Brad is gone. Wah. I got up at 4:00 this morning and went to the airport with him. I MISS HIM. ALREADY. ( And to think we used to routinely go five days, and sometimes weeks, and months without seeing each other before we were married...! How did we do that?) But it's all for a good cause. He is on a mission to bring Grandpa Charlie Pass out here to live on the East Coast. Huzzah for such an answer to prayer! This is a huge thing...literally YEARS in the making. It is so incredible to see God working this process out.
I was driving home today and heard a commercial on the radio...It was talking about how we have such hectic lives...but one way to relax was to...go to a carwash. WHAT? They said that it might be "the most satisfying thing you do all day." WHAAAAT? Okay, it might be somewhat satisfying to cross it off your list of things to do ...but The Most Satisfying Thing of Your Day? I hope I never reach that nadir where sitting in a carwash gives me fulfillment. Talk about pathetic! Ever heard of the Sabbath?
Last night we saw part of a program on TV called Brat Camp. It's basically a reality thing where troubled teens go to this wilderness therapy/correctional/challenge camp thingy...in the wilds of Oregon. Brad was intrigued. It felt to me like I was going back to work. There were a few differences between Sage Walk and the Antrim Girls' Shelter; for instance, we actually have walls and a roof, whereas they had a glorified tent, and also our facility is not co-ed...but a lot of the issues were the same. Interesting.
Signing off for now.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Rhododendrons and Dromedarys
We have a fantastic group of girls right now at the Shelter. I wish it was always thus.
Went on a field trip today to Rhododendron State Park in Fitzwilliam. I was a little disappointed as the rhododendrons were not blooming as profusely as I expected. However, it did provide a nice little hike before our picnic lunch...In spots, it was like a rhododendron tunnel and seemed positively jungle-like. I was glad I was not claustrophobic.
Lunch is supposed to be an event where you eat, not where you are eaten. But today's picnic lunch proved to be a little of both. The mosquitoes of Fitzwilliam have an unusually fierce bite. It looked like I was getting hives on my legs and ankles...thick, puffy, pink bites. Ergh. I doused myself with bug spray but it was too late.
After that we proceeded to TWINKLE TOWN to hone our mini-golfing technique. This morning, when Matt told the girls we were going to Twinkle Town, the girls - who are unfamiliar with the area- really thought we were going to a real town named Twinkle. Um. No. It was a pretty fun excursion, and gave the girls plenty of opportunity to practice anger management skills as they skyrocketed past par. And then we settled down to...MORE ICECREAM! Hurray! Moosetracks icecream is the best!
Last week when we went to Pack Monadnock for a picnic, we played,
" When I went to California..." You know...the game where you take turns listing things alphabetically. Well, my contribution for "D" was 'dromedary.' It was pretty hilarious listening to the girls try to remember and pronounce that one...It seemed like every girl had a different pronunciation each time they had a turn. Mostly, they settled on "drama-thing." This morning, I was quite impressed at the breakfast table to hear some of them reciting the whole alphabetical list of things from last weeks' game. They still hadn't really gotten the dromedary thing down. Some of the other items listed were, "A- Air-conditioning", "B- Boyfriend"..." G- goo-goo dolls", "H- hot guy..."
Speaking of California, Brad is heading west early tomorrow morning and I am dreading the next five days. It STINKS to not be with him. I am going to miss him so terribly much. We barely survived the last five day separation- when I went to Florida in January- and when I staggered in the door around 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning, January 25th, we swore to each other that we would never put each other through this again...but it must be done. Sigh. ( Well, I don't think we really swore to each other, but it would sound silly to say that we affirmed to each other, " Never again." Doesn't quite have the same desperate ring to it...) So I'm planning all sorts of things to keep me busy and distracted while he's gone. Wish me luck!
Went on a field trip today to Rhododendron State Park in Fitzwilliam. I was a little disappointed as the rhododendrons were not blooming as profusely as I expected. However, it did provide a nice little hike before our picnic lunch...In spots, it was like a rhododendron tunnel and seemed positively jungle-like. I was glad I was not claustrophobic.
Lunch is supposed to be an event where you eat, not where you are eaten. But today's picnic lunch proved to be a little of both. The mosquitoes of Fitzwilliam have an unusually fierce bite. It looked like I was getting hives on my legs and ankles...thick, puffy, pink bites. Ergh. I doused myself with bug spray but it was too late.
