The Extraordinary Life of CoCo from Puppy Mill to Paris - Part 4

I apologize for not getting this out sooner. Time is flying . . . But I wanted to make sure to finish this lovely story of CoCo being my travel/adventure partner in my move to France. So here we are . . . With much practice I figured out how to maneuver 2 large suitcases, a backpack and CoCo's carrier with me on the long journey from Colorado Springs to Justian, France. She was considered my carry-on so she could be with me in the passenger area, but had to be under the seat in front of me for take-off and landing. I was able to upgrade my international segment so that I had an empty seat next to me and once we were in the air I was allowed to set her carrier on that seat and, while I couldn't take her out, I could unzip the top enough to fit my hand in there and reassure her that all was well. Yes, I had to pay to have her on the flight. And I had observed all the regulations that are required to take your dog overseas. But it was totally worth it! Because of poor planning on my part (at the time I thought it would be helpful to take stopovers rather than travel the 15 hours straight to get to SW France) it took us four days, four airports, three flight segments, four hotel rooms, planes, trains, taxis and finally my rental car before we arrived at our little rental cottage where we would live for seven glorious months! CoCo did so well with all of those changes and lack of a consistant schedule. She was my little trooper!! This was September of 2016.

I brought her bed and her carseat with us so she had some familiar things as we journeyed from Colorado Springs to Toulouse, France and then by car to Lassénat St Georges - our final destination. Everyday was a new adventure which we thoroughly enjoyed. I even loved all the crazy things that happened, like trying to open a bank account (they questioned my nationality even with showing them every bit of ID I had!), buying a car with an automatic transmission (those do not exist in France!), getting car and rental insurance (for a foreigner) It was certainly a learning curve and I couldn't have done it without the help of my wonderful landlords (who became my "famille française").

When CoCo and I arrived at the cottage for the first time we were greeted very warmly by Hélène and Giuseppe, and not so warmly by their three cats, Penny (la grande dame!), Kitty and baby Misty. The humans were happy to see us but the cats weren't sure what to make of CoCo. It didn't help that CoCo hated cats! After taking a few days to unpack the two suitcases I had brought and the two boxes of things I had mailed over before we left, we were ready to go exploring. So much to see in this part of France which used to be known as Gascony and only a couple of hours from the Pyrénées mountains and Spain.

Something that I loved doing every week was visiting the Thursday morning market in the nearby town of Eauze. This is by far the largest and best outdoor market in this area of SW France - everything from produce to farming equipment, linens to trees, books to kitchen tools. Any and every thing you could possibly need or want can be found at this year-round market. It was in visiting this market that I realized I needed a way to carry CoCo around with me and still have my arms free. She was so little that I didn't want to keep her on a leash in this really crowded area. I was afraid she would get stepped on! So I went in search of a purse that was large enough for her to sit in comfortably and would go cross-body. A clothing and accessory store in a nearby town had the perfect one! CoCo seemed very happy with it and "rode" quite easily in it never trying to jump out. A "win-win" for us both!

She went everywhere with me. When the weather was warm enough, we followed some walking paths through the forests and countrysides. We went shopping and on short over-night trips. In November we drove north to visit the Loire valley with its magnificent chateaux. We saw Fontevraud Abbey where Eleanor of Aquitaine, her husband Henry II and son Richard the Lionheart are buried. And we visited one of the most beautiful zoos anywhere - the Zoo de Beauval! And CoCo could come along everywhere -even to the zoo! The purse idea was so helpful! And it came in very handy when I started having visitors in January and February. The French are very dog-friendly and most businesses, including restaurants, are quite happy to welcome canines! One of the many things I love about France. In fact, many family run restaurants have their own dog who is the "greeter"! So as my visitors came and I wanted to show them as much of my little corner of France as I could, it was great to be able to bring CoCo along on some of those really long days. In February, my good friend, Beth arrived for three weeks of fun and adventure. I had planned a 5 day road-trip to Paris for part of her stay. It was Beth who coined the term "pooch in a pouch"! I loved it! Everyone in Paris fell in love with CoCo. The problem with that was that CoCo didn't like people and I would have to warn everyone who commented on how cute she was that she was not friendly: "elle n'est pas gentille!". Some of them didn't think I was serious and would reach out to her. I was very proud of her (and relieved!) that she never showed any aggression! whew!!

