A Letter from the Editor

Beat the Heat. Chill out this summer with these cool suggestions.

Sweatology. Sweat is our personal air conditioning system.

Feeling the Burn in Death Valley. America's hot spot: The reason many come is the reason many don't.

The Camel Library. In a hot, remote region of Africa, Somalis will walk a mile for a camel--especially when the beast is delivering a cartonful of books.

Between the Grains. A plaything for people, sand hides a microscopic world of creatures.

Vacation. A poem.

Pillow Talk. Hotels go to the mattresses, offering some of the comforts of home.

The Wine Doctor (a story). A practitioner of alternative medicine visits an M.D.

Readers Forum

Special Notices

Recent Deaths

Pen Pals

Bits and Pieces

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A Letter from the Editor
New York City
June 12, 2008
Dear Readers:
Summer officially arrives in a week or so, but if you ask me, it's already here. We just lived through a four-day heat wave-- if we were lucky, that is. Some unfortunate people lost their lives to hyperthermia caused by the oppressive 90- to 100-degree temperatures.

What is hyperthermia? According to Medicinenet.com, hyperthermia is overheating of the body. The word is made up of "hyper" (high) + "thermia" from the Greek word "thermes" (heat). Hyperthermia is literally high heat. There are a variety of heat-related illnesses, including heat stroke and heat exhaustion. People suffer heat-related illness when the body's temperature-control system is overloaded. The body normally cools itself by sweating. But under some conditions, sweating just isn't enough. In such cases, a person's body temperature rises rapidly. Very high body temperatures can damage the brain or other vital organs. Several factors affect the body's ability to cool itself during extremely hot weather. When the humidity is high, sweat will not evaporate as fast, preventing the body from releasing heat quickly. Other conditions that can limit the ability to regulate temperature include old age, obesity, fever, dehydration, heart disease, poor circulation, sunburn, and drug and alcohol use. Those at greatest risk of heat-related illness include people 65 years of age or older, those who are overweight, and people who are ill or on certain medications.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), heat is the number one weather-related killer. The agency's Web site states that, on average, more than 1,500 people in the United States die each year from excessive heat. This number, NOAA says, is greater than the 30-year mean annual number of deaths due to tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and lightning combined.

NOAA offers the following eight heat wave safety tips:

1. Slow down. Strenuous activities should be reduced, eliminated or rescheduled to the coolest time of the day. Individuals at risk should stay in the coolest available place, not necessarily indoors.

2. Dress for summer. Lightweight light-colored clothing reflects heat and sunlight, and helps your body maintain normal temperatures.

3. Put less fuel on your inner fires. Foods (like proteins) that increase metabolic heat production also increase water loss.

4. Drink plenty of water or other non-alcohol fluids. Your body needs water to keep cool. Drink plenty of fluids even if you don't feel thirsty. People who have epilepsy or heart, kidney or liver disease, are on fluid- restrictive diets, or who have a problem with fluid retention should consult a physician before increasing their consumption of fluids.

5. Do not drink alcoholic beverages.

6. Do not take salt tablets unless specified by a physician.

7. Spend more time in air-conditioned places. Air conditioning in homes and other buildings markedly reduces danger from the heat. If you cannot afford an air conditioner, spending some time each day (during hot weather) in an air-conditioned environment affords some protection.

8. Don't get too much sun. Sunburn makes the job of heat dissipation that much more difficult.

I hope and pray that no reader of the Ziegler ever falls victim to high temperatures. But, since you're getting this letter in August, you might be sweating through yet another heat wave at this very moment. In that case, please read our lead article, "Beat the Heat," which suggests 23 simple ways to cool your body and your home. One interesting tip comes from a park ranger in Death Valley, CA, which averages 113 degrees F in August.

We actually have an entire article about Death Valley in this steamy issue of the Ziegler. Once you finish reading about that hellish place, which is the lowest, driest and hottest spot in North America, your town might not seem quite so warm.
Yours truly,
Gregory Evanina
Editor

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Beat the Heat (By Adam Bluestein. From Real Simple, © July 2007)

Baby, it's hot outside--and inside, too. Here are 23 no-sweat ways to cool yourself and that oven called home.

Sure, cranking up the A/C to full blast is one way to fight a heat wave--provided you don't get steamed when you see the bill. Luckily there are other simple things you can do to keep cool in summer: some scientific, some inventive, and some downright surprising. You may already know about the wonders of the old-fashioned ceiling fan, but have you heard the one about the rice-filled sock? Or the home-made air conditioner that uses ice cubes? Pour yourself a tall glass of cold water, climb into a hammock, and cool off with these summer-heat solutions.

1. Try a desert trick. When the air outside is dry and cooler than the air inside, hang a damp sheet in an open window. "That's what we do here in Death Valley," says Dale Housley, a ranger at Death Valley National Park. Incoming breezes are cooled by the evaporating water.

2. Block the sun. Closing curtains and blinds (ideally with sun-deflecting white on the window side) can reduce the amount of heat that passes into your home by as much as 45 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

3. Make a makeshift air conditioner. If it's hot but not humid, place a shallow bowl of ice in front of a fan and enjoy the breeze. As the ice melts, then evaporates, it will cool you off.

4. Give your A/C some TLC. Clean or replace the filter in room and central air conditioners about once a month during the summer. If you have central air conditioning, have the ducts checked for leaks, which can reduce a system's efficiency by as much as 15 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Seal any cracks between a window unit and the frame with peelable caulking or a sealant strip. These steps help ensure good airflow and keep the coils cleaner, which means more efficient and more effective cooling.

5. Close the damper. While running any kind of air conditioner, shut your fireplace damper. An open one "pulls hot air into your house instead of sucking it out," says Tommy Spoto, a master chimney sweep at Chimney Chap, in Copiague, NY. "This is called flow reversal."

6. Close everything else, too. Whether the air conditioner is on or off, keep windows and doors shut if the temperature outside is more than 77 degrees Fahrenheit (most people start to sweat at 78). Whenever the outside air is hotter than the inside air, opening a window invites heat to creep in.

7. Fan strategically. If the day's heat is trapped inside your home, try a little ventilation at night or when the temperature drops below 77. A window fan can help; the trick is to face the blades outside to suck warm air out of the house and pull cooler air in. "Kind of surprising," says Bill Nye, the Science Guy, a scientist, engineer, comedian, author and inventor. "Having a fan blowing in is a good idea--but it's not as effective as one that's blowing out."

8. Spritz yourself. Keep a spray bottle in the refrigerator, and when the going gets hot, give yourself a good squirt. "It's all about thermal regulation," says John Lehnhardt, an elephant expert at Disney's Animal Kingdom, in Lake Buena Vista, FL. "As the water evaporates, it cools you." While elephants wet their ears first by blasting water from their trunks, humans should begin with their wrists to quickly cool down the blood flowing through their veins.

9. Run a fan and an air conditioner simultaneously. You can use the air conditioner at lower power and still feel cool if the fan is blowing over you. That's because the air conditioner removes humidity from the air while the fan helps evaporate sweat and moves heat away from your body. (Note: Fans don't cool a room; they just make people feel cooler, so shut them off before you leave.)

10. Turn on the vent in the bathroom. When taking showers, be sure to use the vent fan: It helps sticky moisture escape.

11. Let your computer take a nap. Set it to go into low-power "sleep" mode if you are away from it for more than 10 minutes and it will give off less heat. When you're finished for the day, shut the machine down completely. Despite what some IT guy may have told you years ago, properly shutting down and restarting modern-day computers won't put undue strain on the hardware. And forget about working with a computer on your lap-- it's too darn hot. "That's why they changed the name from laptop to notebook," says Justin Solomon, a 19-year-old undergraduate at Stanford University who took first place in computer science at the 2005 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

12. Wick while you work. To keep yourself cooler when computing, plug a Kensington FlyFan ($12, www.amazon.com) into a USB port on your machine. The fan's flexible neck lets you direct the breeze to your sweaty brow.

13. Skip the drying cycle on the dishwasher. Instead, leave the door open to let the dishes dry. And put off using the dishwasher until evening, when the air is cooler. Or simply wash your dishes the old-fashioned way: by hand.

14. Dress right. Wear one of the widely available synthetic fabrics designed to wick away sweat and that sticky feeling (examples include Coolmax and Nano-Tex); they're not just for athletes anymore. If you prefer cotton, make it thin, light colored, and, most of all, loose. "The best thing is to have sweat evaporate directly from skin to air," says Larry Kenney, a professor of physiology and kinesiology at Pennsylvania State University, in University Park. "The next best thing is for the sweat to move quickly from your skin to clothing and then evaporate. Loose, billowy clothes allow air movement next to the skin and help with evaporation."

15. Shuck your shoes. As the sweat on your feet evaporates, it cools the skin and the blood in your feet. Blood vessels then whisk that blood to other parts of the body, so "you're getting a greater sensation of coolness," says Donald R. Bohay, M.D., a member of the American Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Society.

16. Spice it up. As people who live in scorching climates, such as those of Mexico and India, know well, eating hot stuff can cool you down. "Chili peppers contain capsaicin, a chemical compound that helps us to perspire more readily," says Rick Bayless, the James Beard Award-winning chef of Frontera Grill, in Chicago. When this sweat evaporates, you experience brief relief.