After that we proceeded to TWINKLE TOWN to hone our mini-golfing technique. This morning, when Matt told the girls we were going to Twinkle Town, the girls - who are unfamiliar with the area- really thought we were going to a real town named Twinkle. Um. No. It was a pretty fun excursion, and gave the girls plenty of opportunity to practice anger management skills as they skyrocketed past par. And then we settled down to...MORE ICECREAM! Hurray! Moosetracks icecream is the best!
Last week when we went to Pack Monadnock for a picnic, we played,
" When I went to California..." You know...the game where you take turns listing things alphabetically. Well, my contribution for "D" was 'dromedary.' It was pretty hilarious listening to the girls try to remember and pronounce that one...It seemed like every girl had a different pronunciation each time they had a turn. Mostly, they settled on "drama-thing." This morning, I was quite impressed at the breakfast table to hear some of them reciting the whole alphabetical list of things from last weeks' game. They still hadn't really gotten the dromedary thing down. Some of the other items listed were, "A- Air-conditioning", "B- Boyfriend"..." G- goo-goo dolls", "H- hot guy..."
Speaking of California, Brad is heading west early tomorrow morning and I am dreading the next five days. It STINKS to not be with him. I am going to miss him so terribly much. We barely survived the last five day separation- when I went to Florida in January- and when I staggered in the door around 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning, January 25th, we swore to each other that we would never put each other through this again...but it must be done. Sigh. ( Well, I don't think we really swore to each other, but it would sound silly to say that we affirmed to each other, " Never again." Doesn't quite have the same desperate ring to it...) So I'm planning all sorts of things to keep me busy and distracted while he's gone. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Marci's Tale of Woe and Intrigue: The Saga of the Fawn
And I thought I had some close encounters with New Hampshire's fauna recently...This story trumps all. It did not happen to me, but to my co-worker, the famous Marci, who I have written about before on this blog.
The following took place last Friday, as I was gone on my mini-vacation. So I hope I am reporting this story at least semi-accurately. Marci, if you are reading this, feel free to comment and correct me if I'm off on some of the details. (You don't have to have your own blog to leave a comment on mine.)
Marci, the soul of compassion and friend of animals everywhere, ( her apartment, I hear tell, is a veritable menagerie, complete with a huge, domesticated pig, and a disembodied human hand in a jar...not that the hand can really be said to be part of the menagerie...but it is indicative of her intrinsic intrigue...but I digress...) Anyway...where was I? Oh yes, Marci, soul of c, friend of a's everywhere, was on her way to work when she chanced upon a 'listless' and very small fawn.
( Listless was the word Matt used as he recounted the tale to me with great glee.) And being the thoughtful and considerate person that she is, she took pity upon the poor, unfortunate beast...stopped her car...and picked it up. ( No, it was not hitchhiking.) I still don't know all the details. Did she invite it, with tender coaxing and promises of treats? Did she pursue it on foot and tackle it? This part is a mystery. However, she got the fawn into the back of her vehicle and continued on to work. ( This is the difference between Marci and me. I would never have stopped. Can you imagine me stopping to pick up animals I have encountered? The beavers? The turkeys? The bear? Of course not. That would be silly. But even if I saw a fawn, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't stop! I guess I'm just plain ol' heartless.) Anyway- the fawn spent the rest of the day in the car...she did come out and feed it, and I'm sure she left the window cracked or something. But when she called the N.H. wildlife people to see if they would take the young thing back into the wild, they said they wanted to test for rabies...and to do that, you have to kill the animal. UNTHINKABLE! Apparently, the way the N.H. Wildlife people understood the matter, Marci would return it to the wild. However, she tried other facilities, hoping to find someone who could rehabilitate the fawn before returning it to the wild... but no one would take the poor thing. And apparently, someone from one of the places she called RATTED ON HER to the N.H. Wildlife people. So we have had game wardens and the like calling the Shelter, and coming to the Shelter, trying to track Marci down. So far, she has avoided them. She thinks perhaps she will end up in jail. Or lose her job. She was telling us this the other day at lunch and I thought it was so absolutely bizarrely hilarious that I had to make all kinds of jokes and give her a hard time. "What are you in here for?"" Armed robbery, murder, assault...."" What are you in here for?" "Um...fawn-napping..." This is one I have thought of since, " Marci had a little fawn..." ( sung to the tune of "Mary had a little lamb...") I could go all sorts of places with this. But I'll restrain myself.