We came back to Colorado in March of 2017 after having an absolutely fabulous time, seeing and visiting places that I had long wanted to see, and making life-long friends. Our journey home was easy. We flew from Toulouse to Frankfort and then it was a direct flight from there to Denver where Beth was waiting to pick us up. CoCo spent about 15 hours total in her carrier and again was perfectly behaved. She did mellow some during the 11 years that I had her. She finally would let Andy give her treats (but not pet her!) That was progress, as far as I was concerned. There's no way of knowing the trauma that she had endured in the three years she was kept in a cage at the puppy mill. For those who did not know her story, they probably thought that she was a little crazy. I always tried to warn people about her possible aggressive behavior and it was an opportunity for me to educate people about the horrors of puppy mills. But, I know how far she had come. She had overcome so much. She was smart and beautiful and I still miss her everyday. I'm so thankful for Bella and Max - and now Gwinnie - all of them are puppy mill rescues. All of them have different stories. The best feeling in the world is adopting a shelter dog and knowing that you are giving them the life they deserve. Thank you for reading my blog. It means the world to me! Merci!! Now what will I write about???!!!

The Extraordinary Life of CoCo - From Puppy Mill to Paris Part 3

First of all I must apologize for taking so long to write Part 3 of CoCo's story. There are 2 very good reasons for that. The first one being that my computer and my blog app do not seem to like each other as of December. It has become frustrating to try to figure out how to combat (yes, I mean that!) this difficulty. The format looks very different and it is not as user friendly as it used to be. The second reason is a little white fluffy dog named Gwinnie! She joined our household the Monday after Christmas and is worthy of her own blog post - later. But now back to CoCo! In the year leading up to my move to France there was a flurry of activity as I prepared my house for sale and CoCo for the long flight in a small carrier. I hired a trainer so we could work on her getting comfortable being in a carrier for hours at a time. We had 3 private sessions with her and they were very helpful. Then I started taking CoCo to as many places as I could that were dog-friendly - sometimes keeping her in her carrier and sometimes just carrying her around stores in my arms. The trainer suggested putting her in an agility class as those sessions were good to build confidence and help with command obedience. It just so happened that the training center was going to have agility classes for small breeds and so I signed CoCo up for those. I know why poodles were so popular with circuses in years past. They are not only cute and playful, but they are great athletes and performers. This was another example of CoCo doing things to please me! I'm not sure she was that excited about performing all of those tricks, but she was really good at them and I had a great time!

One of the places where she was welcome was the Garden of the Gods Trading Post. I started taking her there to be around people and to have lunch. On our first four or five visits CoCo shook the entire time, even in my arms. She was so little that I seldom put her on the ground when we were in crowds. I wss afraid she'd get stepped on. Eventually, she came to be quite comfortable being at the Trading Post with me. I always had to warn people that she was not friendly. Most people wanted to pet her, but she was known to bite, so a warning was in order. I also took her on a few car trips and on a few domestic flights to see how she would do in her carrier. I did a lot of reading about flying with dogs and checking with airlines and, of course, with France, to see what their requirements were for transporting dogs. She had to stay in her carrier while on the plane, but it was ok to have her in my lap in the airport waiting areas. She adapted really well!! I read that take off and landing were usually the worst for the dogs in their carriers under the seat because of all the vibrations of being on the tarmac. To help allay that anxiety it was suggested that I unzip the carrier just enough to fit my foot inside to assure her that I was still there and wouldn't let anything happen to her. This seemed to help a lot. She would settle down and stop whimpering as soon as I did that. Depending on the flight crew I was allowed to put her carrier in my lap once at cruising altitude (not all crews on United flights were ok with that, so I always asked.) We made a road trip to visit family in Texas and another one to Albuquerque to apply for my Global Entry pass (the Denver airport didn't have any appointments available in time for me to insure that I would get the pass in plenty of time before I moved to France.) That was her first experience in an airport. I was curious about what airports required when it came to having dogs inside. It was a good learning experience for both of us. It was also good to have her sleeping in a few different hotel rooms on those trips to see how she would do. I always took her bed with us so she understood that we were sleeping in these strange places. While all this was going on with CoCo I was getting my house ready to sell. That meant scraping popcorn ceilings, painting walls, refinishing wood floors, getting rid of most of my earthly possessions, taking things to Good Will, renting a storage unit for those things that I didn't want to get rid of, and eventually putting the house on the market. My days were full. I'm sure CoCo knew something was going on but she was such a little trooper!

