Carolyn Wing Greenlee

I picture this site as an electronic version of my filing system, which is piles. There are lots of things I’ve been wanting to share—handy hints for blind people, nutrition and exercises to help strengthen eyes, stories of puppy raisers and guide dog handlers, observations from my life, and stories that will eventually go in books that I have on schedule to write, but are still several years from being published. I want to share my favorite photos, interviews, videos, resources, and songs. I want it to be informative, educational, fun, encouraging, helpful, and maybe even inspirational. It’s not meant to be the last word on anything, the source of the cutting edge latest and greatest, scholarly, meticulously researched, or definitive in any way. There are lots of sites that do that beautifully. I’m not the scholarly type. I’m more a living room kind of gal. If we were sitting in my living room (or yours), I would be telling you these types of things. Please know that everything I post on this site is intended to make your life better in some way. Thank you for visiting.

There were a lot of us at PetCo, Elk Grove, on Saturday, March 24, 2012, and all of them were in my new book, A Gift of Puppies. From Elk Grove, “Puppies with a Vision,” were Kathy Harwell and her daughter Jennifer (who got the family hooked when she was a little girl). Kathy and her husband Greg have been leaders of the group for 12 years now. Their last puppy, Shubert, was recently career changed because he simply had too much energy to be a guide dog. His owner is thrilled. He’s a young guy with lots of energy to match.

Linda Tinkham brought her new puppy, Evie, a cute black Lab who spent the entire time snoozing under the table. In fact, she was so quiet, that I forgot she was there. Steve Rawiszer, who shot so many of the adorable puppy pictures that were in the book, took pictures of each person with a pup — except Linda, because I forgot to tell him she’d brought one, and she didn’t say anything either. Linda and her husband John raised Sweetie, who just graduated with a partner last month.

Barbara and Jerry Edwards brought Ariel, a yellow Lab puppy they’re co-raising with Linda’s daughter, Ali (who is another former child puppy raiser who is responsible for getting her parents into that time-consuming, yet rewarding volunteer work). They also brought Doris, a retired guide that had been partnered with Rebecca, the blind handler who contributed the “you people” story to the book. When Doris retired, Barbara and Jerry received her back into their home. It’s one of the blessings of being a puppy raiser.

Barbara and Jerry were stationed nearest the big sliding glass doors, so the first thing people saw as they entered the store that day were two lovely yellow Labs, one in a green puppy in training coat, and one quite pet-able because she is no longer a working dog.

Hedy and I were at the left end of the table next to the Edwards, so people could see what a dog in harness looks like. We also did demonstrations. Most people have never seen a working dog doing its job. It’s an inspiring sight.

At the other end of the table sat Kathy Ulm, the first CCI puppy raiser I had ever met. She is from the Gold Rush Champion puppy club. She brought Flurry, who was a puppy in training when I interviewed her and Gloria Merk eons ago. Now Flurry is a breeder and has already had her first litter.

Kathy also brought Ethan, a retired Full Service Dog. They are the top of the line. They can understand more than 45 commands. Ethan did demonstrations that wowed the onlookers — picking dropped keys off the floor or, even more impressive, a penny. Then he’d put his forepaws on Kathy’s lap and drop the item there. I could see how much he enjoyed doing his work. He had a twinkle in his intelligent brown eyes.

Toddy, another gorgeous black Lab, is a breeder for CCI. She lives with Pam Flanagan and her husband Steve Rawiszer and does agility when she’s not having pups. Pam’s breeders have had 30 litters and she has helped more than 300 puppies into the world. Toddy and Flurry looked stunning — sleek black Labs in bright yellow scarves.

Because Ethan is retired, and Toddy and Flurry are breeders, they, too, were pet-able. Customers who got to pet Doris, were taught to ignore Hedy (who was looking official in her harness even though she was napping), were encouraged to pick up information on CCI and GDB dogs and puppy raising, and then finished with a chance to pet another three beautiful, well-mannered dogs. It was a big hit with the children.

