The Ongoing Adventures Of Minnesota Sam & Abby

April 1 & May 1, 2004 In Which Sam & Abby Herein Share John's Rationale For Conducting Men's Groups...

     At a national conference on anger and rage held in Las Vegas a couple of years ago, you could hear a pin drop in a room of 500 therapists when I said, “Many women say that, above all, they want a man who is sensitive, gentle, and aware of his feelings. The problem is that most women don’t want to marry a guy like that.”
    After the pin completed its trip to the floor, I explained what I meant. If a “sensitive and gentle” man is unable to hold a job or to move along in his career, and if he is so afraid of conflict and his partner’s anger, or his own, that he is unable to provide the healthy resistance required to keep the relationship from stagnating, he is going to engender a lot of disappointment, anger, and ultimately contempt from his partner not because he’s sensitive, but because emotionally he’s still a little boy. If a woman (or the other partner in a gay or lesbian relationship) is constantly angry, disappointed, and contemptuous of that partner whom she sees as passive and ineffectual, she is equally “little” emotionally. She is perpetrating on him as much as he is embracing his victimhood, and so around and around they go.
    We have found that many men don’t know how to relate to other men, and therefore they find it next to impossible to relate well to a woman in an ongoing romantic relationship. The phrase in bold type is the key. These same men often find it almost too easy to relate to women in general. The complementary problem exists for many women, too.
    According to historical facts presented in Iowa State University educational materials on domestic assault and rape, the word “family” comes from the Latin word “familia,” which refers to a group of slaves that belongs to a man. “In 2400 B.C., if a woman was verbally abusive to her husband, he engraved her name on a brick and knocked out her teeth with it.” In the 1960's and 1970's, 4300 years later, there was an increasing awareness of the inequality of power between men and women, and of the terrible toll taken by domestic violence in intimate relationships. “Victim” and Perpetrator” were often assumed to be interchangeable with “Woman” and “Man,” which eventually created as many problems for clinicians as it solved.
    About the same time, an entire “cottage industry” of sorts arose in the academic world around Sandra Bem’s (1976) pioneering research on “psychological androgyny,” in which men and women were seen as being healthier and more adaptive if they also embraced some of the traits of the opposite sex. Many people began to believe that boys and girls could and should grow up to be pretty much the same, psychologically. If we would just keep little boys from playing with toy guns when they were little, they would become more peaceful and gentle and less aggressive and competitive when they were older. An entire generation of parents tried to keep their little boys from playing with toy guns, only to discover that their little boys simply used their fingers instead.
For nearly 20 years, Linda and I have chosen to conduct separate men's and women's therapy groups for our long-term, ongoing groups because:
         1) One of the key symptoms of coming out of an unhealthy family is that we have trouble relating to our own gender. Many men from troubled families say it is easier to be close to women, and women say it is easier to be close to men. As a result, we lack a sense of safety with members of our own sex and we lack respect for ourselves as men and women.
         2) Before clients have clear boundaries around intimacy and sexuality, they tend to get the two confused, the latter actually a subset of the former. We have found it to be much more efficient to help repair this foundation of intimacy in same-sex groups than in mixed groups.
3) In natural settings, boys and girls segregate themselves for much of childhood; which appears to be both normal and healthy. Something very crucial is learned during this time of bonding with one’s own gender, and if that process is not completed, it makes it difficult for men and women to complete their intimacy work later on.
    In her landmark review of sex differences in the April 1990 American Psychologist, Eleanor Maccoby noted that boys and girls averaging under three years of age clearly demonstrated more social behavior when with same sex peers than when with opposite sex peers (Jacklin & Maccoby, 1978). In the same study, little girls were not more passive than little boys, but they were much more passive when paired with a little boy than when paired with another little girl. Maccoby & Jacklin (1987) found that at age 4 1/2, children spend up to 3 times more time with peers of the same sex. By age 6 1/2 they spend up to 11 times more time playing with others of the same sex. In a summarizing statement, Maccoby (1990, p. 514) wrote that “Gender segregation is a widespread phenomenon. It is found in all the cultural settings in which children are in social groups large enough to permit choice." Research findings show that boys are much more “into” competition, dominance, and rough play than are girls. In their attempts at influencing others, girls tend to be much more “into” influencing by polite suggestions rather than force or domination. Boys are more likely to ignore girls' attempts to influence them, but girls do not ignore boys' attempts. In fact, girls seem to find boys' influence styles to be noxious, and choose to play with other girls rather than be dominated by boys, which makes perfect sense.
    Boys also prefer to play with other boys rather than with girls, they prefer to play outside more (Kraft & Vraa, 1975), and they tend to form friendships around mutual interests (Erwin, 1985) rather than sharing personal confidences. When girls' relationships break up, they feel more pain and stress than boys feel when their friendships break up. Maltz and Borker (1983), found that boys are more aggressive and commanding when they “hang out” together. They threaten, brag, command, direct, joke, try to outdo each other, and interrupt more than girls do in all-girl groups. As Maccoby (1990, p. 516) put it so well, for boys, “speech…is used to establish and protect an individual's turf. Among girls, conversation is a more socially binding process.”
    As they enter adulthood, men and women look at each other, scratch their heads, and say, "I don't understand you.” Whether they are gay, straight, or bisexual, people need to first come to terms with, bond with, identify with, and make friends with people of their own sex. Men need to be comfortable with and proud of their maleness. Women need to be comfortable with and proud of their femaleness. Only then can they learn how to interact well with a romantic partner.
A lot of the guys with whom I work are either 1) over-masculinized and unable to communicate with or understand women much at all, or, 2) they say they don’t like guys because “guys are just beer-guzzling, NASCAR-racing, football playing bullies.” Many of the women with whom my wife works say that they would 1) rather interact with guys because “guys are out in the world doing real-life things, not just talking about superficial, shallow things like clothes and hair;” or, 2) they only associate with other women, and see men as goons for whom they have little understanding and a lot of contempt.
    I have had heterosexual men, gay men, young men, old men, gay priests, straight men, and bisexual men all in the same group at various times, and they all say the same thing—“When I was a kid, I never got enough of whatever it is that is happening in this group that is now allowing me to feel okay about myself as a man.” Many of the gay guys say that they didn’t need their fathers to like interior decorating, they just needed their fathers to like them. If that isn’t a social leveler and grounds for a common bond between straight guys and gay guys, I don’t know what is. The straight guys just wanted their fathers to like them, too.
    Some of the men with whom I work tend more toward the perpetrator side—they deal with their anxiety by putting up walls and by scaring people with their anger. Instead of beating them up, I might say to them, “I can see how concerned you are about your family,” which often results in the first tears they’ve shed in front of others since childhood. Some of the men are way too “nice,” more towards the victim side of the continuum, and they deal with their anxiety by yielding and by avoiding conflict. I sometimes tell them: “Show me a man who is passive-aggressive, and I’ll show you his partner being controlling and rageful.” It tends to put things in perspective for them, and gets them to stop blaming and start looking at their own part in what isn’t working in the relationship.
    My goal in couples therapy is not to keep reducing the couple’s anxiety by imposing exercises on the couple that ultimately just make me feel less anxious. Rather, one of my primary goals is to help each of the partners, individually, but within the context of their relationship, keep “bringing their better part forward,” thereby acting with more and more integrity and strength.
    It’s a scary proposition. The only way to do it is to grow up—there is no other way.