17. Swig often. To replace the moisture that you lose as you perspire, be sure to drink. As you lose water to dehydration, your body temperature rises, so replacing fluids is essential to keeping cool. Avoid beverages that contain alcohol, caffeine or lots of sugar, which are dehydrating. "Also opt for hydrating foods," says Deena Kastor, a marathon runner and an Olympic bronze medalist. "Try a smoothie for lunch, and add more fruits and vegetables to all your meals. Watermelon has the greatest water content of any food out there."

18. Eat light. There's a reason we reach for salads in the summer. They're easier to digest than, say, a fatty hamburger, which leaves you feeling sluggish in the high heat. Instead, go for fruits and vegetables, which are watery and help keep you hydrated (and cooler), says Robert Kenefick, a physiologist at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, in Natick, MA, where researchers study the effects of extreme climates on soldiers' bodies.

19. Give your oven a summer vacation. If you cook, use the stovetop, the microwave, or a barbecue. "Grill some extra vegetables when you're making dinner," says Deborah Madison, author of Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison's Kitchen (Broadway, $20). "The next day, mix them with a little Feta cheese and olive oil for a great, cool snack."

20. Shut the lights. Or change the bulbs: Long-lasting compact fluorescent bulbs produce about 70 percent less heat than standard incandescents.

21. Give the clothes dryer a break, too. Hang a clothesline and let your towels and sheets flap in the breeze. "They smell wonderful," says Paul Hooker, whose company, Sferra, sells sheets made in Italy, where, he adds, almost everyone hangs them out to dry.

22. Make a "cold compress." Fill a cotton sock with rice, tie the sock with twine, and freeze it for two hours before bed-time. Then slide it between the sheets. Rice retains cold for a long period because it's dense and starchy, says Jim Hill, Ph.D., an associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California at Davis.

23. Escape. Relax with A Winter's Tale, The Call of the Wild, Doctor Zhivago, or Smilla's Sense of Snow. "Reading about cold can take your mind off the thermometer, evoking one's own experience of ice and snow," says Walter Brown, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the medical schools of Brown and Tufts universities and an expert in the placebo effect. "It's also a bit of self-hypnosis. Sometimes when I shower and the water is cold, I tell myself it's hot and I can make myself believe it." You can save that last insight for another season entirely.

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Sweatology (By Abigail Zuger. From The New York Times, © Aug. 14, 2007)

Like the finish line of a long road race, the Times Square subway platform one recent hot afternoon was a study in wet humanity, from drenched (a large woman in shorts and a skimpy, sweat-splotched top, flushed and vigorously fanning herself), to barely bedewed (an elderly man in a suit and tie calmly reading his paper).

Who would believe that every sufferer had the same model of personal air-conditioner operating at full blast?

Sweat is our interior coolant, part of a uniquely human biologic machine. The machine drips and occasionally stalls: long waits on torpid platforms can inspire glum reflections on how it will hold up as the planet heats up. But experts counsel optimism: the system is sturdy, adjustable and even reproducible by engineers working to make our future sweaty selves more comfortable.

Humans operate in a tiny range of preferred internal temperatures. We can tolerate overcooling, routinely recovering from long periods of hypothermia with body temperatures diving 20 or more degrees below normal.

But we have little tolerance for even brief overheating: the brain malfunctions with six or seven degrees of fever, and an internal temperature of 110, barely a dozen degrees above normal, is often cited as the upper limit compatible with life. So a good internal air-conditioner is essential, both to dissipate the heat generated by the body's metabolism and to relieve the heat absorbed from miserable summer weather.

"It is plain old unglamorous sweat that has made humans what they are today," writes the evolutionary anthropologist Nina G. Jablonski in her recent book Skin. "Without plentiful sweat glands keeping us cool with copious sweat, we would still be clad in the thick hair of our ancestors, living largely apelike lives."

Fur inhibits sweat-induced cooling, and furry animals generally have other ways to lose heat. In humans, Dr. Jablonski argues, sweat glands evolved as body hair vanished, allowing optimal cooling of the enlarging hominid brain and an active lifestyle even in the blazing sun.

For sedentary pursuits in temperate weather, people have no need to sweat: excess metabolic heat easily moves from blood vessels at the surface of the skin into the surrounding air. Because the skin is not completely waterproof, some evaporation of water from skin cells adds a little extra cooling.

But when the body's owner decides to exercise, the muscles generate too much heat for the air to absorb. The same thing happens when the temperature climbs into the 90s: the skin stops losing heat to the air and absorbs it instead. Then temperature-sensing nerves in the skin and the body's interior tell the brain to unleash a flow of sweat for heavy-duty evaporation and cooling.

Humidity reduces evaporation and makes everyone sweatier. A breeze enhances evaporation and makes skin cooler (unless the air is so hot the body absorbs its heat instead). Dehydration markedly reduces sweat production. So does sunburn.

But individual sweat patterns still vary enormously. Age, sex, genes, weight and shape play a role, said Craig Crandall, a thermoregulation expert at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Presbyterian Hospital, both in Dallas. So does nonexercise activity, and so, according to a pivotal set of sweat studies done during World War II, does clothing, although not in the way one might predict.

Some people have fewer than two million sweat glands; some have as many as four million. Heavy sweaters may have glands five times average size; their big glands are more sensitive to nerve stimuli and make more sweat.

Everyone's inner temperature cycles around a slightly different genetically determined version of 98.6 set by the hypothalamus, the brain region that serves as thermostat. We run a little cooler in the morning, a little warmer in the late afternoon. Women run about half a degree higher after ovulation. With menopause the female thermostat becomes notoriously trigger-happy, imagining excess heat where none exists and generating unnecessary sweat.

Men may be more thermally stable, but not for long: beginning about age 60 both sexes sweat less, even if they are in good physical condition, and even if they become seriously overheated. Thus the statistics that during heat waves the elderly are at highest risk of heat stroke.

As for obesity, it is complicated, Dr. Crandall said. Fat may insulate the interior from very hot external temperatures, but it also may compromise heat transfer from interior to skin. Carrying more weight generates more metabolic heat to get rid of. That means more sweat, but research suggests that large people cannot grow more sweat glands to cope with the extra heat load. Radiation of heat from skin to air may become especially important in their heat control.

Overall, though, these factors make small difference in sweat rate. The bigger differences come from activities that may fall short of exercise. Even brief spurts of walking or leg jiggling generate metabolic heat that turns into sweat, as do anger and frustration. The sweatiest person on the subway platform is probably the one who just ran for a train and missed it, Dr. Crandall said.

And as for clothing: less is not always better. In studies during World War II, researchers sat volunteers on wooden boxes in the California desert, some wearing standard olive drab military fatigues, some in light tan summer uniforms, and some "near naked." The unclothed "soldiers" sweated about 30 percent more than the others--an indication of how much heat their unprotected skin was absorbing from the environment.

And so the average urban warrior might be forewarned that near-nudity on hot subway platforms may be counterproductive, as may be vigorous fanning, pacing and gesticulating if the train is late.

What will happen as the planet heats and more is asked of our sweat glands? No problem, experts say: the system can easily rev up into a high, efficient gear.

The process is called heat acclimation and is routinely seen in athletes training in hot weather. At first their internal temperatures climb, they sweat profusely, lose large quantities of salt in their sweat and feel miserable. But as the days pass they sweat even more, their salt loss diminishes, both skin and internal temperatures drop, and their endurance improves.

At least in part, heat acclimation reflects bigger, juicier sweat glands: in monkeys exposed to continuous heat and humidity, individual sweat glands more than doubled in volume after only two months.

And it took only a week or so for the research subjects in the California desert to develop high sweat rates, low pulse rates and low rectal temperatures. They could work more comfortably, with greatly improved well-being.

In the words of the scientists, they had become "desert worthy."

All in all, Dr. Crandall pointed out, global warming is likely to be far less thermally dramatic for the individual person than a relocation from Canada to Florida, with its accompaniment of larger, more efficient sweat glands and slightly moister skin.

If the world does become a sweatier place, some engineers are primed to cope. In 2005, a team at the United States Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado completed work on a mannequin, christened Adam, who sweats like a human being and can complain like one, too.

Adam's slim carbon frame is covered with 120 separate temperature-sensing and sweating zones; water seeps from an interior two-quart reservoir out through his porous skin. He is wirelessly connected to a computer whose software forms his hypothalamus. Other software based on human reactions to a range of temperatures provides estimates of his comfort in various situations.

Adam was devised to help reduce automobile fuel consumption by evaluating ways to limit air-conditioner use. Fully dressed in a car parked in the hot sun, he gets as wet on his back and rear end as any human driver, and just as irritable. Programmers can also rev up his metabolic rate to provide a good, sweaty simulation of road rage, said one of his creators, John Rugh, a senior mechanical engineer.

Adam has helped evaluate clothes for astronauts to wear underneath their spacesuits, and devices to warm injured soldiers. Currently unemployed, he is looking for other work mimicking the human experience in temperature extremes, Mr. Rugh said.