Oh- and the REST of the story is- the fawn died, and she took it back to the woods. I don't know if she buried it or had a funeral or what. I think there are more dimensions to the story that I have left out...such as the game warden people not knowing that the fawn is dead...and Marci wondering whether she should tell them...and stuff like that. Poor Marci. Eventually, I took in some of the seriousness of the situation and stopped giving her such a hard time. In a way, you just have to know her to appreciate the hilarity and also the pathos of this story. She is one of my most favorite people at the Shelter -- hilariously funny, bold, unabashedly loud, fun to sing with, a great, talented cook, caring and considerate, and someone you can really talk to. She was trying to do such a good deed...and it backfired on her.
I guess the moral of the story is, the next time you see a listless fawn by the side of the road, steel yourself, harden your heart and drive on. If you heed not this warning, there's no telling what may happen next.
Further bulletins as events warrant.
The following took place last Friday, as I was gone on my mini-vacation. So I hope I am reporting this story at least semi-accurately. Marci, if you are reading this, feel free to comment and correct me if I'm off on some of the details. (You don't have to have your own blog to leave a comment on mine.)
Marci, the soul of compassion and friend of animals everywhere, ( her apartment, I hear tell, is a veritable menagerie, complete with a huge, domesticated pig, and a disembodied human hand in a jar...not that the hand can really be said to be part of the menagerie...but it is indicative of her intrinsic intrigue...but I digress...) Anyway...where was I? Oh yes, Marci, soul of c, friend of a's everywhere, was on her way to work when she chanced upon a 'listless' and very small fawn.
( Listless was the word Matt used as he recounted the tale to me with great glee.) And being the thoughtful and considerate person that she is, she took pity upon the poor, unfortunate beast...stopped her car...and picked it up. ( No, it was not hitchhiking.) I still don't know all the details. Did she invite it, with tender coaxing and promises of treats? Did she pursue it on foot and tackle it? This part is a mystery. However, she got the fawn into the back of her vehicle and continued on to work. ( This is the difference between Marci and me. I would never have stopped. Can you imagine me stopping to pick up animals I have encountered? The beavers? The turkeys? The bear? Of course not. That would be silly. But even if I saw a fawn, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't stop! I guess I'm just plain ol' heartless.) Anyway- the fawn spent the rest of the day in the car...she did come out and feed it, and I'm sure she left the window cracked or something. But when she called the N.H. wildlife people to see if they would take the young thing back into the wild, they said they wanted to test for rabies...and to do that, you have to kill the animal. UNTHINKABLE! Apparently, the way the N.H. Wildlife people understood the matter, Marci would return it to the wild. However, she tried other facilities, hoping to find someone who could rehabilitate the fawn before returning it to the wild... but no one would take the poor thing. And apparently, someone from one of the places she called RATTED ON HER to the N.H. Wildlife people. So we have had game wardens and the like calling the Shelter, and coming to the Shelter, trying to track Marci down. So far, she has avoided them. She thinks perhaps she will end up in jail. Or lose her job. She was telling us this the other day at lunch and I thought it was so absolutely bizarrely hilarious that I had to make all kinds of jokes and give her a hard time. "What are you in here for?"" Armed robbery, murder, assault...."" What are you in here for?" "Um...fawn-napping..." This is one I have thought of since, " Marci had a little fawn..." ( sung to the tune of "Mary had a little lamb...") I could go all sorts of places with this. But I'll restrain myself.
Oh- and the REST of the story is- the fawn died, and she took it back to the woods. I don't know if she buried it or had a funeral or what. I think there are more dimensions to the story that I have left out...such as the game warden people not knowing that the fawn is dead...and Marci wondering whether she should tell them...and stuff like that. Poor Marci. Eventually, I took in some of the seriousness of the situation and stopped giving her such a hard time. In a way, you just have to know her to appreciate the hilarity and also the pathos of this story. She is one of my most favorite people at the Shelter -- hilariously funny, bold, unabashedly loud, fun to sing with, a great, talented cook, caring and considerate, and someone you can really talk to. She was trying to do such a good deed...and it backfired on her.
I guess the moral of the story is, the next time you see a listless fawn by the side of the road, steel yourself, harden your heart and drive on. If you heed not this warning, there's no telling what may happen next.
Further bulletins as events warrant.
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