The house sold faster than I thought it would and I needed a place to stay for about 2 months before the move! My dearest friend, Stacy, offered me her mom's empty townhouse for as long as I needed it! Such a blessing! So CoCo and I moved out of our big house (which I had lived in for over 40 years!) and into a place that CoCo had never seen before. Once again, she was such a good girl! She seemed to realize that if my luggage was there and her bed was there then she was safe. There was no yard, just a small back patio area, so we got used to sitting on the front porch with her on a long lead so she could enjoy the grass and do her thing. She was always really good at going potty on cue! If I was gone, she was so good about staying in the townhouse and watching for my return.

I had to get her into the vet for a certificate of international travel. It stated that all of her shots were up-t-date and she was healthy. Then I had to make an appointment at the USDA office in Denver so they could certify that the vet was a licensed vet in the US and then I received another certificate from the USDA that would be recognized at customs once I landed in France. For a fee, of course! And all of that had to be done withing 10 days of our international flights. After many months of preparation we were ready to go. I had two large suitcases, a backpack and CoCo in her carrier. I had sent a couple of boxes ahead of me to my rental cottage in France. I was soon to find out how blessed I was with the friendship of my landlords! Cindy came four days before my departure. During those days I sold my car, had one last visit to the zoo, had my going away party at the Stroup's house and did final packing. Cindy, CoCo and I stayed our final night in a hotel close to the airport as I had an early morning flight. Andy met us at the airport so he and Cindy could see us off. I was so excited I didn't have time to be sad at leaving the two people I love most in the world! Somehow having CoCo with me helped the transition on this epic lifetime journey on which we were embarking. Goodbye USA and bonjour France! I guess I'll need one more blog post to actually get CoCo to France and eventually to Paris! Until then, thank you for joining me on this written memoire. Part 4 coming soon!