February 1, 2004 In Which Sam & Abby Wonder What Is Happening To Our Senior Citizens These Days, To Health Care, And To Things In General. You can send them an e-mail at sam&abby@clearlife.com

"90% of all Minnesotans feel that health care should be available to all Minnesotans, regardless of income or employment status." Former Republican Senator Dave Durenberger headed a blue-ribbon commission--the Minnesota Citizens Forum on Health Care Costs--the results of which are on their web site.

January 1, 2004 In Which Sam & Abby Describe One Man's Reconciliation With His Pain, And How We Can Give Meaning To Our Lives In An Increasingly Confusing World

Abby: I have been organizing my observations about human beings over the past year, and pondering the state of the world on this first day of 2004. Humans are becoming increasingly troubled, I think. And increasingly polarized.

Sam: Dad and Mom say it happens because of anxiety. The more frightened people become, the more they seek simplistic, black-and-white solutions to life's problems.

Abby: Yes. And, it is a confusing world. But what I also realized is that there are millions of humans who are not falling prey to that kind of thinking. They have found a way to care about the world, and each other, despite all the polarization. But we hardly hear anything about them.

Sam: I know, Ab. That's the sad part. Here in America, if it isn't violent or dramatic or scary, it isn't likely to make the evening news, and if it doesn't make the evening news, most Americans aren't likely to hear about it.

Abby: That's why I found it so heart warming to read about Vietnam veteran Lee Thorn and his reconciliation work in Laos, as well as the work of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) in that same country. Together, they are helping to slowly--and I mean slowly--reverse the horrible damage that was done to this rural country. Between 1964 and 1973, America conducted a secret air war in which over 2 million tons of bombs were dropped on Laos, making it the most heavily bombed country in history.

This secret war, which was in clear violation of international law, eventually came to light during Senate investigations, but the aftermath goes on, today.

The country is now littered with millions of unexploded tennis ball-sized cluster bombs, called "bombies," that look like toys, making them especially dangerous for the children of Laos. Tens of thousands of Laotians continue to be killed or maimed by these cluster bombs. The MCC and MAG have instituted a comprehensive program to explode and remove the cluster bombs, and so far have removed hundreds of thousands of them.

Sam: That is incredible, Abby. It is unbelievable, too. How could the United States military conduct such a massive air campaign in secret?

Abby: Sadly, these things happen all the time. Read your history books. You'll see.

Abby: Lee Thorn loaded bombs on U.S. planes on the U.S.S. Ranger in the Gulf of Tonkin during this secret war, and then he had to screen film footage of the destruction caused by those bombs. He had nightmares. In 1998, he and a friend brought 200 pounds of medical supplies to Laos in response to a plea for help. As a result of that initial effort to help, he has not only healed much of the post-traumatic stress with which he has struggled, but he has also set up, along with Bounthanh Phommasathit, a foundation to help with medical and educational services in Laos. "Jhai" means "hearts and minds working together."

Now, they are in the process of developing pedal-powered wireless computers so that villagers in Laos can be connected to the outside world. This particular project has gained prominence on an international scale.

Abby: Laotian Arabica Typica beans, brought to Laos by the French in the 1930's, are considered to be among the best in the entire world, due to the perfect growing conditions there. Much of the funding for the Jhai Foundation has come through selling this coffee. And in addition, the Laotian farmers get paid above the global Fair Trade value for it.

Sam: It sounds like an amazing journey for so many people, Abby. Hurt, healing, hope, reconciliation.

Abby: Yes, Sam, it is. I just thought it would be nice to start out 2004 with a story that could well have remained a disaster indefinitely, but that through the efforts of some caring, dedicated people, will end up on a much better note.

Sam: And who knows? Maybe someone will read our column and buy some of that Jhai coffee!

Abby: They'd win all the way around--the best coffee in the world, and a chance to clean up some terrible stains from our recent past. When we bring our better part forward, who knows what great things can happen!

Sam & Abby: We end our January column, below, with a Happy New Year greeting from Lee Thorn. We wish you all the best in 2004.

Happy New Year
From Jhai Foundation

Press Contacts:
Jesse Thorn
Ph. +1 415 225 1665,
splangy@splangy.com
Earl Mardle
Technology Empowerment Network
earl@techempower.net

Dear friends,

I just wanted to wish you happy New Year and express our thanks for all your support this past year! I also want to ask you to support us again, if you wish, as part of your end-of-the-year giving. And to pass this message on, if you wish. What we've done this year was done on budget of about $150,000, plus coffee loans directly to the farmers. It is hard to imagine how we could have been more cost-effective! We are actually too lean and need continuing support. Here's a complete update:

Jhai PC and Communications System
We are succeeding in quite new ways, now. With your help what we are doing is technically and socially responsible ... and revolutionary. We are creating the beginning of a communications appliance for use in a market - the rural poor - that have no access to ways to communicate that just about any of us in this conversation take for granted. And it is designed specifically to create income and education for its owners - poor villagers themselves.

This year we have tried twice, as you know, to install our equipment in Phon Kham village. The first time we lost all our data on our development computer's two hard drives due to human error. The second time we got stopped by the Lao military. Since then we have demonstrated full functionality of the system both in San Francisco and in Geneva. Before that we proved the system's wi-fi network on site.

My good news is that in Geneva we met with Minister Dr. Professor Bountiem who works directly with the Prime Minister of Laos in a very high, official capacity and also is the lead person on technology for the entire country. He invited Vorasone and me to work with him to solve our challenge with the Lao authority who is questioning our technology. I return to Laos in a few days. Minister Bountiem assured us that he thinks we will overcome this challenge. He is on the left of the attached photo taken in Geneva. Vorasone, my friend and colleague, is on the extreme right.

In the meantime, we have established the first draft of a long-term vision for this project. In 10 years we expect to be part of the people who drive open source infrastructure development in both energy and information technology. We will be very active in areas where people are very poor to help provide them with communications and information tools that will help them gain significant income as they wish. We will do this through collaborative efforts with villagers who will own the technology. We will do this in an innovative, absolutely open, sustainable, humble and honorable way. We will work with partners of villagers where the values of the reconciliation process - respect, equality, careful listening, and long term commitment - are most evident. We will have developed processes that allow us to share our knowledge freely, quickly and continuously, while maintaining the integrity and reputation of the Jhai name and methods. And we will highly value humor as an important quality in our relationships. Finally, we will always look at the quality of our relationships from the viewpoint of our own responsibility in them and with a humble sense of our own failings.

We are also developing ways to communicate freely our research and development results. We are documenting carefully our hardware and software. We are designing and implementing ways to monitor them well both in Laos and with techies worldwide.

