Well it doesn’t take guide dog Nira long to make friends. Here she is with playwrite Craig Lucas. Nira knows a kiss when its in the offing but like most Labradors she loves languor and heart—most days I think this is why dogs and people first got together. It’s a high gravity world. We help each other in a thousand ways. Here, Nira, supine says: “Take my purse, darling.”
S.K.
Planet of the Blind 
I still remember a couple of serious cuddles I had with Vidal back at PLU. Whlie I have a wonderfully cuddly husband I long for a big dog to cuddle with, preferably a pit bull.
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It is a truly adaptable soul who transitions so readily from mid-winter Iowa City to beachside Sarasota. I would have recommended at least a few hours in a hyperbaric chamber in between, but you seem to be managing exceedingly well without this. Enjoy!
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In that instance I shall inflate my water wings!
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…and what will you do when Nira stands at the edge of those beckoning tropical waters, and, being the retriever that she is, begs to plunge in for a glorious dog paddle? What then, Blanche?
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Yes, Mr. Lucas asked permission to pat Nira and I, perhaps driven mad by the tropics said yes. I’m no better than Blanche DuBois. As for Nira, she’s so well behaved that a few moments of rule breaking don’t make her silly.
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Oh Good Gosh! According to his Wiki bio, Mr. Lucas was a self-respecting artist before he met Nira. Hey SK, I have been rigorously trained since I was a wee thing not to distract a guide dog when it is in harness (i.e. “on duty”), and even when the dog is out-of-harness, the rule is to ask first whether schmoozing is OK or not. Is this just a West Coast thang or have you become a renegade guide dog sympathizer in your current artist incarnation?
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