It's snowing...again. I mean, "yea!"

Pooch? Not a big fan of snow.

the new puzzle

and my friend, Hannah, who likes doing puzzles as much as I do. yea!!!

The finished product:)

puzzle update

I remembered to get a picture of me!

With me is Jerry, a previous co-worker of mine from REI and currently, my neighbor.  He leads outdoor trips around the Northwest and on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I was his assistant up on Mt. Hood.  It was only my second time snowshoeing.  

Despite the angry winds sweeping Portland and the surrounding area, we followed our trusty guide to the southeastern side of the mountain where there was absolutely no wind nor a cloud in the sky.  It was cold, but gorgeous.

Some of the pictures below seem like crazy combinations of color, but I swear that it was it actually looked like.  We were driving back as the sun was setting and the colors were fantastic. Depending on the light a tree received, it could have been green and lush with life or completely encased in glassy ice.  The transitions between these two scenes were abrupt and awe-inspiring.

Snowshoeing on Mt. Hood

My current 2000 piece puzzle

Dar Es Salaam

Fairy portals, arbutus, and love...oh my!

Fall Fair!

By the way, below on the green slide is The great zucchini race!

Fall Fair!!!!

It feels like my time is almost up

Sometimes in the middle of the night as I stumble my way to the bathroom, I stand in the dark and listen to the seals dream. Small splashes, grunts and groans, and the recent full moon leave me wanting more. I'm not ready to leave, but it feels like my departure is right around the corner.

Outside of animal care, many things have happened since my last post. I was asked by Jeff, the centre's founder, to give an educational presentation to a group at a retirement home which was quite an honor, particularly since Jeff hasn't said more than a handful of words to me during the entire internship. I won't be doing the presentation because it isn't for another week past my planned departure date...oh well.

The other day, I hiked Mt. Erskine, about 1400 ft. in an hour, to see what is supposedly one of the best views in British Columbia. It was beautiful though almost every view around here looks gorgeous. If you manage to increase your elevation in this part of the world through any means (hiking, planing, or spontaneously becoming a bird) suddenly you find yourself looking down on Pacific inlets, narrows, and ferries busily buzzing between the many green-spiked islands. If you're lucky, beyond the green humps, you will see snow-capped mountains ringing the horizon. I always feel like I have become part of a map and I find myself looking for the key on the tops of mountains. (The zoomed-in granite photo above is a monument to a hiker which we found on the top of Mt. Erskine...I hope that you all can read it.)

I have become the informal staff photographer around here. The "no picture taking" rules have been negotiated as the other interns and staff have set their own cameras down in lieu of getting copies of my shots. This means that I have had the opportunity to get close-ups of several off-limits seals and to spend some of my work time wandering with camera in hand to better catch everyone in action. (Now the only trick is getting pictures of me. My room-mate Crystal, the best room-mate in the world, is working on it. She grabs my camera every so often and sneaks around trying to catch me.)

Enjoy the new photos!

I got to experience Salt Spring's first pride parade!

...and it was awesome!

The season's first seal release!

A slippery, bouncy slide of a truck ride to a place they likely don't remember...a really big swimming pool with waves and living fish! Luckily, the "big guys" (Stockholm, Pasadena, Berlin, and Muncie) have plenty of blubber to act as built-in shock absorbers.  They didn't seem to mind the bumpy ride at all, only that they couldn't easily see out the windows.

...a little trepidation

...and away they go

A good day

To all who are wondering, Kelowna is almost back to normal pup health.  She is breathing well, has a normal temperature, and is biting us as often as possible.  We are now observing her closely to confirm that there was no brain damage during her feverish episodes as she seems to have changed her behavior rather drastically.  

Our newest admittee is named Dar es Salaam and has a melon head:)  Hopefully, the unfortunate head to body ratio is part of her awkward adolescence and not a sign of a greater problem.  

I have now been trained on the pools.  This means that sometimes during a feed, I go on my own out to one of our outdoor swimming pools.  I pull over-sized raincoats and fishing pants on and drag a big bucket of fish up the ramp.  Precariously, I climb over the fence attempting to hold onto my sloshing boots which are often several sizes too big while I scan the deck for any sick seals.  I am usually disturbing their mid-day nap and have to step in my goofy garb carefully amongst the pile of sunbathing pinnipeds, like a hippo on point shoes.   As they begin to detect the nearby presence of fish, the grunts begin.  Some go straight for the boots, chewing away.  Others dive anxiously into the water knowing that is the only way to get fish and the sneaky few pretend to be sleeping through it all until I turn my back, at which point, they go straight for the bucket.  It is a mess of fun!  Every time that I struggle into the absurdly ill-fitting outfits,  I feel like I have attained one of my dreams.  

The caretaker in me

As I was stuffing vitamins down the gills of a dead, slimy herring today, I realized how surprised some of you would be to see me getting down and dirty with piles of smelly fish. Well I do and I am actually pretty good at it.   Around here, I am known as someone who can handle the gross stuff.  (I drew the line yesterday at pulling the heads off of living mealworms for the bat. Our head vet had to do it, but the bat didn't make it anyway.)   

So far today, I worked with the seals from 7:30 this morning until 5:30PM.  As everyone else was then on a formal shift, I was recruited to jump in the rescue vehicle with one of our fellows to go searching for a fawn who had just been hit by a car.  We scrabbled through the blackberries receiving many an odd look from locals as we trespassed their overgrown properties and searched.  I found nothing, but Heather managed to find not one, but two fawns and three does!  One was dragging a back left leg while leading the whole deer troupe up the path and away seemingly unperturbed by his new three legged status.  As fawns do not traditionally do well under the abrupt care of humans and we can't restrain his leg long enough to heal, we left him in the care of his presumed mom and hope for the best.  Oh, and my adventures for the day are not done.  I am on shift for the late night feed so I get more seal time yet.  

For everyone who is reading this; please send your thoughts, energy, and prayers to Kelowna, a beautiful female seal pup who is fighting pneumonia and a lethal strain of herpes.  She has been struggling for almost 48 hours now and we are doing everything we can to hold on to her.  She is full of IV lines, gets her temp checked on the hour and is under 24 hour supervision.  Herpes is common for newborn seals and most of the pups that we have here were prematurely birthed so they are predisposed to it.  We have already lost a few to Herpes, but with every day Kelowna has more chance of pulling through.  Typically, it either kills or antibodies are successfully produced within 6 days.  I stand by her and breathe with her as often as I can.  

more salt.