In Geneva three ministers of state rode the bike/generator and we were visited by at least seven ministers. The three riders were from Sweden, Laos (who will help us 'unblock the block'and has the power to do so), and the Philippines. The other ministers visiting were from Germany, Canada, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The Germans and Filipinos were talking large money in a general way. The others were talking about the potential for deals. German investment bankers visited several times with a representative of a project in Cambodia and they will be visiting Laos when we install.

We were also visited by high officials from UNDP, UNESCO, World Bank (InfoDev, ICT section, IFC), and ADB. I had a long talk with a representative from Microsoft and from other corporations from Hewlett Packard. I spoke briefly with John Guage from Sun and expect to meet with him here. We were visited by Gremeen Bank, the biggest Foundation in India, Asia Foundation, and several other funders of this type. All expressed great interest and the possibility of support.

We have had inquiries from Afghanistan, Angola, Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Chad, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Finland, France, Guiana, Gabon, Germany,Ghana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jerusalem, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru,Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, UK, Uraguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe and Indian tribes in the U.S. and the American State Department. (This is a cumulative list; not just from Geneva.) This adds up to 87 countries. My earlier estimate was 1/2 of the real number. The most persistent have been Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Uganda, and UK. If I missed listing your country, please let me know.

Jhai Coffee
The Jhai Coffee Farmers Association presold last year's 10 tons of Lao Arabica Typica coffee to our partner InterAmerican Commodities and through them to our partner Thanksgiving Coffee. The farmers' leadership were trained in pruning, organic fertilization, and weeding for increased yields. This leadership then trained the members. The leadership was also trained in the rudiments of organic and Fair Trade certification. This season we have a similar deal with our US partners. Jhai Foundation is grateful to report that we have received several thousand dollars worth of donations from Thanksgiving Coffee this year in addition to the generous price they gave the farmers (via InterAmerican) for their coffee. Please buy our coffee at www.jhai.org Next year we intend to make it more widely available at the retail level to both restaurants and other outlets. We are ahead of our business plan. The farmers are committed to becoming Fair Trade this year and to taking formal steps towards organic certification.

Internet Learning Centers In High Schools
We are working with four groups: World Links, World Bank, UNESCO, and the government of Malaysia (initial contacts in Geneva) to greatly increase the number of *sustainable* internet learning centers in high schools in Laos. Our model of development in this regard is being copied widely in developing countries. A big piece of this money is in the pipeline (initial MOUs have been signed), but none has arrived to date. We expect the beginning of this flow this coming Spring and are looking for more partners on this effort. We are very grateful for the openness and generosity of our new partners.

Reconciliation
We are very grateful that our way of doing our reconciliation work is receiving so much attention and praise. We're also a bit embarassed. We know what we do is not new. It is the fruit of long time work by people bringing their whole selves to relationships with others in difficult circumstances. It is informed by what I think of as the best of religious traditions of all kinds and of socialism and democratic institutions in their best forms.

At the same time, we believe the conscious use of the reconciliation process
- overcoming denial about our side of things,
- willingness to listen carefully to each others' stories,
- willingness to mourn together or separately, as appropriate,
- and willingness to stay in the room and work through our problems
together, however fitfully, however clumsily, with whatever tools it takes - including taking time out, if necessary, and with humility ...

... really works when you are from a 'developed' country and you work with poor people in villages in a 'less developed' place and we take pride in what we have done. We know it is working for us. Our projects produce revenue and are sustainable. Our projects are truly owned by the people who need them most by their own assessment of their needs. And our projects all have wide impact.

I actually think pretty much everyone has experience with these methods - if they've been in any long term relationship at all with a degree of success - marriage, parenthood, business, community - any kind. All we are saying is that you can apply this in so-called 'development' work, too. And it works.

Bounthanh and I have been asked to speak on reconciliation and shame by the Desmond Tutu Peace Center as part of a program at Robbins Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned) off the coast of South Africa. I will be speaking in February at the Lockheed Martin facility in Dallas on 'making complicated things simple'. Vorasone Dengkayaphichith and Steve Okay will be speaking in Trieste in February on using WiFi as part of a system that economically empowers poor rural communities.

I believe fervently that reconciliation is the opposite of war and that we are blessed who take part in a reconciliation effort - whether with a partner or a country or someone you just meet.

It is like coming home.

And this old vet is home, now, like you ... and I wish you a happy, happy New Year!

And if you wish to support us now, with a gift of cash, a purchase of coffee, please go to www.jhai.org and follow the directions for donations or buying coffee. If you wish to send a check dated this year, please send it to the below address. And if you wish to give us a car or other major asset, please contact me below.

Thanks again.

Yours, in Peace,
Lee Thorn, chair
Jhai Foundation
921 France Ave., San Francisco, CA 94112 USA
lee@jhai.org
www.jhai.org
in US 1 415 334 2100

Jhai Foundation is supported in part by Project IDEAS, a joint initiative of the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI), a Swiss Charitable foundation, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), IDRC (Canada), SIDA (Sweden), World Council of Churches, Marra Foundation, Haughton Family Fund, McKnight Foundation, IPDeliver, QuickNet, CompuMentor, and Tri-M. Most of our funding, however, comes from individual donors and volunteers like you. Thank you ... and keep it up. We need your support everyday.

December 1, 2003 In Which Sam & Abby Discuss New Research On The Immediate Treatment For Psychological Trauma, And The Remarkably Effective Non-Drug Treatment For Depression

Sam The Cockapoo: Abby, I've been reading some interesting articles in the Harvard Mental Health Letter (November 2003) that I found on the desk here in the office.

Sam: The first one is about the immediate treatments for traumatic psychological stress. For many years, the accepted way of helping has been "critical incident stress debriefing," in which the person is encouraged to talk about the details of what happened to them--e.g., if they were involved in a terrible automobile accident, or a wildfire that destroyed all of the homes in their neighborhood--and to express some of their feelings about it while being told that the feelings are normal.

Abby: That makes sense. People don't want to just hold it all in and get stuck with all of that trauma, do they?

Sam: You'd think not, Abby. But in reality, what these researchers found when they looked at several studies was that this debriefing was more effective than other treatments in 3 studies, in 6 studies it made no difference, and in 2 studies it was actually worse.

Sam: Yes. In this type of treatment, the procedure is only done once. They suggested that it wasn't enough time for victims of trauma to really process the event sufficiently; and also, that our brains may do better by pushing the experience away for awhile in order to give us time to let it sink in more slowly. That's one of the important, positive functions of denial. It keeps our circuits from overloading.

Abby: So it would appear that more traditional, ongoing psychotherapy might be better in the long run?

Abby: That makes even more sense to me, Sam. If you watch humans over the years, you'll notice that the healthier ones take time to talk with their companions about things like this in smaller doses, and certainly more often than once, over a longer period of time.

Sam: And the less healthy ones don't talk about it much at all, either because they don't have any companions with whom to share, or because they believe that it is a sign of strength not to share painful experiences and feelings.

