Annie Shares News V 2 Issue 12 🧧🎁💖

December 10, 2023 | Filed under blindness Poem writing

Annie Shares News Volume 2 Issue 12 December 2023

Subscribe: anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io

🎅 🤶 🌲 💖

Christmas and holiday greetings, readers. In these trying times of war and strife, peace and joy are elusive and sometimes difficult to express. It is for these reasons I am writing this newsletter. My purpose, as insignificant as it may be, keeps me grounded and it is my hope it helps someone else to keep the hope going.

I am pleased to report my second novel, Imperfections, is being sent to the independent book publishing company, DLD Books for formatting. The release is planned for spring 2024. It’s been a long and rewarding path for the writing of this story. It is less biographical and I hope different enough for readers to rave about. I’ll be telling you all more about it in the January 2024 newsletter.

Also in my Sharingdom, Smashwords/D2D is launching an End-of-year eBook sale from December 15 to January 1, 2024. The sale will include genres from children’s books to horror titles. Upwelling: Poems, my first poetry collection is free and my other titles are discounted. eBooks make great gifts! 🎁🧧

Save this promo link so you can shop as soon as December 15 rolls up:

https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos

Of course, by now, being a subscriber to this newsletter, you are aware I am a person with a disability. I support other writers with disabilities as well as promoting my own writing and books. One such writer, Patty L. Fletcher, is the person who had a role in assisting me to find my own path to independent publishing. I am excited to include the information for readers to check out her new book.

The Blended Lives Chronicles: Sides of the Order.

If you prefer an anthology, check out this one, hot off the indie press, Behind Our Eyes 3 A literary Sunburst. It is written and edited by writers with disabilities and the proceeds from the sale of the book go directly to funding the Behind Our Eyes organizational literary programs , most offered free-of-charge. Sales will also assist in the costs of publishing their biannual literary magazine, Magnets and Ladders.

My gift to you is a recording of the poem, Little Tree by e.e. Cummings. Below is the text.

[little tree]

E. Cummings

“little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don’t be afraid

look the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms
and i’ll give them all to you to hold.
every finger shall have its ring
and there won’t be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you’re quite dressed
you’ll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they’ll stare!
oh but you’ll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands
and looking up at our beautiful tree
we’ll dance and sing
“Noel Noel”

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/miiljk17ugsupwqud79m9/little-tree-by-Annie-c.mp3?rlkey=1c9rsomli57qm8s5h05pudfao&dl=0

Christmas Poem 🌲

November 25, 2023 | Filed under Poem

Happy Holidays to all.

🌲 🤶 🎅

Below is the text of Little Tree, a poem by e. e. cummings. The reading of it is also part of this post. I hope you enjoy it. As for the poet, e. e. cummings – he was a poet before his time. Born in 1874 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he experimented with breaking literary traditions, hence the lack of capitalization and punctuation in his work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings

[little tree]

E. Cummings

“little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don’t be afraid

look the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms
and i’ll give them all to you to hold.
every finger shall have its ring
and there won’t be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you’re quite dressed
you’ll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they’ll stare!
oh but you’ll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands
and looking up at our beautiful tree
we’ll dance and sing
“Noel Noel”

A Be My Eye Moment

October 30, 2023 | Filed under writing

The following is an auto-generated description of a photo provided by Be My Eye, an AI app being offered through another blindness assistance app called Be My Eyes. The best and most exciting part of this app and the AI skill it offers is independence. A smart phone user can now take a picture, then ask Be My Eye to describe it. It’s mad cool to do this. I read a blog post that states over three million photos have been described with this app.

Have you, the non-blind reading this, ever given thought to just how many questions we, the disabled, must ask our family and friends? Reading labels, finding a dropped object, coordinating colors and clothing, etc., etc. “What does that say?” I ask this of my husband quite a lot each and every day. It’s nice to have someone around to help. But when he isn’t here or I am alone or with other blind folks, this app has the potential to do more than describe a photo and I cannot wait to be part of its future development.

Currently there are video conferencing apps, like Be My Eyes and AIRA, that connect a blind person with a sighted operator via the phone’s camera who can assist visually. There is an app called Seeing AI, the skills include OCR (Optical Character Recognition) for reading text aloud with a smart phone’s speech output. The app will describe faces, colors, currency and street signs/landscapes and more skills are on the way, I am sure; the app includes a scanner to read product labels. Imagine an app doing both and adding more skills and possibly being voice-activated. I won’t go all Sci-Fi on you but one day this app might one day become a little electronic dot one could mount on an eye patch or on the rim of your eyeglasses or maybe even a contact lens. Until then, friends, let’s have fun with this cool app, Be My Eye.