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Feeling the Burn in Death Valley (By Todd Richissin. From The Christian Science Monitor, © Aug. 1, 2007)

D. J. Haynes knows a hot that not many people in the world will ever know. His is a slap-in-the-face hot, an up-the-shorts hot, a down-the-shirt hot--a hot that burns sweat so quickly people don't know it's pouring out of them. It's a deadly hot.

It also may be the only hot in the world so brutal it has become a tourist attraction, a place people visit for how it feels as much as how it looks.

For nine scorching years, Mr. Haynes has lived and worked with this heat in California's Death Valley National Park, one of the hottest places on earth many days of the year, and the absolute hottest place in the world on others.

Death Valley is hotter, drier and lower than anywhere in North America. On July 10, 1913, the temperature here hit 134 degrees F, making it the hottest day recorded anywhere, ever. Since then, only the Sahara Desert has been hotter, by two degrees, in 1922, according to most records. Even the average low temperature here in July and August is nearly 90.

Home and office for Haynes, a souvenir and grocery store manager, are on opposite sides of California's Highway 190, near the main entrance and exit of the park. The air on his commute to work and home these days regularly soars to more than 120 degrees--the average for August is 113, a reprieve from July's 115 average.

To Haynes, and to many visitors, though, this place is about more than heat.

"I've been here long enough to know what this place really is," says Haynes. "It's not a valley of death. It's a valley of life. It's a living lady you fear at first because you know she can kill you.... And then you see all the life here and you appreciate it more and respect it more."

Or, as Death Valley ranger Terry Baldino puts it: "The heat attracts some people here, but when they get here, that's not why they go, 'Wow!'"

Visitors discover that the 140-mile long valley is many different places, not all of which they anticipated. Death Valley, in fact, is neither strictly a valley nor a place of absolute death. It is a quilt of extremes. Strands of scorched blacks weave with slabs of glittering whites. Disorderly splotches of dead green shrubs contrast with sand dunes, randomly placed but immaculately combed. Whole areas of monochrome are bordered by mountains in various hues of black, purple and green.

"We could not say we decided to come for exactly this reason and this reason, but it was more than the heat," says Wendy Bastiansen, who traveled here last month from Antwerp, Belgium, with her husband for a second honeymoon, of all things. They brought 10 other family members with them. "Sometimes you just know you want to go somewhere, but there is no real reason except you have this feeling that it's a place you would like to go. Maybe you are wrong. Now I see it, and it's like I know where I am. I am in Death Valley--but I also feel like I am somewhere that's not real."

Indeed, her husband, Paul Heylen--wearing a cap with flames drawn on it--adds, "I think there is no way not to feel different and see things in a different way when you are here.... I see parts here and think they look not normal, but they feel normal here."

But they don't discount the heat as part of the intrigue. The ground here reaches 200 degrees in the summer--so hot that even feet with shoes can't stay still. The air itself gets so hot that large patches of it can become distorted with the waviness commonly seen over glowing charcoal. While it's a key reason so many people visit here, it's also why so many don't.

The Grand Canyon drew 4.2 million visitors last year. Bryce Canyon National Park, a few hours away, drew more than 1 million. This place drew less than 800,000 last year, and is projected to draw even fewer this year. If not for foreign visitors, Death Valley's attendance would be even more dead: About 70 percent of summer visitors come from outside the United States. Most come from western Europe. But why not go to the Greek Islands? Hot, but at least there are beaches. Prague? Gorgeous, and a lot closer to home. And if the object is to see what the United States is like, is Death Valley a place to draw conclusions? The Rocky Mountains come with a valley or two and water and shade. And they're cooler. Anywhere is. So, why fly over an ocean and drive up and down mountains to get here?

"It's breathtaking and beautiful, but I know some people say it's just weird or ugly, like a wasteland," says Carolina Bautista, a Spaniard in long sleeves and kerchief. "I think those are people who have never been here but think they know what it is. I'm here, and I think that even when I say it's beautiful, I can see how it's ugly in a way. It's so different in different parts, but that's part of the beauty to me."

She has parked in the center of the valley between Highway 190 and a drop of 1,000 feet that extends forever, as far as the eye can tell, overlooking undulating humps of earth that appear like a million hunched-back men, tightly packed right up to a range of small mountains in purples, blacks and greens. Drive farther, though, and Death Valley becomes tall daggers jutting from the ground. At first sight, from both of these places, the valley indeed looks dead.

But look at some of the 1,000 species of plants hanging on, or a lizard on the valley floor, or a rare glimpse of a coyote in the brambles, and maybe this place looks like hope. "To me it simply looks breathtaking," says, Carsten Johansen, a vicar from Copenhagen, standing before Badwater Basin, the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere. "I see all the stages of life here, and death, yes. But isn't that one of life's stages?"

The vicar overlooks mounds of gleaming salt, some 10 feet deep, stretching miles outward, remnants of a long-gone river, now dead but very much part of the living landscape of Death Valley. This is where temperatures tend to get hottest in the park, where breezes cut rather than soothe, where the air feels like needles.

It is remarkable the amount of life, sizeable life, even, that lives with the sear of nature here: coyotes, ravens, roadrunners, ground squirrels, lizards, and even big horn sheep. The only life in Death Valley that may be more remarkable is back where Haynes lives.

"This is where I learned about life, in this so-called valley of death," says Haynes, who arrived here nine years ago a refugee from drugs, alcohol and gambling. He'd hopped on a bus that brought him here from a street corner in Las Vegas, where those wanting work were informed to wait for a ride. He's worked his way up from making hotel beds to being head of retail in the park store here.

And while each year he gets it in his head to leave, Haynes says that looking at the canopy of stars above keeps him here: it reminds him of the beauty when the temperature is a few degrees less hot. The beauty of the valley is in its message, he says: "Appreciate life because it's tender, and be inspired by it because it's so tough."

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The Camel Library (By Masha Hamilton. From Oprah, © December 2007)

The camels halt under an acacia tree, grunting, weary from a two-hour trip through the African bush. "Toh! Toh!" the herders cry, whipping the beasts' knees to force them to kneel so their cargo can be unloaded. Then the traveling librarians open a wooden box, revealing its cache: books of fairy tales, novels, atlases, biographies and more in English and Swahili (the official languages in Kenya). Barefoot children appear as if out of nowhere, sinewy and dusty, leaning against one another as they watch the librarians unroll grass mats and spread out the books. They wait for the moment when they can sit on the ground and hold the books in their own hands.

Garissa, along the murky Tana River not far from the border with Somalia, is home to the world's only camel-borne library, which travels deep into the bush to bring books to a seminomadic people known as pastoralists who have spent generations roaming in search of water for themselves and their camels, cows and goats. Though they live in Kenya, most are ethnic Somalis; borders on maps are of little meaning here. Homes are built of grass, paper and pencil are rare, and illiteracy has hovered above 85 percent in this isolated region, where many have a strong attachment to the nomadic lifestyle and are wary of modern ways.

When the camel library began operating in October 1996, "checking out a library book was not a clear concept," Garissa's head librarian, Rashid Farah, explained as we walked through the bush behind the lumbering camels. Farah chose camels to introduce his service in part because much of the bush is otherwise impassable, and in part because he wanted to find a way to make the foreign familiar. These ships of the desert are as trusted as one's own grandmother here. Still, adapting to the bimonthly appearance of the camel library took time. "Parents would say to me, I didn't ask you to give my child this book. Why should I have to return it?"

But Farah persisted. Since he began, more teachers have arrived in the region, and now 12 camels accompanied by librarians trudge through the bush to four settlements every day, four days a week, despite temperatures that linger around 100 degrees in an arid, undeveloped landscape. It may seem an outsize effort to try to spread a love of literature, but a single trip proves it's worth it. Those who live with chronic poverty in a world almost inconceivably different from our own turn the pages of books with something nearing devotion. Many view these librarians as heroes in their commitment to education and reading.

My visit to the region came in 2006, during a third year of drought and famine. I gave away maize and cooking oil wherever we stopped. Grown-ups gathered for the food, the women sometimes squatting under a tree and motioning for me to join them. Giggling children, too, were briefly interested in the appearance of a blonde foreigner, but soon they forgot me and became consumed by the books, often reading to themselves in slow, hushed voices. Eighteen-year-old Ismael told me he has been checking out books from the camel library for three years, and he credits it with helping him improve the English he needs for exams he hopes will allow him to continue his education in a city.

To continue its work, the camel library needs more books. The bush is hard on paper, and sometimes in these seminomadic communities, readers--moving on before the library can return-- take their books with them. So with the help of two author friends, I began to ask for donations. We started by asking fellow writers whose works we love to donate to the library five of their favorite books. The response was immediate, and soon the drive expanded to include not only award-winning writers but librarians, publishers, agents, readers and bloggers in several languages--an outpouring from those who value literature. We set up a Web site to highlight donors. Contributions have ranged from Margaret Wise Brown's The Runaway Bunny to Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea to Dave Eggers's What Is the What, as well as books on astronomy and geography, and books in Swahili and Somali. Librarian Rashid Farah responded with thanks and his own e-mail address, and although he checks e-mail infrequently, a link was born, with books serving as the bridge. The camel library continues to awe and inspire by its demonstration of the lengths people will go to share a love of reading.