Sam: It says that Inderal (propranolol), a beta-blocker that is used for high blood pressure and stage fright, can actually "slow the formation of emotionally disturbing memories. In two preliminary, controlled studies published this year, immediate treatment with propranolol (within hours or days after the trauma) reduced post-traumatic symptoms and lowered the risk of PTSD.

Sam: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's the longterm disorder that can result from a traumatic event. Months or years later, people can have nightmares, flashbacks, emotional numbing, depression, and related symptoms.

Abby: This is fascinating, Sam. What else have you been reading?

Sam: Last year I overheard Dad and Mom discussing the results of research at Duke University on the treatment of depression without medication. I just looked it up using a "Google Search," and I found this press release from September, 2000. It is astounding, if you ask me...

DURHAM, N.C. - After demonstrating that 30 minutes of brisk exercise three times a week is just as effective as drug therapy in relieving the symptoms of major depression in the short term, Duke University Medical Center researchers have now shown that continued exercise greatly reduces the chances of the depression returning.

Last year, the Duke researchers reported on their study of 156 older patients diagnosed with major depression which, to their surprise, found that after 16 weeks, patients who exercised showed statistically significant and comparable improvement relative to those who took anti-depression medication, or those who took the medication and exercised. (Italics and underlining added by Sam)

The new study, which followed the same participants for an additional six months, found that patients who continued to exercise after completing the initial trial were much less likely to see their depression return than the other patients. Only 8 percent of patients in the exercise group had their depression return, while 38 percent of the drug-only group and 31 percent of the exercise-plus-drug group relapsed.

"The important conclusion is that the effectiveness of exercise seems to persist over time, and that patients who respond well to exercise and maintain their exercise have a much smaller risk of relapsing," said lead researcher, Duke psychologist James Blumenthal, who published the results of his team's study in the October issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Duke researchers are now using a new $3 million NIH grant to better understand the subtle factors that may explain the positive effects of exercise in a new trial that begins enrolling patients this month.

"We found that there was an inverse relationship between exercise and the risk of relapsing - the more one exercised, the less likely one would see their depressive symptoms return," Blumenthal explained. "For each 50-minute increment of exercise, there was an accompanying 50 percent reduction in relapse risk.

"Findings from these studies indicate that a modest exercise program is an effective and robust treatment for patients with major depression," he continued. "And if these motivated patients continue with their exercise, they have a much better chance of not seeing their depression return."

Researchers were surprised that the group of patients who took the medication and exercised did not respond as well as those who only exercised.

"We had assumed that exercise and medication together would have had an additive effect, but this turned out not to be the case," Blumenthal said. "While we don't know the reasons for this, some of the participants were disappointed when they found out they were randomized to the exercise and medication group. To some extent, this 'anti-medication' sentiment may have played a role by making patients less excited or enthused about their combined exercise and medication program."

He suggested that exercise may be beneficial because patients are actually taking an active role in trying to get better.

"Simply taking a pill is very passive," he said. "Patients who exercised may have felt a greater sense of mastery over their condition and gained a greater sense of accomplishment. They may have felt more self-confident and competent because they were able to do it themselves, and attributed their improvement to their ability to exercise."

Once patients start feeling better, they tend to exercise more, which makes them feel even better, Blumenthal said. The greatest risk for these patients, since they are older, would be to suffer an injury or illness that would interrupt their exercise routine, he added.

While the researchers enrolled middle-aged and elderly people in their study, Blumenthal said it is logical to assume that the results would hold true for the general population, since older people tend to have additional medical problems or infirmities that might make regular exercise more difficult than for younger patients.

Researchers used the anti-depressant sertraline (trade name Zoloft), which is a member of a class of commonly used anti-depressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI).

Blumenthal cautioned that the study did not include patients who were acutely suicidal or had what is termed psychotic depression. Also, since patients were recruited by advertisements, these patients were motivated to get better and interested in exercise.

November 1, 2003 In Which Sam & Abby Discuss Their Evening With Simon & Garfunkel, And A Little Bit About How We're All So Much Alike

Abby The Labrador: I have to find my Canine Computer Keyboard Gloves® that we patented a couple of years ago, Sam. Have you seen them anywhere?

Abby: Oh...uh...here they are. They were under the desk, behind the waste basket. Uh...what? Oh, yes...I need them to order two tickets for the Simon & Garfunkel Concert at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. When you mentioned it last month, I thought we should go, to honor our long friendship. I am 84 years old, after all, and you are 70. We are, by all definitions, old friends.

Abby: I don't know. We can use Mom & Dad's membership to Minnesota Public Radio--that might help. Here we are. Ticketmaster. October 26, 2003. 8:00 p.m. The $260 tickets are gone. (Abby clicks and moves the mouse and clicks some more) Sam! Bingo! Two tickets, Main Floor, Row 30, Center Left!

Sam: I don't believe your luck. The luck of the Labradors. Wait a minute, Abby. Today is October 26th!

(Sam high tails it into the garage, hits the button on the garage door opener, turns on the engine of the old Camry, waits for Abby to jump in, and pulls out of the garage. As they race down Interstate 35E toward downtown St. Paul, Abby looks at Sam and says...)

Sam: We're here! I'm going to pull into the River Centre Garage. That electronic sign back there said there were 10 parking spaces left. This should work. (Sam whirls the car downward in a spiral, to the 7th floor, and parks as smoothly as a Canada goose alighting on a Minnesota pond on a calm summer morning. The two of them go unnoticed as they saunter through the skyway with hundreds of other fans, find their seats, and "sit-stay" 30 seconds before the lights go down and the thunderous applause begins. 16,000 people jump to their feet and start to cheer. Abby gets up on her hind legs and plants her paws on the back of the man sitting in front of her. The man looks around, sees a distinguished Yellow Labrador, smiles, pats her on the head, and cheers some more. The woman next to Sam reaches down, picks him up, and raises him to where he can see, too)

Abby: They seem to be getting along pretty well, Sam. The writer in the Minneapolis Star Tribune today wondered if they were getting together just for money, or not, but this looks like the real thing.

Sam: It does indeed. Did you know that they met when they were in 5th grade, I think. Two kids from Queens. And they got their first record on the Top 50 List when they were 15, under the name of Tom and Jerry. In 1964 they released their first album, Wednesday Morning 3 a.m., which contained one of their most famous songs ever--The Sound Of Silence. They began writing that song in November, 1963--the month when John F. Kennedy was assassinated. In 1965, The Byrds came out with a rock version of Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man. Tom Wilson, who also produced Bob Dylan's early albums, took The Sound Of Silence and dubbed in an electric guitar and rhythm section, and lo and behold, the single rocketed to number 1 on the charts!

Abby: It never ceases to amaze me how so much of this depends on hard work, and then on something else--some kind of genius--being at the right place at the right time, but also knowing what the right place and time are--and then a generous sprinkling of luck.

Sam: Listen to these guys, Abby! They are IN-credible! Wait! What's this! The Everly Brothers! The two Everly Brothers!

Abby: Simon & Garfunkel loved their music, and patterned their first single in 1957 after them.