The picture shows a happy moment in a backyard. A woman with light skin and grey hair is sitting on a black metal chair. She is wearing a beige t-shirt with a circular design on it and grey shorts. She has a big smile on her face and is looking at the camera. She is holding two dogs. One dog is brown with black stripes and has a sturdy build, while the other dog is a cream-colored Labrador. They both seem very content and are sitting close to the woman.

In the background, there is a house with a brick lower half and beige siding on the upper half. There is a window and a sliding glass door visible. There is also a small black table with a red cup, a white plate, and an orange ball on it. The ground is a concrete patio with some fallen leaves, and there is a patch of green grass to the left. The atmosphere seems very homely and joyful.

A Virtual Housewarming 🏡

October 29, 2023 | Filed under writing

That’s right, it’s Bingo night with Pampered Chef and Cindy G. –

The hostess with the Mostest!!!

Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. eastern via zoom.

Here is the link to my party catalog if you cannot attend the zoom bingo. It will stay open until November 8th:

https://www.pamperedchef.com/party/annchiappetta1101

Many of my family and friends know Jerry and I moved to western Pennsylvania six weeks ago. We left New York behind along with old and outdated belongings. Yep, we ditched the cruddy bits and pieces of our past, along with kitchen items we nursed well beyond their best performance.

The most creative and sensible way I know to gather the village and ask for support is a doing a Pampered Chef party.

Inviting you and your friends to a Pampered Chef zoom bingo party is fun and gives you a chance to find out about these great products that enhance your life . Who doesn’t want to learn more about easier ways to cook and prep food ? Attending this party will be fun and full of great products. Plus, you might win bingo. If you do buy a product, your purchase will help me welcome some great products into my new home.

Here is the Zoom link, feel free to pass it to your contacts. In fact, please pay it forward, the more sales I receive, the better I will be able to apply my inner chef. 😊 If you want to book a party, Cindy will help you out.

PF products are the best quality and as a blind chef, I find them safe and easy to use. The products I use most are the garlic slicer, the mini chopper and The best utensil is the lasagna server.

My email is anniecms64@gmail.com if you have questions or comments.

Ann Chiappetta is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9146362393

Meeting ID: 914 636 2393

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Meeting ID: 914 636 2393

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/k8JOS7ZY

Train Trip

October 21, 2023 | Filed under Poem writing

Last week I boarded the train on a trip from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to New Rochelle, New York. The ride, about eight hours in total, lacked the typical stressors of airplane travel. I’ve always liked trains and after this longer trip, I discovered the rails do something I never noticed before. They sing.

During a handful of long stretches, the familiar clickety-clack we all associate with a moving train faded and a resonating hum emitted. I found it hypnotizing; since I am not a musician I don’t know if the notes were in a major or minor key or which key. It started with a low note and increased until the note reached a soprano and ended. The audible phenomenon lasted only a short distance and varied. Think of a finger circling the lip of a wine glass on a grander scale.

Rail Song

By Ann Chiappetta

Rails and wheels marry

Sharing the miles

Conversations carry

Conductor sashays past

In the distance the horn blast

Rebounds reaches the last car.

Pastoral corridor lulls

The song is heard

A message

It conveys

The paring of rail and wheel

The joy of invention.

Disembarking upon arrival

from west to east .

The urge to thank the thrumming metal beast

For performing it’s rail song

Twitches fingers

Stays with me.

Annie Shares News V. 2Issue 10

October 9, 2023 | Filed under blindness Poem Relationships

Annie Shares News Volume 2 Issue 10 October 2023

anniesharesnews@groups.io Subscribe anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io

www.annchiappetta.com Blog: www.thought-wheel.com

🎃 🍂 🍃

Autumnal greetings!

The most important announcement is we are now living in Pennsylvania. Western PA cozied up beside Pittsburgh. We found a lovely one level house. It came equipped with solar panels, three bedrooms, 1.5 baths, laundry, den, picture windows, garage and a beautiful, fenced yard. Not too much to maintain and plenty of living space.

I can’t wait to celebrate the holidays here and welcome visitors who will be able to stay in the guest room.

In writing news, Hope For the Tarnished is being narrated and it is halfway done. My second novel, Imperfections, is scheduled for a spring 2024 release.