But the greatest treat for me was a big surprise. My O & M (Orientation & Mobility Specialist), Scott Kies, and his wife Alicia, came all the way from the gold country to see Hedy and me. They had come to our graduation in December, 2008. I had a few more sessions with Scott after that, and then he said he was cutting me loose. I was successfully independent and needed him no more. I hadn’t seen either of them since.

When I got ready to apply to GDB for my dog, I worried that the school would think I didn’t really need one. Scott had been to the school for special training with guide dog teams. He understood GDB’s requirements. He had a client who had recently been turned down. So I asked if he thought I would qualify.

He looked thoughtful, rubbed his chin, and pondered my question for a very long time. Then he said, “I can see you sitting there with a great dog by your side.” He was right. And when he surprised me at PetCo that day, there she was, my great dog, right by my side — snoozing peacefully on her mat.

Thanks to General Manager Aaron Elkins at PetCo, Elk Grove, CA, for hosting us in our book signing and community awareness event. The staff there is always gracious to us, and I love those bright red tablecloths that make it look so festive. We appreciate your hospitality.

As a Third Generation Chinese American, I felt a responsibility to collect the stories of my clan because there were not many books from the inside of a Chinese immigrant family. The first book was Inside the Oy Quong Laundry, my mother’s memoir.

My mother was reluctant to tell more than the stories I had heard all my life–about the eight-pound sadiron she had to use when she was only eight years old, about the red rooster who attacked her mother every time she went in to get one of his harem, about the customers who were named for their laundry (Two Towels and Stinky Socks). She said I was wasting my time. Who would care about life in a Chinese laundry? It wasn’t interesting. She told me I should write a best seller and make a lot of money and be famous. But as I transcribed and edited her voice into vignettes that I read back to her, she began to see how serious I was, and she began to remember.

At first it was the bitter things—the hairy mold that grew on the inside of the walls, the sweltering heat of Merced summers inside a brick building with a coal-burning stove and only one small fan. But then she began telling me about the clock weeds that would wind into corkscrews when you stuck them into your sweater and the geese that flew in Vees honking across the autumn sky. She remembered funny things, tender things, and beauty. It healed her. Surprisingly, it healed me as well.

A friend of mine once said that some people have been hit by exploding bullets, and what you hear coming out of them are cries of fear and shrieks of pain. There are always reasons, and if we knew them, we might marvel that the person is not worse.

When I heard my mother’s stories, I began to see her as a person with a past. She was no longer just my mom; she was the voice of all she’d gone through, some of which was wars with exploding bullets flying everywhere.

On the eighth anniversary of my mother’s death, I am again so grateful that I took the time to hear and gather stories. They helped me understand why she was the way she was, and why I was the way I was. They helped me cherish the wisdom she’d gleaned from her adversities, and choose to honor the strong and courageous woman she had become.

Awhile ago, I spoke with a woman who said she had a hearing dog. Actually, she had purchased a Golden retriever puppy and now had a very nice pet who helped alert her in some ways. She told me a woman had offered to train the dog for her for $35 an hour. She asked me if I thought that was too expensive. I didn’t know what to tell her. I had just interviewed two puppy raisers for Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) who said those service dogs go through six months of training and the dogs are given to the disabled without charge.

It breaks my heart to hear of situations like this where the person needs help and goes to all this trouble and expense in order to provide for themselves what they can receive free from organizations such as Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) and Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB). That is one of the main reasons I wanted to publish a book that brought into public awareness what is already available, and what the dogs are like. What better way than to share the inside stories of those who care for the puppies, preparing them to be confident and secure, willing to learn, and ready to work? From those who take care of the breeder dogs to those who raiser and socialize them for over a year, these volunteers create the foundations that the trainers build upon.