Sam: Abby, look! The crowd is cheering and cheering and cheering! The four of them are up there singing Bye, Bye Love. It's bringing the house down!

Abby: Sam, listen. Listen to that guitar that Paul Simon is playing so softly up there. I think they're leading into our song.

October 1, 2003 In Which Sam & Abby Talk About Fall, Old Photographs, Einstein's Dreams, And Some Of Life's Little Peculiarities

Abby The Labrador: Yes, Sam. There is that hightened anticipation of change--it is indeed in the air.

Sam: Garrison Keillor had a live performance of A Prairie Home Companion this past Saturday, from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul--he always returns to St. Paul in the Fall, after his summer jaunts.

Abby: Yes. And the leaves are beginning to turn. We could take some awesome photographs when we step outside this afternoon, if we chose to.

Sam: Speaking of photographs, did you notice that big pile of them over there in that corner of the office?

Abby: Yes. I think Dad and Mom are sorting through them prior to putting them into albums.

Sam: I see. I'm going to trot over there and....Ab! Look! It's a picture of you, racing along Pleasant Lake, in North Oaks.

Abby: I remember that! And look here! It's you, racing right along with me, your ears flying straight back in the wind, the fur on your face smoothed flat by the sheer force of the air. That's when we had the house with the swimming pool! I was afraid to go down the wooden stairs from the deck to the pool area, so you patiently went up and down those stairs, showing me and encouraging me, until one day I was able to overcome my fear of open stairs, and down I went, by myself.

Sam: Life is funny, isn't it? You jumped over Dead Dog's Gorge when we first met up in the Canadian North Woods, but you had trouble with those stairs.

Abby: You're right. Life is peculiar at times. I leaped across that chasm without even a shiver of anxiety, over and over again, as I brought your herd of wild cockapoos across--but those stairs gave me the chills.

Sam: Yes. Sometimes the sense that life makes escapes us the first time around. But...wait a minute...hey!Here is that photograph of you and me, staring out onto the snowy deck of the townhouse, in sillhouette, looking like...

Abby: Mom and Dad say that we should try to live each moment as if it were our last, because we never know when it will be the last. It's definitely a Zen notion. In fact, it reminds me of one of the little chapters in a wonderful little book entitled Einstein's Dreams, by Alan Lightman, the guy at MIT who also wrote The Diagnosis. In the former book, which is gift-sized, he writes several short little vignettes that represent what Einstein might have been dreaming as he was first grappling with his theories of time and space, while he was a patent clerk in Switzerland. But even more than that, each story is actually a poignant commentary on human nature--on humans' foibles, shortcomings, depth, and grace. The story I recall is about what happens when the world ends on September 1906, I think. What makes it interesting is that everyone knows it is going to happen, and so they prepare for it--primarily by doing more of what they always wanted to do in life, and by treating each other better.

Sam: That does sound like a wonderful litle book, Abby. And I agree. And even though you and I snap and snarl at each other every once in awhile--just like Mom and Dad do--we do try to live each moment with kindness and care, for each other, and for other creatures, like they do.

Abby: You're right, Samuel J. Friel. Nobody's perfect. Sometimes you annoy me, but most of the time, we are dear old friends.

Sam: Speaking of old friends looking like bookends...Simon & Garfunkel have joined up again to do a tour, and they will be in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center, October 26th.

Sam: Indeed. They had an indelible impact on the American music scene while they were together. It's impossible to think of the 1960's and '70's and not hear their music playing in the background.

Abby: You know, looking through these photographs makes me feel a little nostalgic. Think of all we have been through, all the places we've been, the things that we've seen...

Abby: I remember the Christmas Eve when Dad suddenly threw on his down jacket and went out into the 15 below zero winter night to find a copy of Green Eggs And Ham. When he returned, victorious and enthused, he sat down on the couch with you in his lap and read it to you from cover to cover...."Sam I am."

Sam: I remember that. He calls me a goofball every once in awhile, but he can be a goofball, too.

Sam: Uh...er...well...of course I did! There's nothing like it. Do you like it when he gets on the floor and wrestles with you, Ab?

Abby: The little things. The moments. The looks or glances. The acknowledgment. The tail wagging. The cocked ear.

September 4, 2003 In Which Sam & Abby Go On Vacation. They Will be Back Here On October 1st.

August 1, 2003 In Which Sam & Abby Share A Really Paradoxical Article That They Read On The Last Tuesday In July...

July 29, 2003 | MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama's new governor is trying to persuade voters to approve the biggest tax increase in state history by telling them it is their Christian duty. And for a state in the Bible Belt, that might seem like a winning strategy.

Instead, Republican Gov. Bob Riley's $1.2 billion tax package is alienating even the Christian Coalition and other supporters, who see Riley as a Judas. Riley had consistently opposed new taxes while in Congress.

Riley says the tax increase is needed to erase Alabama's biggest deficit since the Depression and improve education. The plan also seeks to help the poor by raising the income level at which people have to begin paying state taxes.

Alabama's threshold for paying state taxes is the lowest in the nation at just $4,600 for a family of four and has been remain unchanged since 1982.

Riley, a Southern Baptist, says Alabama has taxed its poorest too harshly for too long.

"According to our Christian ethics, we're supposed to love God, love each other and help take care of the poor," he said. "It is immoral to charge somebody making $5,000 an income tax."

Two of the governor's cabinet members who resigned after Riley made the proposal. One of them, Labor Commissioner Charles Bishop, now leads opposition to the tax plan, saying Alabama voters thought they were getting one kind of governor last year, but instead have another.

"Working people, once they catch you lying, are never going to support you again," he said.

Voters will decide in a referendum Sept. 9. In a statewide poll of 500 registered voters last week, 49 percent said they would vote against Riley's plan, 39 percent for it and 12 percent were undecided. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

The poll by The Birmingham News and three TV stations also found that voters in households with an annual income of less than $30,000 oppose the plan by about 2-to-1 -- even though it is designed to cut their taxes.

The package would boost the income tax threshold for a family of four to $17,000 next year. It also would offer property tax breaks to small family farms of less than 200 acres -- a category that covers most of Alabama's farms -- while mandating big increases for the 500 or so farms and timber tracts with more than 2,000 acres each.

The plan is opposed by agriculture and timber groups that supported Riley's campaign, the state Republican party chairman and party steering committee, and the conservative Christian Coalition.

"To give tax relief to the less fortunate is something we can all agree upon, but all families deserve tax relief," said the coalition's state president, John Giles.

Alabama's biggest banker, SouthTrust Bank chief executive Wallace Malone, says Riley's package is too much for Alabama as its economy struggles to recover.

"The truth is that the governor's net tax package very probably will result in the loss of 30,000 jobs or more as business and people scramble to pay these taxes," he said.

The state is facing a $675 million deficit, and without new revenue, Riley says, it will have to release prisoners, cut medicine for the mentally ill and end Medicaid payments for many nursing home residents.

The plan adds money for new programs, including extending the school year to the national average, expanding reading programs and providing college scholarships for "B" students. It also includes accountability measures, such as streamlining the process for firing incompetent teachers.

