Thursday, Jan 30 - A second posting in one day. Sorry about that, but have to talk about a neat thing we discovered today. We were trying to figure out what to do this afternoon, and discovered an online site talking about the Dolphin Care Center. So we went there, and were amazed at what we saw. Some of you may know about Suzie Latchford in the County who does horse therapy. All of you will know about how effective dogs are in providing service to handicapped people. Now we can tell you that there is a center where dolphins provide a similar service.

Thirty years ago a woman had a child with major heart problems, who also had a stroke when he was two. The mother is a psychologist, so she found that he really responded well to water, and started a water therapy program for her son. She had permission to take her son to hotel pools, but they eventually asked her to desist, as the child was upsetting some of the patrons. So she found out about a dolphin pool, where people can pay to swim with dolphins. She finagled pool time out of the owner, and eventually was able, after a number of years, to purchase an adjacent lagoon, wherein she had several dolphins housed. Long story short, her program of therapy for her son grew into something now enjoyed by people from all over the world. There is a staff of about 30 people, most with training in Psychology or Behavioral Sciences, who administer a wide-ranging set of programs for people of various physical and emotional disabilities. The son...learned to walk after two years, and is now in his 30s, normal, and getting married on Saturday. One of the staff, by the way, who has been in the center for 11 years, has a family place on the shore of the St. Lawrence near Gananoque.

The dolphins are truly amazing...responsive, intelligent, communicative, playful, and enabling of programs aimed at the therapeutic needs of the clientele who come here. Veterans, children, families, older people, anyone over the age of two is eligible to come for the programs. There is a fairly steep price tag for those who come for a week-long session, but there is also funding available for those who can't afford the price tag. The benefits are profound, to the point that families come from as far away as Germany to go through the therapy for a family member on an annual basis. We loved watching the feeding process, and the training that the trainers put their charges through. Quite an amazing program.

Second item of interest. We went down to the waterside to watch the sunset. On the way back, we commented to a fellow who had a Portuguese water dog that he must be a Democrat to have such a pet (Obama's family had two of them). He said he really wasn't either, as he's Canadian. A little chat led to the fact that his daughter works at a local craft brewery in Picton...Parson's. Her name is Emily, and we'll be sure to look her up when we get home. Another example of the 'small world' phenomenon.

Another good day. On to Joyce's in Palm City tomorrow. Stay tuned. More later.