In order to better publicize this work and the services that the dogs provide, Hedy and I will be joining raisers and breeder keepers from GDB and CCI whose stories are in A Gift of Puppies to talk and demonstrate and answer questions. My hometown girls, Jeanette Frey and Patty Sambrailo, brought their pups to the Lake County Arts Council for an event on February 25. Our next one will be on Saturday, March 25, with the Elk Grove Puppies with a Vision. On May 6, Hedy and I will be at a big GDB Fun Day with San Diego puppies and raisers from three huge groups there. I hope to have an event and signing with every contributor to the book—even the ones in Colorado. That’s where Hedy’s raisers live. I’ll also be sharing at puppy and service clubs. Hope to see you at one of our events!

Schedule so far:
February 25, 2012 Lake County Arts Council, Lake county, CA
March 24, 2012; PetCo store in Elk Grove, CA; 11:30 – 4:30 PM
April 12, 2012 Ukiah Puppy Club
April 11, 2012 Clearlake Rotary, Clearlake, CA
May 6, 2012 Fun Day, San Diego, CA

I know. The touring schedule is grueling, but you do what you gotta do. No, really, spending my time with generous-hearted people and great dogs—what could be better? I always have so much fun. There’s only one problem…how do I stay on my vegan diet? Will someone pass me a carrot?

They’re still in progress. I’m waiting to get the Foreword back from a dear friend of my dad’s. Then “Eternal River, Vol. III” will go through another full edit before being sent off to Heidi Thomas, a writer and professional editor I met at Women Writing the West many years ago. She really knows her stuff!

We’ve been stalled out on my album because I lost my voice. I was having to record the vocals three words at a time. Sound Engineer Dan Worley was infinitely patient nursing me through it, but I can hear the strain in my voice. I just didn’t have it.

Now I’m starting to get my voice back. I have more breath control and I’m stretching out my range. It’s so good to be able to sing again! I suspect my shortness of breath was from all the meat, cheese, and oil I was consuming. I’ve now completed my fifth month of eating vegan, and because of Raw Chef Christina, I’m especially enjoying making raw foods. I put on the CD of my songs instrumentation and background vocals and sing along while I prepare the food.

I have to admit that it’s still a big adjustment. I am groping my way while learning what of the many whole, plant-based foods work best for my lifestyle and metabolism. I’m stuffing my brain with facts about nutrition. Today I learned that raw unhulled sesame seeds have a lot of calcium, and that the hulls are edible.

Most of my friends and relatives are not interested in making such a drastic change in their lifestyles, but I’m hoping they’ll see the value of adding a green drink or a raw-something several times a week. Phyto and micro nutrients, Baby!

Some of my friends are getting into green drinks now. Maria Zornes Baker says Dan’s Prime Time Lime drink is wonderful…even without gin. Her husband Hal says they have a green drink just about every day. As a cyclist, he’s finding he has more energy. I love knowing that my friends are getting healthier because they’re better nourished.

Here are more of my favorite new recipes:

Good Morning Green Smoothie

This is a variation of Raw Chef Christina’s Green Smoothie recipe. She always says she provides the basics and the theory and then you go make it your own.

Use organic produce to avoid concentrating pesticides and toxins

1 green apple (Granny Smith is good)
1 peeled orange (naval is good)
1 peeled banana
1 1/2 – 2 C water
5 leaves of kale (without stems) (winds up being about 3 fist fulls)
1 rounded teaspoon of chia seeds
1 rounded teaspoon of hemp seeds
1 rounded teaspoon of flax seeds

Place all ingredients into a powerful blender or Vita-Mix and blend till smooth

The hemp, chia and flax seeds add good nutrition, and the flax helps make the drink smooth, but if you don’t have them, don’t let that keep you from making it. Just skip that part. Chef Christina says kale has a value of 1000 on the nutrient density scale. The next most dense foods are the purple ones (such as blueberries) at a value of 160. Quite a difference! So get that kale blended and into you with those lovely, flavorful fruits. It tastes more like an entertainment drink than like something that’s really good for you.

Perfect Purple Stuff
originated by Raw Chef Christina who wanted something substantial to start the day off right for her policeman husband
modified by Carolyn Wing Greenlee

3 red apples, diced
1 1/2 cup soaked raw almonds
1/4 cup raw pecans or soaked walnuts
1 tablespoons chia seeds
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
1.2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Place all the ingredients except the berries in the bowl of a food processor.
Pulse until the mixture is as creamy as desired.
Stir the fresh or frozen blueberries or blend for a few seconds to keep them whole.