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Between the Grains (By David Fahrenthold. From The Washington Post, © July 10, 2008)

At Cape Henlopen, DE, Michelle Clark, 13, was laying on the beach--or, rather, in the beach, since a couple of giggling friends had buried her up to her belly--when Bill Hall walked over with an unwelcome lesson about sand.

It's not just tiny grains and salty water, he told her. It's alive.

The damp pile covering her legs was teeming with microscopic creatures, from tiny plants to wiggling worms, said Hall, a University of Delaware staff member who teaches classes about the ocean. They're all denizens of a world where licking one's dinner off a sand grain is common practice.

"So I'm laying in them right now?" asked Michelle, visiting this Atlantic Ocean beach with a Girl Scouts troop from Mount Airy, MD.

Hall said she was.

"Awesome!" Michelle said, in a tone that indicated it was not.

Of all the strange worlds that summer brings us close to, few are as strange or as close as the one beneath the bikinied bottoms of beachgoers. There, between the grains, is a microscopic ecosystem populated by sand-lickers, sticky-toed worms and four-legged "water bears." It's a world that remains largely unexplored, despite being near enough to touch.

"I always tell people: If they only knew what they had their toes stuck into," said Linda Schaffner, a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, VA, near Hampton Roads.

Of course, nobody needs a microscope to find life on a seashore in Maryland, Virginia or Delaware. Visitors might see ghost crabs and piping plovers scurrying across the sand or Assateague Island ponies chewing beach grass.

But in the sand, it's a different story--on an entirely different scale. The animals that live there are often less than a millimeter long and sometimes as small as one-twentieth of a millimeter. They make up for size with numbers: Scientists estimate that a bucket of sand might hold thousands of these tiny creatures. In a few square yards of beach, there might be millions.

This world, seen best with a microscope, plays by rules different from ours; researchers say. And the first rule is: Grab hold of something. For creatures this small, even the smallest wave breaks on the sand with tsunami force. If a wave washed them into open water, the creatures could become food for small fish, mole crabs or other predators.

"Anything that lives in the surf gets its butt kicked," said Hall, the Delaware educator.

"Unlike us, most of these small animals have enough sense to stay out of the surf."

Every creature manages to hold on in its own way. Animals called water bears, which have the puffed-up bodies and stubby limbs of a parade balloon animal, use tiny claws or suction cups. Worms called gastrotrichs have bodies covered with tiny tubes that secrete a cement. Other animals use spikes, which jam them into place, or toes that produce sticky glue.

In many cases, the animals anchor themselves using sand grains. In their world, these grains are large objects, less likely than a tiny animal to be swept out to sea. The animals live either on or between the grains. "They are boulders," said Seth Tyler, a professor at the University of Maine, one of the few scientists who study this world.

The sand is a buffet, as well as a shelter. Scientists say the grains are often covered in bacteria or tiny plants called diatoms. Enough sunlight penetrates the sand that these plants can survive even an inch under the surface.

This food is licked off by worms that crawl over the surface of a grain or is munched on by tiny shrimplike creatures with waving legs called copepods. An animal called Tetranchyroderma looks like a flying carpet with a mouth, propelling itself with a bellyful of hairs and vacuuming up bacteria in a giant maw. Some worms called polychaetes simply eat the sand whole and let their digestive systems clean it off. Out the back end, eventually, comes a trail of clean sand.

As we said, it's a different world down there.

"It really is a different kind of existence, the interstitial environment," said Douglas Miller, a professor at the University of Delaware. Scientists call these creatures "interstitial" because they live in the interstices, or empty spaces, between grains.

Life in this world is short: Most creatures live only a few weeks. That means they need to be ready for reproduction quickly, often a few days after birth. Here again, things are different in the sand. Some creatures have both male and female organs, though they don't usually fertilize themselves. "Some animals can actually switch back and forth" between being male and female again and again, said Rick Hochberg, a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. "Kind of makes some people jealous, I think."

Because these creatures are so small and hard to see, they've been studied for only 100 years or so. One expert estimated that perhaps only 25 percent of them have been identified. Even now, relatively few researchers focus on this inner life of the beach, though there are centers of scholarship, including the University of South Carolina.

For those who do, the upside of studying sand dwellers is the discoveries. Scientists in other fields spend their whole careers trying to discover a new species. In this one, you'd have to try not to.

"Literally, every time we go out, we see something new," Hockberg said. He alone has described 20 new animals or groups of animals, including the one new genus called Smithsoniarhyches that he named after the Smithsonian Institution, a previous employer. This genus includes worms with tiny hooks perched on their heads, designed to snatch prey, most likely smaller worms. We probably won't be seeing their pictures on T-shirts in Smithsonian gift shops anytime soon.

As it turns out, finding new names is a regular problem, since new species turn up so often. Tyler, at the University of Maine, said his group once named a particularly fast-moving species after NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt.

"They get named after mothers-in-law and old girlfriends," Tyler said. It's considered bad form to name one after yourself.

Because these creatures are so little understood, scientists are just beginning to explore what they can tell us about pollution or climate change. In other places around the world, sand creatures have been shown to be sensitive to contamination. But there have been few case studies in the mid-Atlantic.

Even though they have just begun to map the world of the sand dwellers, scientists are sure of one thing: We should be glad these creatures are there. They don't seem to cause any human diseases. In fact, they seem to act as the beach's unseen cleaning crew, eating the bacteria left behind by our discarded fries and uncurbed dogs.

And these creatures sit at the bottom of several important food chains: They feed baby fish and small crabs and clams, which become food for a succession of larger creatures. Some important animals eat beach life directly, like the piping plover, a threatened bird species.

"If the people appreciate the shorebirds," said Don Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, they should understand that the birds are alive because of "all these little organisms that are living between the sand grains."

On the beach, Michelle Clark and her friends did not panic after Hall's sketch of the freakish world in the sand beneath them. The friends kept right on sitting, and Michelle kept right on giggling under her pile of sand.

No fear factor?

"They're not going to eat us," said Annie Chamoun, 14, with all the stoicism of summer.

##

Vacation (By Rita Dove)

I love the hour before takeoff,
that stretch of no time, no home
but the gray vinyl seats linked like
unfolding paper dolls. Soon we shall
be summoned to the gate, soon enough
there'll be the clumsy procedure of row numbers
and perforated stubs--but for now
I can look at these ragtag nuclear families
with their cooing and bickering
or the heeled bachelorette trying
to ignore a baby's wail and the baby's
exhausted mother waiting to be called up early
while the athlete, one monstrous hand
asleep on his duffel bag, listens,
perched like a seal trained for the plunge.
Even the lone executive
who has wandered this far into summer
with his lasered itinerary, briefcase
knocking his knees--even he
has worked for the pleasure of bearing
no more than a scrap of himself
into this hall. He'll dine out, she'll sleep late,
they'll let the sun burn them happy all morning
--a little hope, a little whimsy
before the loudspeaker blurts
and we leap up to become
Flight 828, now boarding at Gate 17.

##

Pillow Talk (By Lisa McLaughlin. From Time, © Feb. 25, 2008)

It wasn't long ago that the one thing a hotel didn't promise was the thing it nominally exists to provide: a good night's sleep. Beyond a wake-up call and a chocolate on the pillow, it was all up to the guest. Those days are long gone. Hotels both large and small are engaged in a battle to see who can be the most luxurious, and at the center of the war is the bed. That chocolate is now likely to be imported and artisanally made; the pillow, covered in a 400-thread-count, organically grown cotton case and accompanied by other fluffy luxuries, all designed with sleep in mind.

Hotels competing to offer the best in sleep are creating super-slumber chambers, with soft lighting, modified minibars stocked with herbal teas, and more. Take the KN Tranquility Suite, created for the Hotel Monaco in Chicago by pajama designer Karen Neuberger, with soothing colors and luxe bamboo bedding. Or consider the Fairmont Washington, DC, where the sleep menu includes a de-stress neck massage, an in-room yoga sleep class, herbal teas or smoothies with lavender cookies, and a teddy bear. "It does help," says business traveler Emily Gilden, whose frequent trips often left her weary until she started exploring hotels that had sleep amenities. "I'm less cranky about being away from home."

For overworked Americans, sleep and the products that promise a good night of it have become an obsession. "Whether our guests are traveling for business or pleasure, one of the most important things they want is a good night's sleep," says Von DeLuna, general manager of the Hotel Burnham in Chicago, where guests can check out any of eight kinds of pillows from the hotel's pillow library. "We have a 100 percent natural buckwheat-hull pillow; a snore-reducing pillow, which really works; full-length body pillows; special eye pillows--whatever people need to sleep better." DeLuna notes that while guests travel to experience something new, when it comes to the bed, they often want to replicate the comforts of their own. "We used to have lots of people bringing their pillows from home with them," he says.