I am looking forward to winter routines like drinking hot tea, slurping soup and cooking stew in our crock pot. And now I am also a Steelers fan. 😉

Here’s to a blessed month. Until next time.

The move has inspired me to write a few poems. Here’s one I wrote the day we moved from the apartment in New York.

Moving Day

By Ann Chiappetta

An empty room

Where once life’s evidence —

the energy and the sound Saturated

Now Sparseness joins

echoes. Memory echoes

touch echoes visual echoes

Present yet empty.

The Guide Dog Book Club 💖 🦮

October 5, 2023 | Filed under blindness Guide dogs writing

Greetings from the Guide Dog Book Club Team,

We hope your fall is off to a great start and full of plans for fun times with your dogs, family, and friends. A big woof and wag to the cooler temperatures!

Jumping off from the awesome discussion with Sharon Peters on “Trusting Calvin,” we are gearing up for another book club read and discussion. The next meeting of the club is scheduled for November. As always, all are welcome to join. More details to follow on exact date and time.

Our next book selection is…(drum roll, please, and hold the appaws):

“Forward Together: An Inside Look at Guide Dog Training” by Christie Bane

The book is available on BARD and other electronic book services. Get a copy today and start reading for another informative guide dog book club discussion.

Here’s a recent amazon review:

“This was such an amazing book. The explanations were well thought out, but not overly descriptive. The author was honest and realistic. The writing was down to earth and a pleasure to read. I would seriously urge anyone who has anything to do with the guide dog community to read this. It will increase knowledge and understanding for puppy raisers, handlers, GDMI applicants, other staff, and even the general public. I really really enjoyed this read!”

You can also review a synopsis here: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/53548729

To help keep us in touch and encourage conversations in the virtual world, we’ve created a new email list serve just for the Guide Dog Book Club community. That’s right, we have a list serve dedicated to our book discussions. Please check it out.

To subscribe to the list, send a blank email to guidedogbookclub+subscribe@groups.io. Or request an invitation to be sent to your inbox by emailing guidedogbookclub@gmail.com.

We can’t wait to share more information with you, so get those people-paws tapping on your computer or smart phone and sign up! We would also appreciate it if you could share this announcement with other guide dog handlers, puppy raisers, GDMIs, guide dog program staff and family and friends who support the partnership between human and guide dog.

Please let us know if you have any questions. Until we chat again, happy reading and wagging,

Guiding Eyes Graduate Council

gebgradcouncil@gmail.com

News Flash 🦮 big Yellow Dog Retires

September 30, 2023 | Filed under blindness Guide dogs pets and people writing

Bailey, my second Guiding Eyes dog guide, has hung up the harness. He is now the senior adopted dog of house Chiappetta and for him, at least the change is good. It’s a push and pull of relief and regret for the humans, though. But hey, he’s almost eleven, has bounced back from lung cancer and enjoys napping in the sun in his new back yard.

Yellow lab Bailey one year old standing at the shor in Maine

Yellow lab bailey posed with blue skies and clouds in the background.

We met in 2015 and during the second week of class I returned home with a serious case of RSV. A month later, when we reunited, he flew into my lap and nibbled my cheek as if to say, “Finally, we’re together again!”

Our first year was exciting and focused. His energy and love of working became infectious. He approached it all with curiosity and confidence. This is his best trait. The most difficult one to control is his scavenging and I hope his successor is not as intense in this category.

He is a great swimmer, doesn’t play fetch, drools profusely waiting for his meals and tolerates our cats with quiet dignity. He loves learning new tricks and learned to roll over, spin and balance a treat on his nose.

Amusing quirks:

When he barks, which isn’t often, he scares himself.
When exiting a vehicle in a new location he needs a moment to scent the air before moving on.
Loves to sleep under my desk
Expresses impatience by sighing like a person
Walks on the tips of his toes and spreads out his toes when excited.
Air licks if he can’t get to your face.

The most significant saves while working were clearing us from a dangling wire hanging from the ceiling in an office building and a utility wire laying on a sidewalk. Avoiding e-scooters more than once while crossing a street. Plus numerous traffic checks on the block leading to my former office building .

Annie with pink mask and Bailey close up

Ann and Bailey on bench: Both looking straight on

Doggone Good

By Ann Chiappetta

Good dog

Guide dog

Love what you do

Cool dog

Goofy boy

So much respect for you

Yellow dog

Poochie-poo

with a big brown nose

Steps out,

Nostrils flared

Catching

Air-scented code.