But while Riley has lost some of his supporters, he has gained allies from the people who once opposed him, including the Alabama Education Association, a powerful teachers group that fought him last year. He also has the support of the Democratic party chairman.

"It's a critical moment in our state's history when we need to take this moment to move ahead," said Redding Pitt.

July 5, 2003 In Which Sam & Abby Reproduce A Poem By Langston Hughes, The Famous African-American Poet/Writer http://www.redhotjazz.com/hughes.html

     Let America be America again.
     Let it be the dream it used to be.
     Let it be the pioneer on the plain
     Seeking a home where he himself is free.

     Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
     Let it be that great strong land of love
     Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
     That any man be crushed by one above.

     O, let my land be a land where Liberty
     Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
     But opportunity is real, and life is free,
     Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

     I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
     I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
     I am the red man driven from the land,
     I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
     And finding only the same old stupid plan
     Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

     I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
     Tangled in that ancient endless chain
     Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
     Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
     Of work the men! Of take the pay!
     Of owning everything for one's own greed!

     I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
     I am the worker sold to the machine.
     I am the Negro, servant to you all.
     I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
     Hungry yet today despite the dream.
     Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
     I am the man who never got ahead,
     The poorest worker bartered through the years.

     Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
     In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
     Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
     That even yet its mighty daring sings
     In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
     That's made America the land it has become.
     O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
     In search of what I meant to be my home--
     For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
     And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
     And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
     To build a "homeland of the free."

     Who said the free? Not me?
     Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
     The millions shot down when we strike?
     The millions who have nothing for our pay?
     For all the dreams we've dreamed
     And all the songs we've sung
     And all the hopes we've held
     And all the flags we've hung,
     The millions who have nothing for our pay--
     Except the dream that's almost dead today.

     O, let America be America again--
     The land that never has been yet--
     And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
     The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
     Who made America,
     Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
     Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
     Must bring back our mighty dream again.

     Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
     The steel of freedom does not stain.
     From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
     We must take back our land again,
     America!

     O, yes,
     I say it plain,
     America never was America to me,
     And yet I swear this oath--
     America will be!

     Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
     The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
     We, the people, must redeem
     The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
     The mountains and the endless plain--
     All, all the stretch of these great green states--
     And make America again!

June 8, 2003 (From January 1, 2000)...How It All Began -- In Which Sam And Abby Reflect On
How They First Met, While On A Hunting Journey In Labrador, And How Letting Go Opens New Doors

Abby The Labrador: So here we are, Sam. 1999 was one of the warmest years in recorded history. Just a few months ago, weather folks were predicting that this would be a cold, snowy winter, but so far it's been incredibly dry and delightfully warm. After all, it has not been uncommon for it to be 15 degrees below zero on New Year's Eve, but it's nowhere near that.

Sam The Cockapoo: It has been a very pleasant winter so far. And the holidays were wonderful. All kinds of small but wondrous things happened in our family over the past two months. We have so much to be grateful for.

Abby: Sam, it's the beginning of a new millennium, I know, but that pales in comparison to everything that we have experienced in our long lives. We could have died yesterday, and our lives would have been worth more than either of us ever imagined when we were little.

Sam: Yes. Life is so simple, so elegant, and so unpredictable. Who could have known, years ago, what magical twists and turns our lives would take?

Abby: No one could have known, and that's why life is so mysterious and wonderful. Life is a risk over which we all have some control, and therein lies the key. If we could control it all, each and every one of us would be a pitiful little tyrant. If we had no control at all, each would be a hopeless victim.

Sam: Okay. So, Abby, here's my question of the day. Do you have any New Millennium Resolutions?

Abby: No. Life goes on. I have things I've been working on for years. I will continue to do so.

Sam: Dad and Mom are working on a new book, and they asked me if I'd ask you if they could use our story...

Once upon a time there was a 20-pound Cockapoo named Sam, and a Yellow Labrador Retriever named Abby. Sam and Abby met when they were two years old-14 in dog years. They met in the Canadian North Woods under the most extreme conditions. Sam was running with a herd of wild Cockapoos that was heading towards the region called Labrador, in search of better hunting grounds. It was the end of Autumn, the nights were very cold, and there was a dusting of fresh snow on the ground. As the alpha male of the herd, all of the other Cockapoos
looked up to and admired Sam.

Abby The Labrador had been scouting out new hunting territory herself when she heard the thundering paws of the mighty Cockapoo herd as it broke through a clearing in the woods and headed toward Dead Dog's Gorge. The herd suddenly stopped at Sam's command, and he paced back and forth with an intensity that Abby had never seen before. He was contemplating jumping across the gorge. The other Cockapoos looked worried. Sam felt they had no choice because the weather was getting so poor, and to go around the gorge would add two days to their journey. But he knew it wasn't called Dead Dog's Gorge for nothing-only larger breeds were consistently able to leap across it. For Sam and the other Cockapoos, jumping it
would be an unparalleled achievement.

Abby thought to herself, "Don't do it. It would be a crying shame to see such a fine looking animal take a dive into that gorge." But just as she was saying that, Sam backed up, trotted about 20 yards away from the edge, turned, faced it, and then burst into a full lightning-fast sprint, becoming airborne in a flash, sailing dramatically in an arc, and landing front-paws-first on the other side with a solid whumpfgh!! The other cockapoos burst into thunderous cheers that echoed eerily as if the forest itself was an Olympic stadium. Then Abby looked toward Sam again and noticed that he was favoring both front legs. "Oh, no," she said. "He's hurt."

The other cockapoos looked shocked and afraid. Sam stood tall, faced his herd across the gorge, and said in his most commanding bark, "You will have to go on without me. The survival of the herd is of the utmost importance. It has always been this way, and always will be." The others began to weep, some shouted protests. Sam was unwavering. Then Abby emerged from the forest and stepped softly but confidently into their midst, saying, "I jump this gorge every Autumn, sometimes with fresh kill in my mouth. First, I will take each of you across the gorge. Then I will nurse Sam back to health. A nobler male I have yet to see in my two years." The silence was stunning as every head whipped around and faced Sam, who with the most regal countenance, thought for a moment, then said humbly, "Make it so."

As Sam stood by, watching Abby carry each member of his herd across the gorge, tears welled up in his eyes. He held his head high as, one by one, Abby sailed gracefully through the air, her muscles glistening in the low, late afternoon sun, landing confidently on the other side with a grunt and a "thud." His head was in a whirl of ambivalence. It was crucial that he allow himself the luxury of his tears, his regret, as well as his relief and hopes for the safety of his herd. In the same instant, he found himself entranced by the vision of this powerful, graceful female of a different breed. Her physical beauty was surpassed only by her unbelievable
athletic prowess and generous heart. "A more compassionate female I have yet to see in my two years," Sam said to himself.