At New York's City's 70 Park Avenue Hotel, general manager Ericka Nelson agrees that everything starts with the pillow, a belief she came by the hard way. Her husband snores, and it took the right selection of pillows to keep her comfortable and him quiet throughout the night. "When we check into a hotel," she says, "the first thing that we do is divide up the pillows." On March 3, her hotel opened its own pillow library to celebrate National Sleep Awareness Week, but it has been in the sleep- amenities game for a while. The hotel already offers Frette sheets, with matching pajamas available; DVDs of yoga sleep techniques; and a natural chocolate drink called the Dreamerz Chocolate S'nores.

Other hotels are designing sleep amenities to fit their individual personalities. At La Mansion del Rio in San Antonio, handcrafted worry dolls are placed in rooms every night, a nod to Yanaguana folklore, which promises that your cares will evaporate by dawn if you transfer them to the dolls as you sleep. The Milliken Creek Inn and Spa in Napa Valley, CA, offers a package that includes the Good Night Sleep Kit by Deepak Chopra. And at the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego, the "vibe manager" will create a playlist of mellow music (ranging from Simon and Garfunkel to Morcheeba) as part of its turndown service.

The Benjamin Hotel in New York City perhaps goes the farthest to ensure slumber. It actually guarantees a restful night. If you don't sleep as well as at home, it will refund the cost of your stay. The hotel improves its odds with a secret weapon: sleep concierge Anya Orlanska, who contacts guests by e- mail before arrival to determine their preferences and needs. "I would say 80 percent of our guests take advantage of this service," she says. Orlanska helps them choose from 11 types of pillows, including hypoallergenic and water-filled models, a jelly neck roll and a 5-foot (1.5 m) body cushion. The rooms have blackout curtains and soundproof windows. "We also can arrange for spa treatments, comfort foods like peanut butter and jelly or milk and cookies before bed, and white-noise machines," she says.

Lullabies aren't included at the Benjamin, but at the hotel Andaz in London, columnist and BBC playwright Damian Barr read bedtime stories to guests all through March. Sweet dreams.

##

The Wine Doctor (By Frederick Paola. From New Sudden Fiction, © 2007)

It was a late afternoon in August in the year of our Lord 1930, in year VIII of the Era Fascista. Dottore Cotrolao, just back in his second-floor office after a meal of morzeddu washed down with an exceptional local wine from the Savuto Valley, did a double take when he saw who had entered his office as his first patient of the evening.

It was Ezio Delli Castelli, the wine doctor of Nocera Terinese. A chemist who had made his living chiefly as an oenologist, a specialist in wine making, he was also a part-time oenopath, a practitioner of the unique healing art of oenopathy. Patients came to him with ailments of various sorts, and he prescribed a course of treatment with this particular wine or that. The wines he recommended depended, of course, upon the patient's diagnosis--and circumstances. While he closely guarded his therapeutic secrets, it was thought that his prescriptions took into account the types of grapes that went into the wine; the composition of the soil from which the grapes had been harvested; how long they had been allowed to ferment before racking; and even the condition of the barrels in which the wine was stored.

Ezio Delli Castelli was well-versed in Italian wines in general, and had a working knowledge of imported wines as well. Most of his patients, however, were limited for financial reasons to wines produced locally, by the likes of Carmine Mauri, Vittorio Ventura, Leopoldo Rossi, Nicola Mancini, Carmine Nicoli, and Annunziato Palarchio, using Calabrian grape varieties such as Aglianico, Gaglioppo, Guarnaccia, Pecorello, Nerello, Sangiovese, Magliocco, Nocera, Trebbiano Toscano, Zibibbo, Greco, Malvasia and Mantonico. Ezio Delli Castelli did not charge for his oenopathic services, and most patients were quite satisfied with the treatment they received from him, as well as with the results they experienced.

Dottore Cotrolao knew that many of the townspeople had sought the advice of Ezio Delli Castelli for health problems, either instead of or in addition to more conventional medicine. He supposed it might have something to do with the fact that in those days there were 18 bettole or cantinas in Nocera Terinese and only one pharmacy. The patients, not wanting to offend Dottore Cotrolao, didn't mention it to him; nor would Dottore Cotrolao deign to broach the subject, other than in the form of an occasional sarcastic remark to a patient he had not seen in a while, such as, "Eh, Don Francesco, long time no see. Had any good wine lately?"

"Buona sera, Don Delli Castelli." While Cotrolao had heard Ezio Delli Castelli's clients refer to him as dottore, damned if he was going to address him by that honorific title. "Che posso fare per Voi?" he asked. "What can I do for you?" He had used Voi (the polite form of "you" favored by Mussolini) rather than Lei (the equally polite form of "you" discouraged by Mussolini as Iberian) because Cotrolao knew Ezio Delli Castelli disdained the use of Voi, though he wasn't sure whether this aversion was grounded in politics or linguistics.

Ezio Delli Castelli, a slight man dressed in a worn but freshly pressed brown three-piece suit, looked perplexed and somewhat embarrassed. Fumbling with the hat on his lap, he looked at the taller, heavier man seated behind the dark wood desk before him.

"Dottore, i raggi," he said. "The x-rays."

"Of course," Dottore Cotrolao answered, slapping himself on the forehead. Now he remembered. How had he forgotten? Ezio Delli Castelli had visited him about a month before with a nagging cough and had reported coughing up small amounts of blood. Dottore Cotrolao had sent him to the hospital in Catanzaro for a chest x-ray. Searching for the film in the pile on his desk, Dottore Cotrolao studied Ezio Delli Castelli surreptitiously. Today he was noticeably thinner and appeared mildly dyspneic.

Locating the envelope in a pile of mail that had been delivered only the day before, Dottore Cotrolao opened it and held the film up to the light. It showed an extensive mediastinal mass involving the bifurcation of the trachea. Erosions were evident in the ribs.

There was silence in the room, and the two men were unaware of the sounds of life from the world in the street below. The only connection between the two worlds was the aroma of espresso wafting up from the bars down the street.

When Dottore Cotrolao spoke, it was not without some irritation in his voice. "Don Ezio, tell me something. You practice your healing craft, your ..."

"Oenopathy."

"... oenopathy. Then you get sick and you come to me. Why?" Even as he asked his question, compelled as he was by frustration and curiosity, Dottore Cotrolao regretted both the tone of his voice and his inability to control his own tongue.

Ezio Delli Castelli smiled. "Dottore, I don't know any other oenopaths, and it would be improper and certainly foolish of me to treat myself."

Ezio Delli Castelli continued, "That's not to say you were my second choice. Not at all." He shook his head. "I am most grateful for the care you have rendered me, and," he went on, good-naturedly, "if you can heal me I will gladly admit that your healing art is stronger than mine."

Dottore Cotrolao sadly shook his head no.

In the conversation that followed, he told Ezio Delli Castelli, as best he could, what the near future would likely hold for him, and prescribed morphine for management of his symptoms. It was, alas, a short conversation during which Dottore Cotrolao, who had delivered his share of bad news to patients in this very room, avoided looking directly at Ezio Delli Castelli. Instead, he monitored his patient's reflection in a mirror on a side wall. At a certain point, Ezio Delli Castelli followed his doctor's gaze to that same mirror, and for a moment they studied each other's reflection.

When Dottore Cotrolao finished speaking, Ezio Delli Castelli nodded and put on his hat as he got up to leave. Cotrolao quickly came out from behind his desk and placed a gentle hand on Delli Castelli's shoulder to stop him. "Just a moment, please," he said.

Cotrolao held his hands out before him, palms up, and slowly turned them over, showing them to Ezio Delli Castelli, who, holding them in his own, studied them for a moment.

"Arthritis deformans," Ezio Delli Castelli remarked empathetically. Impressed, Cotrolao raised his eyebrows and nodded.

The two men looked directly at each other. "There is a small producer near Verbicaro," said Ezio Delli Castelli, taking a fountain pen from his pocket and writing the name of the producer on a piece of paper that had been handed to him by Cotrolao. "Il bianco, non il rosso," he emphasized. "The white, not the red. No more than 300 milliliters a day. I would try it."

"I will," Cotrolao answered. They shook hands.

"Grazie, dottore," said Ezio Delli Castelli. "Gracie a Lei, dottore," answered Cotrolao.

##

Readers Forum

From Timothy La Croix, Winston-Salem, NC: In the June Ziegler was an announcement for Dating4disabled.com, and I want to let readers know about a scam on that site. There are people from Nigeria soliciting for funds and wanting your bank account number. Somebody might be fooled by this, and I would hate to see that happen.

From Jake Joehl, Evanston, IL: I wish to comment on the article, "Conference Provides Helpful Tips to Job Seekers," appearing in the June issue of the magazine. The conference sounded great, and I wish I could have been there. It is absolutely shocking to me that nothing is being done about our 75 percent unemployment/underemployment rate. What is probably more shocking to me is how the American Council of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind simply refuse to get a grip and stop being at each other's throats over differences of opinion regarding such things as vocational rehab services.

The ACB and the NFB should be ashamed of themselves for not banding together on this very important issue. State funding is admittedly a big problem in certain corners of the country, but one would think that there could at least be improvement somewhere.