The Extraordinary Life of CoCo - From Puppy Mill to Paris Part 2

A number of years ago I read an article about rescue dogs that said dogs think of their adopters as their saviors. I really do believe that to be true for CoCo. She adored me and wanted only me in her life. She had no desire to form relationships with anyone else and only accepted the dogs in her "pack". This was obvious in her being aggresive towards others. In order for her to not bite or go after someone who was in our house or walking towards our car I would have to hold her. Then she would settle down. But I had to warn people not to try to pet her. She was such a cute little white fluffy dog that everyone commented on how sweet she looked - and I had to tell them the truth. "Unfortunately, she is not as sweet as she looks. She will bite." But she did anything I asked of her. After I retired from teaching I moved all of us - CoCo, Huck and my 20 year old frog Whiskers - to Liberal, KS to help care for my aging mom. I rented out my house in the Springs and, with Andy's expert moving skills, moved everything to Kansas to a lttle rental there. I continued to learn a lot about CoCo and mill dogs in those two years. She was great in the car, but then she was great as long as she could be with me and near me. Huck, being part Husky, loved to run so I would let him and CoCo out in the alley about once a week. It was so funny watching CoCo's little legs try to keep up with Huck. She, of course, had never run before - not much chance to do that when you live in a tiny cage. Her body would get more momentum going than her legs could keep up with and she would do sommersaults! She had more courage and tenacity than any dog I've ever had! I started doing some traveling during those years and found someone to come over and take care of the dogs and the frog while I was gone. I made sure they came to meet the dogs first. Huck was always happy to see someone come. CoCo wanted to get rid of them! I told the sitters that the best thing they could do would be to not try to engage CoCo in any way. I had treats available and told the sitters to toss treats to her - she would not take them out of anyone's hand but mine. And I told them that she would not jump up on the bed to sleep with her (it had to be a female sitter) so to put CoCo's bed on the floor next to where Huck slept. Eventually, she got used to my being gone and would tolerate having a sitter around. She also tolerated the move back to the Springs when I moved my mom to live with me here. That was also an adjustment. She wasn't sure what to think of Mom's walker! But she was tolerant (I seem to use that word a lot with CoCo) of my mom and her presence in our home. Mom was with us for 2 1/2 years before she passed away and she really enjoyed having the dogs around.

One thing that stayed persistant in CoCo's life was her love of sunshine. She loved to find a ray of sun coming through the window and she would lie there and preen, like a cat. It was so cute to watch her. She started her life never seeing the sun and so she wanted to absorb as much as possible. If we were outside she would start in my lap, but if the sun shifted so did she!

CoCo and Huck were best friends. In the next post I will write about our move to France. What a grand adventure we had! Thank you so much for reading my blog. I always appreciate your comments.

The Extraordinary Life of CoCo: From Puppy Mill to Paris - Part 1

    Almost twelve years ago I decided to adopt a little white fluffy dog from our local humane society.  I had always had big dogs, but I was looking to "downsize" my life in many ways having just retired.  This little white fluffy dog was about to teach me many things about life and resilience and overcoming a rough beginning.

   I had seen a report on our local news station about a puppy mill raid in Missouri.  The report said that 30 of those small breed dogs would be taken in by our local humane society and once they had passed quarantine they would be available for adoption. I had two large, older dogs at the time, both rescues.  Asha was a shepherd mix who was about 14 and Huck was a husky/lab mix and was about 6.  

   When I first saw CoCo, she was lying in a ball on a rug in her kennel at the humane society.  She was a pitiful looking tiny little filthy miniature poodle and something tugged at my heart.  I asked if I could meet her and they had me go into a little room where, in just a few minutes, they brought in this little dog.  She immediately became really interested in the room and was exploring everything in it - except me!  I was sitting on the floor and she would come to my arms' length, but no closer.  I'd reach out and she would back up.  (That reaction would continue off and on for her entire life.)  I will never forget the volunteer's words: "Her interest in things around her shows that she is not defeated."  I was to learn many things about puppy mills from that day on.

 

CoCo when I first brought her home

   She let me pick her up and I held her against my heart and talked softly to her.  She allowed this from me, but I could tell she would rather be on the floor so I put her back down and watched her continue to explore the room.  After about 15 minutes the volunteer put her back in her kennel and said I had one hour to decide before they would start showing her to other people.  I watched her put CoCo back in that kennel and she immediately went back into a little ball and just laid there.  I decided then and there that she would never spend another night in a cage and she came home with me at that moment!

   They had spayed her a few days earlier and she had a slight infection so they gave me an antibiotic ointment to use on her and said to limit her activity until the stitches were fully healed.  I remember asking them if they were sure she was a WHITE miniature poodle as she was so discolored that she looked like champagne or ivory with splotches of yellow.  They assured me that with a few groomings she would be white.  Puppy mill dogs live in their own filth for years.