Sam and the others said their "goodbyes." On the journey to Labrador, a new alpha male would emerge from the herd. Sam knew that would take care of itself. And then the haunting words of his father suddenly entered his consciousness. His father had told him that the only way to enter into the full depth of adulthood was to experience a nearly heartbreaking disappointment, deal with it graciously, and move on. He had said that every Cockapoo was capable of entering this level of existence, but that it was a choice to do so. He had said that every creature on earth is presented with at least one major disappointment in life, and that the choice was therefore not in whether one can avoid disappointment or not, but in how one
chooses to handle it when it arrives. Sam knew what his father had meant, and he was deeply grateful for his father's counsel. "Abby," Sam began, with a calmness he didn't know existed inside of him, "I am quite accustomed to being a leader, solving problems quickly, knowing how to assure others, knowing just what to do. I must admit, I am stunned."

"Sam, I saw something distinguished in you the second I spotted you. My heart actually fluttered for a moment," Abby started. She would have blushed, were Labrador Retrievers wont to blush. "And from what I have witnessed of you and your herd, the choices you made are consistent with what I thought I was first seeing."

"I was in agony, myself, as I watched the drama unfold. I see no other way it could have worked out, either. All of you were likely to be doomed had you not been able to get across that gorge."

"Yes. Despite the current length of our winter manes, Cockapoo fur does not have the insulating properties of Labrador fur. Had you not come along, we all very well could have perished."

"My coming along at just the 'right' time is one of those unexplainable and uncontrollable mysteries of creation. Coincidence. Fate. Luck. Grand Design. It's hard to say for certain. Nonetheless, each of us must choose how to respond to these twists of fate. You could have stubbornly rejected my offer of help, getting caught in your own ego, and ultimately proving that you were not the leader that your herd thought you were."

"As only one of your depth and wisdom would. Of course, you could have chosen to go with the herd after I carried all of them across the gorge."

"I thought of that, yes. But their loyalty to me would have slowed them down, again endangering all of them."

"Thank you for your kind compliments, Miss Abby. They soothe the sting of this nearly unbearable loss." (He couldn't believe he had just referred to her as Miss Abby. It was way too familiar. At least, among Cockapoos.) And then Sam said, with a flutter in his heart equal to hers, "I am in awe of your power and gentility, of your agility and strength. Of your compassion. And of how stunning, how beautiful you are." (Again, words flowed from his lips that he could scarcely believe).

As happens to all of us now and then, whether we want it to or not, their lives began to turn in a new and unexpected direction, and not without harrowing new challenges. They were somewhere in the Far North Wilderness. Sam's front legs were injured. Abby had a heartbreaking decision of her own to make. She knew that the chances of Sam's survival would lessen with each day that they spent in the wilderness, whereas if she were to carry him into civilization, she would be clever enough to get him the medical attention he so desperately needed. But she also knew that two dogs as exceptional as them would most likely become domesticated. She had heard of this human practice, and although it would always be possible to return to the wilderness, she also knew that the draw of canine loyalty was difficult once it came into play. If they were befriended by someone cruel, it would be easy to leave. But if they were befriended by a kind person, it would be very difficult.

She gently picked up Sam in her mouth, being careful not to hurt him with her powerful jaws, but making sure that she had a strong enough hold so she wouldn't drop him. Maintaining the balance between these two took more energy and concentration than she had ever mustered. It was getting colder, and Sam was getting weaker. After three days of what amounted to a forced march, Sam finally asked Abby, "Where are we going?"

Sam knew. He understood exactly what Abby was doing, and what a sacrifice it was for her. He knew she didn't need to feel guilty on top of it all, so he said, "We'll get through this. I can feel it in my bones." Abby felt warmer and stronger than ever, as they curled up together for the night in another animal's abandoned lair. They were two hours from civilization, and their new lives together. As they dozed on and off the rest of the night, they both knew that their chance encounter in the woods would turn out to be a transforming experience. Despite the pain, hunger, and cold, they were as grateful as two heroic dogs could ever be......

.… They awoke the next morning and Abby picked up Sam very carefully. She was losing strength and she didn’t want to make any mistakes when they were this close to their goal. A couple of hours later, they came to a clearing in the forest again, only this time, what they saw were cars. They went a little further, along the road, and then they saw buildings. As they approached one of the buildings, a woman came out and seemed to be walking toward them, so Abby quickly wheeled around and jumped behind some trees. She put down Sam, and they both peered around from the tree to see what the woman was doing. She was putting something into a container, and making a whistling noise. Suddenly a big German Shepherd bolted from behind another building, raced over to the container, and began to eat. The woman patted him lovingly on the head and he wagged his tail.

It was really as simple as that. They took a deep breath and then walked out from behind the tree and toward the woman and the other dog. Sam was limping, but he had wanted to do this last stretch on his own. The dog finished the last bite of his food, looked up from his bowl, and wagged his tail as he saw them approach. The woman looked at Abby and Sam—one limping, both tattered, cold, haggard, and hungry—and she nearly burst into tears. They could feel her warmth and compassion. They breathed more easily.

She approached them carefully in case they might be aggressive, and they wagged their tails as best they could. She knelt down and patted Abby on the head, looked at Sam, and said, "Oh, you poor thing. Let me help you." And with that, she lifted Sam up in her arms and tried to feel the bones in his front legs. Sam yelped in pain. "We need to get you to a doctor right away. Those legs need to be x-rayed," she said, solemnly. "But first I‘ll see if you two want some food and water." With that, she brought them right into her house, filled two bowls with water, and placed them on the floor. Sam and Abby took long, long drinks. Then she placed two bowls on the floor, inside of which was some kind of squishy meat, which they devoured in almost an instant.

Suddenly, they were overcome by exhaustion. Abby went over to the corner of the room where there was a rug on the floor that was drenched in morning sunlight, and she curled up in a ball and started to doze off. Sam hobbled over and curled up against her, with his head in the opposite direction, resting his head over her legs, and he dozed off, too. "Well." The woman said to the German Shepherd, who had been patiently watching this whole drama unfold from a spot next to the woman, "I guess the vet can wait. Those two must have some story to tell." The German Shepherd looked lovingly up into her eyes and wagged his tail. She smiled warmly, patted him on the head again and said, "You’re such a good boy."

Sam and Abby slept for most of the day. Around 4:00 p.m. they were alert enough for the woman to put them in her car and drive them to the vet, whose office, it turned out, was only five minutes away. There, Sam and Abby were both given a clean bill of health on their internal organs, with the vet saying he hadn’t heard hearts and lungs that strong in his entire career. Sam’s front legs were broken. The vet said they might heal okay without surgery, but because Cockapoos were so accustomed to springing into the air to climb and jump, he put Sam under, pinned the bones back together, wrapped the legs firmly, and was soon amazed to see Sam come out from the anesthesia long before expected, and wagging his tail no less. "There is something exceptional about these two dogs," he said, shaking his head in amazement. "There is something very deep and grounded about them. Something spiritual."