I tried to pursue VR services, but I gave up not long ago, simply because things just got too out of hand and it wasn't worth my time and effort. I was bounced around from counselor to counselor. Not only did they fail to tell me--for the most part--that a transfer was going to happen, but they also failed to communicate with one another. Or if they did in fact communicate, I never knew about it. I certainly hope this will not remain the case.

To end my comments on a somewhat positive note, I have been a registered member of eSight and really enjoy it. I am currently trying to spread the word about the service, which I heard about a number of years ago from a job coach. Thanks for publishing the article, and let's hope for some real improvement.

From Tim Hendel, Huntsville, AL: At best, the June articles about "super-blinks" puzzle me. There is an aspect of the media coverage of David Paterson, the legally blind governor of New York State, that troubles me. Governor Paterson, it is almost always pointed out, does not use braille or a mobility aid, such as a cane or guide dog. I do not know the governor well enough to understand why he shuns the tools that most blind people consider a help in leading independent lives, but it bothers me that the media seem to consider the non- use of these things as a sign of accomplishment. Governor Paterson is portrayed as a more successful blind person because he does not need the crutches that the rest of us use.

Downplaying the importance of braille and mobility aids does a disservice to the rest of us blind people. Also, what are we to make of the life of blind adventurer Miles Hilton-Barber? His feats are interesting and fascinating, but are the rest of us meant to stand back and see how little we have accomplished, compared to Mr. Hilton-Barber? I had one burning question in my mind as I read the Ziegler article about this man. Namely, how did he pay for all of his adventures--especially in the early days, before his notoriety? This question was never answered. For most of us, including me, just paying for airlines tickets to the places he has visited is beyond our means. Clearly Mr. Hilton-Barber has had lots of support, both economic and human. Many of us regular blind folks have as much intelligence, determination and courage in facing our daily lives, yet simply lack the opportunities and support that others have had.

From Theresa Chan, Singapore, China: In the June issue, two readers said how rude it is to ask for pen pals and then not respond to people who write to you. I agree fully. It is very disrespectful, rude and mean and shameful. I happen to have experienced similar rudeness--not just once, but several times. When someone has the kindness to respond to your request, always be kind--even if the friendship is unacceptable. Just return a short note to say, simply, thanks for your offer, which I appreciate, but will not be able to write. That is OK and people will understand, but if you just ignore them, they will be hurt.

Also, when you make requests, always state what kind of correspondents you want, including ages, nationalities, genders, interests and formats of contact.

I also have very rude friends right here at home; they never reply to my e-mails. There are rude people of every nationality.

Whatever it is in life, do not use your blindness or any handicap defensively because it is your physical fate and not society's responsibility. Remember, sighted folks have problems, as the blind have. Some of us do much better than sighted people in some ways, but never in every way.

There is discrimination, but not just against the blind or blindness. I know there are some people who do not like blindness, but not all in societies. Some people do not have the ability to understand you. We cannot blame society for our aches, and we must remember not to expect to be treated specially because of our blindness. If we would like to be well treated, we have to treat others well.

From a reader in Zimbabwe: Has anyone brailled a letter to a person in the Pen Pals column and gotten a reply? Well, as for me, I have written many, but have gotten no replies. I don't know if this is the postal service's fault, if I used a wrong address, or if people do not want me as a correspondent. With the braille paper crisis that I have, it pains me too much to waste paper.

From Jeri Williams, Colorado Springs, CO: I was gratified to read Judy Dixon's information in the May 2008 Readers Forum. Her explanations of the new rules pertaining to the braille literary code were enlightening and appreciated. I trust we braille readers will be updated as new rules are decided upon and utilized in publications of general use.

I read and enjoy every issue of the Ziegler from cover to cover. I especially liked the March editor's letter, in which he shared names, addresses, phone numbers, etc., of various resources for materials and equipment available.

From Jane Welliver, Upper Darby, PA: I experienced mainstreaming during the 1950s and '60s, but it was not common at that time. My dad was a school teacher and later became an elementary school principal. He had determined long before I reached school age that I was not going to attend a residential school. Meetings with the school district administrators and long hours spent recruiting other students in our area produced what one might call a home room for visually impaired children. The school district hired a resource teacher to work with us on braille, reading, etc. We were sent into other classrooms for music, arithmetic, social studies, science and typing.

During those grade school years, our home room participated in many activities with the other children in the school. Individually, we wrote stories and poems for the school newspaper. Each year, as a class, we prepared a project for the school science fair. We were included in music programs for school assemblies, where each of us sang with other children in our same grade. With the help of our resource teacher and cafeteria aides, we would take occasional field trips to a farm, a children's zoo, a train ride, and, on one occasion, to a local radio station. One part of the school day was different for us. We spent the recess hour in our home room with a cafeteria aide.

Most of our written work was done on the Perkins brailler. We had little exposure to the slate in school. I later took that up on my own and would be lost without it now. We used the cube slate for simple arithmetic and the Taylor slate for more advanced math.

Aides and sighted students escorted us from class to class in all grades. One of the few disadvantages of mainstreaming, in my case, was that no one sensed the need for travel training at an early age. I didn't begin serious cane training until high school and I had to travel independently in college.

We attended junior and senior high school with sighted students. The resource teacher would visit once a week, mainly for braille transcription.

Mainstreaming isn't for everyone, but I'm convinced that it was right for me. I would have missed out on a wonderful home life if I had been forced to attend a residential school.

The April articles about shortwave radio brought back fond memories. My folks bought me a multiband radio when I was in high school. Surfing the dial was my favorite late-evening activity during the late '60s, '70s and '80s.

From JoseClaudio Suarez Santana, Tenerife, Canary Islands: The braille system will never die unless it's replaced by some other allowing us to read and write without any help from devices or technical equipment. I'm no enemy of progress, but claim my right to travel by bus reading the Ziegler or some other magazine, just as sighted citizens can look at their papers.

A great battle should still be fought so that braille can serve more people. In Spain, we have had some advancements in this regard, although too few and too slowly achieved. Some charitable soul has, for instance, gotten drug names inscribed on medicine supply items. Some restaurants show you the menu in braille. Sometimes you can request official documents in braille. We should not expect those things to fall out of a serene sky, but express our need so that more and more accommodations be legally and effectively given to braille users. Otherwise, we should not complain.

When you refuse help from sighted people, please be sure to do so politely. It's difficult when people express aloud and in most inappropriate terms their pity for us as blind people. I don't know how to deal with some situations we confront as blind persons, but I try to ignore bitter comments that may cause confrontation. It would be an arduous job to convince the sighted how mistaken they are about what we can or cannot do.

The short story about marriage and divorce in the May issue was very revealing. I think fiction is a kind of transcription of reality in a quite understandable, beautiful way. I found in some fiction tales pieces of my own life reflected in most accurate ways, rather than in articles stuffed with statistics and globally considered situations.

From Karen Marshall, Chicago, IL: So many people are just thrilled with all the new technology that is coming at us at a fantastic rate. Talking computers, cell phones, reading machines and heaven only knows what else. I am one of those few who are not so excited. I can't help but wish to have access to the good old IBM Selectric. I could do anything with a Selectric. Yes, I could even do columns and set my margins.

I am not much of a high-tech person. I guess the older I get, the less patience I have. It seems like every business answers your calls by voice mail. Doesn't anybody want to deal with a customer? Several years ago, I wrote a poem about voice mail. My husband found a notice in a magazine about a poetry contest for the blind in Queensland, Australia. Since I like to write poetry, he convinced me to send in one of my poems.

"We can win $30," he said. I wrote the poem and Mike sent it in.

He was right: We won. But by the time we received our "$30," it was only $19.95. I also received a certificate. We got a good laugh out of that, and Mike bought me a box of my favorite chocolates. I am sending the poem along with this letter.

Voice Mail

I only want to get the facts
And so I make the call.
There's no one there to answer me.
The voice mail says it all.

"Press one for this, press two for that,"
And I become unnerved.
Do they believe that I believe
I'm truly being served?

When finally, I've lost it all,
I've ranted and I've raved,
A voice says, "Thank you very much.
Your message has been saved."

Please give me back the good old days,
When I still had a choice,
And I was warmly greeted by
A real live human voice.

From Charles Biebl, Baltimore, MD: I have a question about doing one's laundry correctly when one is totally blind like me. Has anyone used the Jiffy Steamer? When I asked the manufacturer if blind people can use it, they couldn't give me any information. They say using the Jiffy Steamer is five times faster than ironing.

Contrary to the current trend, your clothes always look nicer when they are ironed--even if they say differently on the label. I'm glad I can do my own laundry. One of the alternative techniques I use is a clothes hamper that has several compartments in it. One is for colored clothes, one for white, and one for towels and wash cloths. What other techniques can I use to make sure I do a good job?

I think all chapters of NFB or ACB should talk about grooming or fashion at least once a year. Most sighted people judge you on your appearance first. They judge you from the outside in instead of from the inside out--the way God does.

Also, are stains visible? I was told they are. How do you know you have them if no one tells you?