   I had prepared my house to introduce my larger dogs to a little one.  I had an area of my bedroom blocked off with a dog arena pen.  There were towels and puppy pads covering the carpet and she had a bed and food and water.  Of course the older dogs were fascinated with this little one, and CoCo showed no fear of them.  That first day I just held her on my lap and massaged her little skinny body with some lavender essential oils.  She smelled as bad as she looked, poor little thing!  She seemed to enjoy the touch and was quite content to just lay on my lap and let me do that.  

   That night I put her in her arena where she settled into her little bed without any encouragement from me.  The big dogs settled down on their beds on the floor of my bedroom and all was well that first night.  The next morning CoCo was ready to get out of the pen and do some exploring.  Since I wasn't sure yet how my big dogs would react to her being in their "territory" (although neither of them had ever shown any aggression towards any dogs) I wanted to take things slowly.  I opened the arena gate just enough that CoCo could get out, but the big dogs couldn't go in.  That way, if she was overwhelmed with them she could retreat to the safety of the arena.  But once she was out, there was no going back!  She was ready for freedom and all the dogs got along great. 

Asha, Huck and CoCo after a few weeks (and a grooming!)

 

   CoCo had never learned to play (and never had any interest in playing).  She had no problem "telling" the big dogs to back off.  In fact, she quickly became the alpha of the pack.  At 8 pounds she could put Asha and Huck in their places!  She never showed any fear of anyone of anything or other dogs.  She was spunky!!  And I loved it!  It didn't take long for all the dogs to be fine all together.  

   This was the end of February in 2009.  We had some really nice sunny days and I took CoCo into the backyard to explore the outdoors.  This was all new to her!  As a puppy mill breeder for the first 2+ years of her life, she had never been outside.  She had never seen the sun (she came to be quite the sun goddess!), or felt grass or dirt.  She had never seen birds or squirrels or heard any of the outdoors sounds.  I was amazed watching her.  She would lie in the grass for hours and just take it all in.  She eventually realized that dirt was a really fun thing to dig!

   That first week with her was an eye-opener for me.  I had heard of puppy mills and knew they were bad, but I really didn't know that much about the horrors that these dogs experience.  Watching CoCo and seeing how different she was from other rescues that I had adopted over the years, I could see the scars - some of which stayed with her for the rest of her life.  Also, physical scars.  Her front legs showed signs of having been dislocated at some point in her life.  This probably happened when she was being pulled out of her cage.  Her front shoulders were much lower than her back hips.

She didn't look much like a poodle when I brought her home

    The second night she was home was a completely different story from the first.  I mentioned that the first night she stayed in her little bed in the arena in my bedroom all night.  I never heard a peep out of her and I assumed that would be her little "home" every night.  Nope!!  The next night started out the same way as the first.  I put her in her little area.  Asha and Huck settled into their beds and I thought all was well - until CoCo started jumping up and down trying to get out of her arena.  I was afraid she would tear the stitches from her spay so I opened up the gate to let her out into the rest of the bedroom.  I thought she'd be happy with that.  Nope!!

   She tried to jump up on the bed with me!  I had never let my big dogs get on the furniture or sleep on my bed.  I had a waterbed for years which was not the best place for 100+ pound dogs to be!  So I had no dogs sleeping in bed with me.  Or so I thought!  I really was worried that she would do herself some harm by the continuous jumping so I finally picked her up and placed her on the side of my bed.  At which point she settled in as though she had been waiting for that spot her entire life!  She kept scooting closer and closer to me and I kept scooting over further and before I knew it she was in the very middle of the bed and I had a small corner!  I put her little bed on top of my bed next to me and she was perfectly happy to sleep there!  A win for both of us.

   Our little family got along so well.  CoCo was a great addition.  Throughout the month of March CoCo taught me many more things about life in a puppy mill.  When I took her to my vet for her surgery follow-up he said the stitches were healing well, the infection was gone and she seemed very healthy other than being underweight which is a definite puppy-mill thing as they are fed the least amount of the cheapest food possible.  I said she seemed pretty small for a miniature poodle and he said she was a "tweener"!  Meaning she was between the size of a miniature and a toy.  The most likely reason for this is that the puppy mill started breeding her before she was full grown.  And so all of the hormones that should have been going to her to help her grow were now going to her pups.  So her growth was stunted at the time of her first pregnancy.