The woman agreed. And she knew just what she was going to do with them, too. She knew of two people down in Minnesota who would be the perfect ones to care for these two. She brought Sam and Abby back to her house, where they curled up together, in that same way, and slept. She placed a call to the United States. A few days later, a car pulled into her yard and a man and a woman emerged. Sam and Abby ran up to greet them, wagging their tails. Sam darted away and as male Cockapoos are accustomed to do, returned with one of his newly acquired toys in his mouth to show his guests. They looked at Sam and Abby, then at each other, then to the woman, and said, "These two dogs are astonishing."

It was as simple as that. And so they loaded Sam and Abby into their car and began the leisurely drive down to Minnesota. When they arrived, they brought Sam & Abby into their home and let them explore their new surroundings. The two dogs stood at attention when they went out onto the deck overlooking the back yard and forest beyond. The smell of the oak trees and all of the animals living in the forest monopolized their senses. A small herd of deer was munching away on some leaves. Geese were honking overhead as they were preparing to fly south for the winter. Squirrels cavorted in the trees to the left, to the right, and in front of them. There were squirrels everywhere. They could hear dogs barking everywhere, too. Sam whispered to Abby, "There are worse places on earth." Abby nodded peacefully.

They went back into the house and searched for the man, who turned out to be at his desk, typing on a laptop computer. Sam and Abby trotted quietly into the office and sat next to the man, who turned around for a few moments and petted both of them on the head very affectionately, before finishing up his work. Abby looked at Sam and Sam looked at Abby, then they both looked at the computer screen again. Sam began, "What does that say on the screen? Something about Pet Supplies?"

"Yes, Sam. It’s some sort of place to order food and supplies for animals. Here, if I stick my head up close to the screen…wait…there, I can rest my head on his arm and see perfectly."

The man looked down at the big Yellow Labrador Retriever head resting on his arm, felt the warmth of Abby’s affection, and patted her on the head again, saying, "You’re such a good girl, Abby." Abby could now read the screen perfectly. So she just watched as the man typed away at the keyboard, entering commands that caused different pictures and words to appear on the screen. It went from Pet Supplies to political candidates to the late-breaking news, and then with a click of a button, the screen went blank and the man got up and walked out into the living room.

Abby came back, "I know. But there’s always a way. Remember your dilemma back at Dead Dog’s Gorge. There’s always a way if you’re willing to be flexible enough."

Suddenly Sam looked almost enchanted. "‘Flexible enough.’ That’s the key! We need something that’s flexible enough but also strong enough so that we can attach it to our paws somehow and then manipulate those keys on that keyboard!"

"Thank you, Miss Abby. But your unconscious mind was working overtime on this one. The key was that phrase, ‘flexible enough.’"

Sam replied, "Oh, not all the time, I suppose. But I think it works that way enough of the time that it’s worth suggesting it as a hypothesis in a case like this."

"Well, Sam, you continue to be quite the gracious young alpha Cockapoo. Giving me some of the credit for that brainstorm was very generous." Sam wagged his tail briefly, licked Miss Abby on the face, and then they found their way into the garage, where there resided all manner of tools, wires, copper tubing, canvas, old gloves, and glue, among other things. No one knows exactly how they did it, but when they emerged several hours later, each of them carried an odd-looking pair of gloves. They were later to be mass-produced for all the dogs in Minnesota, where the literacy rate is perhaps the second highest in the world, next to Ireland. Yes. As you might have already guessed. They were Canine Computer Keyboard Gloves.

"I’m on! Hurry up! Get in here quick!" Sam had booted up the laptop computer and was already connected to the internet."

"Sam. I saw him click on that symbol there…yes…the one with the Black Labrador with his paw up. What is that?" Abby asked.

"Lycos. Let’s see what happens." Sam clicked the symbol and up popped a screen with a blank box, in which he typed the word "Labrador," and then he pressed "Enter." Up popped a long list of web site URL’s related to Labrador, including Labrador Retrievers and the region of Labrador in Canada. Sam said, "Abby, I think we’ve found what we’re supposed to do in our next life, here in Minnesota."

Abby queried, "What, Sam? Play on the internet all day long?" She wagged the tip of her tail coyly, and then looked out the window with a disinterested gaze, intending to catch Sam off guard.

Sam almost barked, "Abby! You don’t care about my idea? Abby! What’s wrong with you this afternoon?!" He was really rather perturbed at her sudden loss of interest.

Abby wagged the tip of her tail again, then jumped up on all fours and twirled around to face Sam, who was up in the chair, paws on the computer keyboard. "Sam! I think I’m following you. And it’s a great idea!" Now Sam was taken aback. How did she know exactly what he meant? Maybe she didn’t. Abby spoke again. "You’re thinking we should get our own web site and then write about our lives back in the Far North, before we became domesticated, and then integrate the wisdom we acquired there with the new-found wisdom we acquire here, in civilization. Is that what you were thinking, Sam?"

Sam was dumbfounded, but thrilled. "Yes, Abby! That’s exactly what I was thinking! Not only are you strong, graceful, compassionate, and beautiful, but with a piercing, unmatched intuition." Abby would have blushed again, were Labradors wont to blush. I think we should give this some serious thought."

"As do I, Sam. I think we could actually become authors if we worked as diligently at it as we have pursued everything else in life." Sam wagged his tail, licked her on the cheek again, they curled up together in the late afternoon sun, and began to snooze.

When Abby awoke, she noticed that Sam was already awake and had carefully taken some tissues out of the waste basket in the office and had begun to shred them with his teeth, pushing them gently into a corner beneath the desk. "Sam!" she barked. "What are you doing?"

Sam replied very nonchalantly, "I am building a Cockapoo nest. What does it look like I’m doing?"

"It’s what my breed sleeps in when we’re in the wilderness," Sam explained. "Because we can’t get outside where I could use leaves and moss, I discovered that these tissues make perfect nesting materials. What do you think?"

"But…" Sam sputtered, "…it’s instinctive. Like them caring for their young. I’m not sure I can help myself."

"You may not be able to. Can you limit it, though? You’re so handsome. They may let you get away with it now and then if you don’t get out of hand with it."

"We were discussing our potential new life’s work here," Abby said. Sam turned to look at her. "Sam, isn’t it wonderful how the patterns in life are so fascinating. How closing one door often allows others to open. And the trick to it all is that before the others can even begin to open, you have to risk closing the door, not knowing if others will ever open or not. It’s like jumping off a cliff in the pitch black of night and not knowing whether it’s a three-foot drop or a three-thousand-foot drop, until you do it. Think of it."

Sam added, "I am thinking. I’m thinking of what would have happened if…well…you know…if we hadn’t met."

"We wouldn’t have gotten to where we are right now had we not made all the choices along the way that we eventually made," Abby observed.

"You do realize, Abby, that our faith is what got us through this. We could have given up anytime, but we didn’t. We could have blown it right at the end. When we saw civilization for the first time, we could have let our fear dictate our actions, instead of our wisdom and faith. We could have high-tailed it out of there and back into the wilderness…"

"That’s true. You might have. And you might have spent the rest of your life getting more and more feeble and crippled by the day. Arthritis would have set in. It could have been pitiful."

THE ONGOING ADVENTURES OF MINNESOTA SAM & ABBY