[Editor's note: I have no experience with steamers, but am expert at acquiring stains--especially on new items of clothing. Stains are always visible. Sometimes you can feel a stain on a soiled garment. Once washed or cleaned, however, the stained area will most likely be undetectable by touch, and it probably will have faded somewhat. The best hope for removing stains is to treat them before washing or dry cleaning the garment. There are products specifically for this purpose, or you can pour regular detergent directly on the stain. After the item is clean, asking for sighted assistance is, unfortunately, the only way to be sure the stain is gone.]

From Rita Warren, St. Louis, MO: Joseph M. Moore's voice was silenced May 1, 2008. Joe read for and then worked at Recording for the Blind. At RFB, then in Manhattan, Joe read from the canon of world literature, books and materials for law students, and, most notably, books in Italian, French and Spanish. After leaving RFB, Joe then read one-on-one to students at the Lighthouse (reader service in midtown Manhattan). While at the Lighthouse, Joe read much the same material as at RFB, and made friendships that lasted a lifetime. He returned to reading books on tape--this time at Xavier Society for the Blind. The emphasis at Xavier Society was on books of Roman Catholic interest.

After leaving those structured settings, Joe read to many of us at our colleges and universities, undergraduate, graduate and professional schools, work places and in our living rooms. Joe's intelligence and depth and breadth of knowledge made what might have been a turgid reading experience a luminescent one. Although Joe's voice is preserved on tape at RFB and Xavier Society, for those of us who knew him as our friend and reader, no tape is necessary. Joe's crisp reading style, near perfect diction and vocal timbre are etched in our memories.

##

Special Notices

Newsmaker. Ziegler reader Eric Calhoun of Inglewood, CA, was the subject of a recent profile in The Daily Trojan, the University of Southern California's student newspaper. This article described Eric as a "superfan," who attends many of the school's baseball games and women's water polo matches. Several players interviewed for the article commended Eric for the motivation he provides with his very enthusiastic cheering.

Volunteers with Braille Expertise. The Braille Authority of North America (BANA) seeks knowledgeable and enthusiastic braille readers, teachers and transcribers to serve on various BANA committees. Much of the work of BANA is conducted by volunteer technical and ad hoc committees. BANA has nine technical committees and five ad hoc committees dealing with all aspects of braille codes. These committees are charged by the BANA board to develop code (e.g., rules and symbols), revise and update code, review work from other technical committees, and respond to questions from constituents. In addition to committees dealing with the technical aspects of braille codes, BANA also has committees dealing with publications, crafts and hobbies, and braille signage and labeling. All committees have representatives from both the United States and Canada, and consist of at least one braille reader, one teacher (of children or adults who are blind) and one transcriber. Most work is done via e-mail, so all committee members must have frequent and convenient access to electronic communication. Several committees are currently seeking members. To be considered, fill out the form located at www.brailleauthority.org, stating your areas of interest and your qualifications (for example, years of braille reading, teaching or transcribing experience, certifications or qualifications).

Resources. Connections for the Blind, a classified ads publication, is continuing on as Connections for EverythingBlind.com. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to subscribe@everythingblind.com. Everythingblind.com is a growing resource of information about everything blind. Come visit and add your resources, find information and products.

Travel Opportunities. Mind's Eye Travel creates tours for people who are visually impaired or blind. Sue Bramhall, the owner, has RP, and she designs trips for people traveling with a sighted guide. Although she and a sighted aide will be on all tours, Mind's Eye does not provide around-the-clock personal assistance to those traveling alone. Hosted trips are customized not only for comfort, camaraderie and enjoyment but also for full sensory discovery. Destinations are screened in advance with hand-picked activities, restaurants and lodging. Mind's Eye is currently taking reservations for: Discover the Coast of Maine, Sept. 10 14, $995; Sedona, AZ, and the Grand Canyon, Oct. 8 13, $1,395; and southern Caribbean cruise on Princess Cruises, with round-trip from San Juan, Feb. 15, 2009, starting at $999. Ports of call include Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, Barbuda, Tortola and St. Thomas. Prices are per person, double occupancy. Visit www.mindseyetravel.com or call 207-542-4438.

Dog Workshop. The fourth annual Southeast Regional Top Dog Workshop, hosted by Guide Dog Users of Florida, will take place Jan. 16-18 in Daytona Beach at the LaPlaya Resort and Suites, 2500 N. Atlantic Avenue; 386-672-0990 or 800-329-8662; www.staydaytona.com. Room rates are $69 per night. Convention rates will also be in effect three days prior to and three days after the event. You may reserve your room now, but your credit card will automatically be charged for one night. Send e-mail to Debbie Grubb at debbiecg@verizon.net.

Technology Expo. On Sept. 19, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lighthouse International will host LITE 2008, an assistive technology expo at its New York City offices. Vendors from across the country will be showcasing merchandise aimed at helping those who are blind or visually impaired to lead more independent lives. Presentations will be given on financing assistive technology and healthy living using accessible glucose meters, thermometers and more. For information or registration fees, contact 800-829-0500, 212-821-9371 or atceducation@lighthouse.org.

Guide Dog Products. Jeannette Gerrard sells products that can provide nutrition, joint support, pain management and keep your dog clean. Call 202-363-4635. Orders will be drop-shipped.

Spices. Dennis Holter sells items from The Spice Is Right, which offers Watkins spices and other household products. Shoppers can consult him for spice recommendations until accessible catalogs become available soon. Call 773-572-7833.

Mortgages; Fabric. If you've sold a property in the past, chances are you've used traditional methods to do it. In today's market, it's hard to find qualified buyers using these methods. "Traditional methods" means accepting buyers who have a loan from a financial institution. If you were to act as the bank yourself, and offer to carry back part of the financing with a note and mortgage, you would increase the amount of buyers who can buy your property. You're just agreeing to be paid later, with interest. Once a note and mortgage are created, they can be sold for immediate cash. Andrew Bontrager helps individuals connect with a buyer for their mortgage. Visit www.cash4cashflows.com/abontrager1. Write to andrew.bontrager@emypeople.com or call 512-629-6227. Also, he weaves table runners, place mats, scarves and yarn rugs, any color or length, up to 40 inches wide.

Handcrafts. Sylvia Connor sells nylon net scrubbies in two sizes, small, $1.75, and large, $2.25. These are great for non-stick surfaces, George Foreman grills, bathtubs, scrubbing vegetables, and the center hole is handy for hanging on a faucet. Toss in the dishwasher or in with a towel wash and they stay fresh and clean and are very durable. She also sells cotton dishcloths, rectangular or round, $2.25 each; mittens in sizes small through extra large. The extra large fits a woman's hand nicely, $4.50 a pair; hats, available in an attractive ribbed pattern, $4; and personalized braille afghans. The personalized name or word may contain up to six braille characters. Contractions can be used; there is a choice of colors. The afghan measures approximately 4 feet x 3 feet and costs $40. Call 860-379-3197 before 8 p.m. Eastern time. Write to 5 Oakdale Ave., Winsted, CT 06098- 1820 or rocnon@earthlink.net.

Adult Web Content. A Ziegler reader recommends www.pornfortheblind.org, which features audio descriptions and short audio clips from a selection of adult Internet sites.

Band Forming. Duyahn Walker wants to start an R&B band and is looking for people in Ohio to sing or play keyboard, drums, bass or guitar. He wants to play R&B, soul, funk, rap, and maybe other genres. Duyahn plays a talkbox and would enjoy performing Roger Troutman and Zapp's music. You do not have to be visually impaired to join this band. Send e-mail to themusicman1@jjhof.com or call 419-675-9027.

Books. Joshua Hendrickson has the following braille books available for purchase or trade. All the books listed are two volumes in interpoint braille: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, $20; Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident, by Eoin Colfer, $20; Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo, $20; A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, $15; A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle, $15; A Gift of Magic by Lois Duncan, $15; The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnet, $20; The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson, $15; The Giver by Lois Lowery, $15; Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, $20. These prices are negotiable. Payment may be made by money order only. All books will be shipped as Free Matter. Make payments to Joshua Hendrickson, 813 Park Drive, Byron, IL 61010. Contact louvins@gmail.com, Skype louvins27, Messenger louvins@gmail.com, or 815-234- 2903.... Marjorie Arnott has 260 knitting, 243 crochet, 49 general and 119 cookbooks that she compiled at reasonable prices. They include: many knitting afghan and blanket books, potpourri, sweaters for both adults and children, washcloths, calendar stitches, hats, gloves, scarves, mittens, slippers, knit and crochet toys, knit and crochet baby shower books, and lots more. She also has a general section that includes: prose and verse; poetry; kitchen cupboard remedies, tips for a lifetime, and several inspirational books. All of the above are in braille, but could be on computer disk or sent via electronic mail. She runs a Book Sale twice a year, in February-March and July-August. During this time, pay full price for the most expensive book and get three at half price. To order or receive a braille catalog, write in braille to 4233 E. La Costa Drive, Chandler, AZ 85249; 480-345-8773 or marnott@extremezone.com.

Display; Synthesizer. Steve Heflin will sell a Powerbraille 40 braille display that is in good working condition but needs a new battery. He also has one DECtalk Express that works well. He is asking $500 for each item, including serial cables, and will ship them as Free Matter. Send e-mail to 5o1blues@comcast.net.