Stores in covered glass container in the ‘fridge for up to 3 days.

Mexican Paté

1 C soaked raw almonds
1/2 C raw pecans
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 C soaked sun dried tomatoes, deiced
1/2 C seeded chopped red bell pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon finely chopped celery
1 teaspoon chili powder

In bowl of food processor, process nuts and lemon juice together until fairly smooth

Add remaining ingredients and process until blended together. The mixture will turn a nice reddish color. You may want some flecks of sun dried tomatoes to add to the visual interest and provide a little flavored zip here and there.

Dan’s Banana-Blueberry Shake

3/4 to 1 C almond milk
1 banana
10-12 fresh or frozen blueberries

Place all ingredients in blender.
Blend on High till smooth. If you like, keep blending on High till it’s warm.

This is so good (not too sweet) that you’ll find it hard to believe it’s good for you. Blueberries have anti-oxidants. Bananas have potassium. Almonds are alkalizing. All (if you make your own milk with raw almonds) are unprocessed, raw, and pulsing with energy.

There are commercial almond milks. I’ve used unsweetened Pacific in the past, but I much prefer making fresh almond milk. If you have a source of good organic almonds (preferably raw, but very hard to get), the recipe below explains how to make it.

Almond Milk

Soak organic almonds from 12-24 hrs
If the almonds are truly raw, they will start to sprout, a tiny, white tip will begin to push through the brown coat at one end.
Drain brown liquid (that’s the enzyme-inhibitor in the nuts).

Place 1 C of soaked almonds in blender.
Add 3 C of water.
Blend on High for 30 seconds or until almonds are reduced to tiny bits.
Pour contents of blender into nut bag with a bowl underneath.
Squeeze bag till all milk is expelled.
Store almond milk in refrigerator up to 3 days.
Pulp can be frozen for use in other recipes.

Salud! To your health!

There was a full house at the Main Street Gallery where three of us with dogs from Guide Dogs for the Blind shared what life was like with these special canines. We were there to celebrate my latest book, A Gift of Puppies, and Shelby Posada, Director of the Lake County Arts Council, made it a festive occasion with food and wine, flowers on eggplant-purple tablecloths and live classical guitar music by Lindy Day before and after the presentation.

Jeanette Frey brought 4-month-old Adora, a golden/Lab cross, and Patty Sambrailo brought 11 month-old, black Lab King. Hedy was there, of course. She’s been my guide dog for three years now. The group of dogs showing the full range of Before and After the raising happens.

I always learn something when I’m around puppy raisers. Some behaviors that I thought were simply Hedy’s good temperaments or “gifts” turn out to have been carefully trained into her—including her nonchalance about “doing her business” on snow, asphalt, or any kind of surface. Patty and Jeanette were the first puppy raisers I met after leaving GDB. Their stories opened my eyes and were the start of the idea for the new book.

My neighbor, Betty Helf, introduced the puppy raisers to me, so I tell her it’s all her fault. She is one of those precise people who notices punctuation errors on billboards, so I hired her to help edit the book. One of the stories is told by a mischievous Lab puppy named Hibachi, and it came to me without capitals and arbitrary punctuation. Betty told me she wasn’t annoyed about the number of errors she had to correct, saying, “Puppies don’t type very well.”

The talk and booksigning was also a benefit for the Arts Council, which has always been so encouraging to me. My jewelry is now starting its sixth month on display there. When I first started showing it, I wondered if anyone would like it. I was surprised when people started to buy it. That does a lot for my confidence.

Here is a picture of us standing in front of some of Shelby’s large paintings. Left to right: Shelby Posada, Hedy and me, Patty Sambrailo and King, Jeanette Frey and Adora, and Lindy Day.

These are shots I took of my February jewelry display, complete with hearts.