Thursday, February 21, 2008

howdy, pardner


yay for horses! today lise took me out for a trail ride at beautiful lang's ranch near mt. vernon. perfect weather, nice horses and a great guide. many options, especially in summer, for various rides, classes and overnites. and of course they gladly accept volunteers . . .


wahoo


yummy fern snack


lise and digger share a laugh


i'm walkin' here


300 acres of trails in the woods


the rider becomes the ridee

Monday, February 18, 2008

a gorgeous president's day in the PNW

perfect for a hike! this is for the poor saps that don't work for the county and had to go to the office today. Here's what y'all missed . .


the first mosquito of spring! like a little bloodsucking groundhog.


bruno on lookout, scoping the scene for something to pee on


jupiter loves cougar


ava, hold still so i can take a picture


could that sky be any bluer?


i love fungus!! tastes nasty but looks so cool. this one is growing in the hair moss on the side of a tree.


these fungi are just around an inch tall. beautiful!

Monday, February 11, 2008

back and tan

today my friend marilyn the shelter vet and i were discussing our next trip, and it got me to thinking about why people like to volunteer. not only do we opt to work for free and cover our own expenses, we're often willing to pay an extra fee to the group we're helping out. are we martyrs? animal lovers? looking for a life less ordinary? or, as marilyn's son puts it, just "do-gooders"? maybe a little of all. ultimately--at least for me--it's self-serving, because knowing i played a part in bettering a life feels pretty sweet. and of course how totally cool it is to make friends with a monkey?!

"Altruism is selfishness out with a pair of field glasses and imagination." - Christina Stead

Saturday, February 02, 2008

hola mazatlan

it's 80 degrees, so why are we cold? must be the wind and the cold ocean water. this place is bizarre; hotels and resorts along the beach are huge, and the whole golden zone (along the beach where we are) feels like it was created for tourists. lots of tan gringos wearing senor frog's tee-shirts and drinking beers. not so tropical, feels more like vegas, a manufactured oasis in the desert.


it's our hotel! not. this is one of the swankier places on the strip. we're just pretending that we live here.



the shelter! amigos de los animales is small but surprisingly clean and pretty well functioning -- kennels for the dogs, a communal cat area and a tiny treatment/surgery area. they have a full time vet (they're called "medicos" here), a shelter manager and 2 employees who feed/clean cages/take dogs for walks. also volunteers help when they are available. we met 2 women from canada who fundraise and take some animals back to canada to find them homes. of course since it's latin america it's not as hectic as shelters in the states. they take in about 35 dogs a month and adopt out 25, cats 10 - 15 out and 100 in per month. many of the cats are feral or semi-feral so they do a lot of spay & release, and euthanasia of very old or sick cats. the staff are dedicated and nice and seemed glad to see us, but i felt a little redundant -- i was doing stuff the medico could easily have done himself and he just sat back and watched me, so it seemed like they didn't really need help. hmm, a little confusing. either way they're a good group and their goals are admirable, especially in a town where animal welfare is not a big priority.


el perro azul! this dog and her sister were owned by a local artist who painted them blue.


soaking up some rays


cat room


medico juan surveys the meds i brought


checking the incision of the previous day's neuter


treating an anemic pit mix. sweet dog with white gums. when we left she was still tired but doing alright.


giving IV fluids and glucose to laika, a street dog who had been in residence for 2 weeks and was depressed and anorexic. sometimes when street dogs are brought to the shelter they become depressed because even though it's safe and warm and there's food, they aren't used to being indoors and it weirds them out.

Blog Archive