Notetaker. Jean will sell a Type 'n Speak, recently serviced by Freedom Scientific, with a new battery, adaptor, carrying case and tutorial tapes. The notetaker is in excellent condition. She is asking $900, plus shipping and insurance. Send e-mail to Jean at jcts@usamedia.tv or call 530-272-4141.

Miscellaneous. Kathy Lamb will sell the following items: CD cases, 8 for $1; erased 90-minute cassettes, 8 for $1; HP ScanJet scanner, $15; Lexmark printer, $25; IBM Home Page Reader, $25; keypad for IBM screen reader, $25; "Harley Hahn's Complete Internet Reference" (8 vols.) $50; Road Runner, $75; Accent SA speech synthesizer, $95; zip drive with adapter for use with notebook computer and more than 1 GB of storage disks, $150; GPS Talks, Magellan receiver, and all maps of U.S., $250; DECtalk Express, $550; Braille Lite, $650; and Alva 40-cell braille display, $1,695. Call 615-469-4891 or send e-mail to kathy.lamb06@comcast.net.

Books Wanted. M. Rajagopalan would like to purchase braille books on English grammar and braille contractions. Send all information to Mancheriyan House, Sharath Kunnu, Pathiriyal P.O. Mancheri Via, Malappuram District, Pin 676123, Kerala, South India.

Tapes. A nonprofit performing arts organization will donate a collection of two-track cassettes to nonprofit organizations or libraries. The tapes contain excerpts from classic and contemporary fiction. Send e-mail to merchandising1@symphonyspace.org or call 212-865-1414.

Braille 'n Speak Accessories. A reader will donate print and braille manuals, headphones, serial cable, and WinPrint software to the first person who contacts Ziegler Magazine, 80 8th Ave. #1304, Box 8A, New York, NY 10011; 212-242-0263, or blind@verizon.net.

Updates. The correct price for "My Pocket Doctor Diabetic Reference Guide," which appeared in the April issue, is $37. A CD is also available for $12.50.... In the July Special Notices, the correct telephone number for Joe Wasserman of Audio Darts is 412-687-5166.... Josh Aragon, whose name appeared in March's Pen Pals, has a new telephone number 801-604-4747. He is looking for phone friends.

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Recent Deaths

Pat Brosius, Alexandria, VA
Dan Lazich, Tonawanda, NY
Eugene Manfrini, Queensbury, NY
Pearl McMichael, New Brighton, PA
Morton Schlein, New York, NY
Juanito Santistevan, Westminster, CO
Kathryn Susany, Pittsburgh, PA

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Pen Pals

Jeffery Crouch is 11 years old, plays in a band, enjoys playing guitar and drums, attends church and likes talking to people. Send braille letters or tapes to 517 Walnut St., Flushing, MI 48433, or call 810-487-0563.... Crystal Dowdy seeks phone friends. She is a Seventh Day Adventist and wants to speak with Christian friends who have a good outlook on life. This 21-year-old resident of Stone Mountain, GA, enjoys life, music, singing, writing and reading. Call 678-608-5968.... Melody Edwards would like to correspond with men and women who are studying for or already are Jehovah's Witnesses. Call 609-464-1417 or send cassettes to 1313 Baltic Ave. #412, Atlantic City, NJ 08401.... Chad Grover is 35 years old, in good health, and wants to communicate with females between 25 and 37 for a possible relationship. He is nonjudgmental, does not smoke, and does not go to church. This Hadley student works as a telephone operator, and enjoys listening to satellite and shortwave radio. He is looking for someone with similar interests. Call 607-937-5009 or write to 40 W. William St. # 115, Corning, NY 14830.... Gary Warren enjoys sports cars, bowling, movies, going to church, listening to music, meeting new people, and working. This 37-year-old wants to communicate with women between 28 and 45 for friendship or a possible relationship. Call 302- 344-1390 or send e-mail to gwarren82@sprintpcs.com.... William Franklin enjoys playing the guitar and harmonica, going to church, listening to blues music, watching NBA, baseball, soccer and football games and reading books. He wants to make contact with Americans and Europeans. Send letters to Room 101, Building 22, Lane 584, Nanlin Road, Pudong, Shanghai, China 200123 or e-mail william_franklin@live.com.... Arpit Jain is a 26-year-old single teacher who enjoys reading braille books and magazines, doing arts and crafts, collecting coins and toys, traveling, technology and eating out. Arpit also has been a Hadley student and wants to form a community of Indian Hadley students. Contact arpitjain82@yahoo.com or G2 42, Chanakya Pride, Mahaveer Nagar, Kanadia Road, Indore, MP 452007, India.... Adil Salouane of Morocco is a 36 year old single white male. He seeks an honest relationship with a nonjudgmental, open-minded, romantic woman of any race or nationality that leads to marriage. His interests are working with children, learning about new languages and different cultures, singing and volunteering. Send braille or tape letters in English, French or Arabic to B.P. 2242, Fez Principale, Fez, Morocco. His Skype name is adilsal36 and his Messenger ID is dayrooz@hotmail.com.

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Bits and Pieces

Summer Health Myths. Here is the truth behind two hot-weather threats:

Myth: Switching from heat to air-conditioning causes colds. The truth: Temperature shifts don't make you sick, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Proximity to other people is to blame. Many people spend more time indoors during a heat wave, raising the odds that germs will jump between them.

Myth: Hot weather puts a strain on your heart. The truth: The rate of heart-disease deaths peaks in winter. Blood vessels constrict to help the body retain heat, causing a spike in both blood pressure and risk of a heart attack, says Joseph Verbalis, M.D., chairman of Georgetown University's department of medicine. In the summer, blood vessels are more relaxed and stress levels drop, leading to lower blood pressure and less strain on the heart. (From Men's Health, July/August 2007)

Baby Names. Approximately 3,000 parents in China named their baby after the Beijing Olympic Games. Most of the 3,491 children given the name Aoyun, or Olympics, were born around 2000, when Beijing was bidding to host the event. Others were named after the Five Friendlies, the mascots of the Games. (From Time, Nov. 19, 2007)

Tourism is Big in America. In terms of what the United States collects from other nations vs. what we spend, the U.S. Department of Commerce rates "inbound international travel" as our second-biggest moneymaker. Foreign visitors spent $107.4 billion here in 2006, including airfare, hotels, meals, souvenirs and tickets to amusement parks and other entertainment. The only U.S. export doing better: royalties, licenses and fees. (From Parade, April 22, 2007)

Aural Archive Additions. The first trans-Atlantic broadcast, on March 14, 1925; New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia's reading of the comics in 1945; and Michael Jackson's 1982 best-seller "Thriller" were among 25 recordings added in May to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry, The Associated Press reported. The archive is part of the library's endeavor to preserve America's aural history through recordings deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant." Other selections this year included Harry S. Truman's speech at the 1948 Democratic National Convention; the original-cast recording of "My Fair Lady" from 1956; and music by Tommy Dorsey, Roy Orbison, Joni Mitchell and Herbie Hancock. (From The New York Times, May 15, 2008)

Seventy-five Years ago in the Ziegler. From the August 1933 issue: "The Fifteenth biennial convention of the American Association of Workers for the Blind was held in the beautiful and historic old city of Richmond, VA, June 26 to June 30. Despite the Depression and the scarcity of money, there were 147 members of the Association present, and possibly nearly as many more guests, friends or relatives of the members. There were morning, afternoon and evening sessions. Everyone was much interested in the American Foundation for the Blind's talking book machine, which was exhibited in one of the private rooms and which everyone feels has great possibilities. The foundation has spent considerable money and months of hard work in developing this machine."

Fifty Years ago in the Ziegler. From the August 1958 issue: "A radically new space craft, called the Dyna-soar, is one of the latest Air Force projects. It will carry a man, blast off like a rocket, orbit the Earth like a satellite, glide down and land like a conventional airplane. Once it gets into space, it will hurtle its pilot around the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour."

Don't Call My Cell. The Federal Trade Commission offers a "Do Not Call Registry" for landline phones as well as for mobile phones. Registering for the Do Not Call cell phone list is the same as for landline phones. You can register online at www.donotcall.gov or by phone at 888-382-1222. Both options are free and take only a few minutes. (From The Jersey Journal, April 23, 2008)

Camel Beauties. Beauty pageants have become a big thing in Saudi Arabia. But not for people. For camels. What makes a camel beautiful? "The nose should be long and droop down," according to Sultan al-Qahtani, an organizer of one contest. "The ears should stand back, and the neck should be long. The hump should be high, but slightly to the back." The best camels sell for more than $250,000. The pageants are not without controversy. Saudi Arabia has strict Islamic laws, and some religious leaders say the pageants are evil and that people involved in them should repent. (From The Washington Post, Nov. 9, 2007)

Watermelons. By Charles Simic (2007 Poet Laureate of the United States) Green Buddhas On the fruit stand. We eat the smile And spit out the teeth.

Choice of Entree. A hungry lion was roaming through the jungle looking for something to eat. He came across two men. One was sitting under a tree reading a book; the other was typing away on his laptop. The lion quickly pounced on the man reading the book and devoured him. Even the king of the jungle knows that readers digest and writers cramp. (From 777 Great Clean Jokes)

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