Day one with a new guide dog is a milkweed moment: you’re swelling as if you might burst. In turn everything is softer and the world is open. My first solo walk with Corky was a festival of sorts–the trainer said goodbye at LaGuardia airport and Cork and I were suddenly on our own and we walked around the American Airlines gates like two celebrities, a freshly washed yellow Labrador with a huge head and big smile, and a mostly washed man with a look on his face that said, “I think I ate the canary.” Day one with a guide dog. Hour one. We walked past a hotdog stand; up a flight of stairs; down an adjacent corridor; flights leaving for Las Vegas; we thought we could go there too if we wanted to. But we didn’t want to. We were happy in the rainbow of the world.
Planet of the Blind 