Guide dog

Good dog

There’s so much we do

In you

There is acceptance

loyalty

My moods don’t have you fooled

Big dog

Bigger heart

Grateful to be a pair

Stepping out

I want to shout

I trust in your care.

Good Dog

Guide dog

My heart is full

Love you

To the moon and back.

Glad to be matched with you.

As with the retirement of my first dog, Verona, I am posting my call for a new canine partner. My needs have changed over the past ten years yet the drive to be independent has become stronger as I age. I am cognizant the next dog will most likely be the last guide dog for me. Here’s to the next potential partnership and adventure.

Situation Wanted

A sixty-something white female who just happens to be blind is seeking a highly motivated working dog. If you are a Labrador retriever and are willing to work with me, please read the job requirements. Only serious applicants need apply.

Males preferred but will consider a female if all other character and personality traits are met.

Height: over 20inches; weight: 75 lbs. Color: no preference.
I am a moderate walker, use a support cane and travel in all modes of transportation. This includes paratransit vans and public buses. I also fly at least once a year and ride passenger trains. I stay in hotels and motels. I visit cities and live in the suburbs. I shop and attend social gatherings and meetings.
My new partner must be experienced in offering a kind and gentle nose to other furry critters including cats and guinea pigs and other dogs as well as children. You will be filling the paws of my current partner, who is retired. He has been an amazing worker, friend, and part of our family for over ten years.

If you have read these requirements and feel that you have the right combination of breed, personality, manners, strength, adaptability, affection, drive, and possess intelligent disobedience skills, and wish to work with a human who will trust and love you the best she can, please send your contact information to Ann Chiappetta, Care of: Guiding Eyes for the Blind 611 Granite springs Road, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.

What We’ve Been Doing

September 17, 2023 | Filed under writing

Jerry and I are native New Yorkers. Over the years we both lived in other States but both found our way back to NY. Jerry came home after the military and I returned after living in the San Fransisco bay area in California. We met, married and raised the kids. Now we are both retired and moved one final time, to Western Pennsylvania. The house we purchased is perfect for us, larger than the apartment but not overly so.

Right now we are sleeping on air beds waiting for the movers to deliver our household packed into 150 boxes, among other furniture like a new bed, dining room table and chairs, etc. It is quieter, green, and the taxes are low.

I will be posting new home owner pics and posts. I will try not to geek out on you all, this house is cute and full of sun and good energy 😊

There hasn’t been much time for writing. I’ve got a bunch of ideas rolling around and a few poems are ready to flow. Once I can type on a table instead of propping up my keyboard on an open kitchen drawer and placing my laptop above it on the kitchen counter, I’ll write more. Until then, folks, wish us luck and enjoy yourselves, whatever it is you love doing.

Annie Shares News 2.9 September 2023

September 1, 2023 | Filed under writing

Annie Shares News Volume 2 Issue 9 September 2023
anniesharesnews@groups.io
Subscribe: anniesharesnews+subscribe@groups.io
www.annchiappetta.com

So Long, New York 🗽

That’s right, folks, we are on our way to our dream home in the keystone State, Pennsylvania. We will be living near the city of steel and bridges, Pittsburgh. Why did we choose Western PA, one might ask. It is rated one of the best locations for retired persons. House prices are reasonable and the cost of living and taxes are less. Let’s face it, we love our home State but it is a vampire when it comes to taxes and averages the highest COL in the United States. Oh, the other reason is we are tired of urban living and the noise pollution. Green spaces are great and we look forward to increasing some pastoral hobbies like birding, strolling around our neighborhood, container gardening and joining a social club for fun.
🦮
Many of you know I am a guide dog user and animal lover. Partnering with a guide dog is a beautiful and life-affirming responsibility. Staying in touch with other guide dog handlers is part of the lifestyle. Check out this great blog post by friend and colleague, Pat Leahy and guide dog Hogan.

And now a lyrical poem by Dreya the book dragon. She has returned from visiting her dragonkind in the mists and mountains.

Pages In Flight
Or song of the Book Dragon

By Dreya transcribed by Annie Chiappetta

Glide and soar
taste clouds and roar
Words on high
Sweep the skies

a dragon’s flight
noon or night
studies the wind
with a wink and a grin
Imagining

Pages found
Litter the ground
notes dance
a rainbow’s chance

a dragon’s flight
noon or night
rides the wind
Imagining

Figure 1Dreya the book dragon is smiling amid flying books and musical notes