Owen, Don Firth of Wooli also has a tale about bus drivers and water (C8). “As I boarded a bus in San Francisco I asked the driver, ‘Does this bus go over the Golden Gate bridge?’ His response, ‘Gee, I sure hope so!’”
Tim Ingall of Scottsdale (USA) was also reminded of a story “told by our Antarctic Peninsula cruise leader who said the silliest question ever asked by a passenger (C8) was during a cruise around a small bay in a Zodiac when someone asked her: ‘How high are we above sea level?’ The second silliest question was: ‘Where do the crew of the ship sleep at night?’”
“My grandfather could only sleep if his bed was oriented north to south (C8),” writes Marg Hamilton of Cremorne. “His belief was earth’s magnetic fields aligned this way and went through his body top to toe rather than crossways … which would cause some unspecified calamity to occur. Despite this seeming highly unlikely, I also sleep better aligned north/south.”