   Another thing I learned about her is that she had no depth perception.  She would try to jump up on the couch or chair where I was sitting and she would miss it by about 6 inches.  At first I thought maybe she was just a klutz, but then I realized she had never jumped up on anything in her life and so had no idea how she was supposed to do that.  She just knew that she wanted to be wherever I was and so she was willing to try.  She figured it out within a dozen tries, but those first few were rather comical if not heartbreaking.  

   And, she had never been groomed!  Once her stitches were completely healed I decided to take her to get her bathed and clipped.  I had never had a dog who needed to be groomed so I didn't have groomer that I knew.  There was a grooming facility not far from my house so I called them and made an appointment.  I explained that she was a puppy mill rescue and had spent all of her life in a cage so I was concerned about them caging her before and after her grooming.  I'm sure they were good with her, but I had to drop her off for almost the entire day!  I was so happy when a few months later I found Trish!!  She works out of her home and was always so loving - and quick!- with getting CoCo beautiful.  And  now she grooms Max, too. It did take about 4 grooming sessions for her to be completely white and silky.  I always told her that she must have had beautiful babies!  

Now she looks like an actual poodle!

 

   The next lesson, for her and for me, was signing her up for some training.  I knew she was smart and I probably could have done the training myself, but I also knew that the socialization for her being in a group of other dogs and around other people would be good for her.  So I signed her up for puppy classes at a nearby PetSmart.  She was not amused!  She did not like being with other dogs or other people.  She tolerated the classes for my sake (she tolerated a lot of things during her life to please me!).  She surprised us all by her lack of interest in treats.  She responded to the commands by my praising her.  The trainer had never had a dog who refused treats.  She started bringing all kids of wonderful treats to try on her, but nothing worked.  CoCo just wanted me to tell her how good she was.  (She eventually realized that treats were a wonderful thing!)

   There were many things that she was able to overcome as she lived with me.  But some things remained with her for most of her life.  She saw it as her duty to protect me, our house, our car, our yard.  She did not let anyone but me touch her.  She hated men and especially men who wore ball caps.  She finally got to where she would tolerate Andy, but she would not let him near her.  At least she stopped trying to bite his ankles!  That was big step! ha!  

   If I was sitting outside in the sunshine she wanted to be in my lap.  That continued her entire life.  Although if I wasn't sitting in the sunshine she would go lie where the sunshine was.  If I was on the couch she would lie next to me.  She just needed to know where I was at all times.

   Asha died in her sleep a few months after I adopted CoCo.  At that point she and Huck started enjoying each other's company.  They would even try to play which was rather comical since Huck was abut 100 pounds and CoCo was 8.  She did gain some weight after a few months of being on good dog food.  She and Huck remained close for the rest of his life.

Huck and CoCo the Couch Princess

 

   In my next installment of "CoCo Goes to Paris", I'll talk about the changes in my own life, moving to Kansas to care for my mom and then moving Mom back to Colorado where she lived with me and the 2 dogs.  I hope you don't mind reading about my sweet CoCo.  I find that it is really helping me with my grief to be able to write about her.  She may have been only 8 pounds, but she took up a Great Dane sized place in my heart.  Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

Vive le Tour de France and the French Open

    I can't tell you how wonderful it was to watch these two international sporting events this year!  So many sports competitions have been and continue to be cancelled due to the pandemic and for some of you this may not be a big deal.  I have many friends who take no particular interest in following professional sports. But for me, I have always loved watching the Tour de France and the Grand Slam tennis championships.

   I have been a fan of the Tour since the days of Greg LeMonde, the first American to ever win this international competition.  I have always enjoyed watching the cyclists racing through the villages and towns of France, past gothic cathedrals and churches, past medieval castles and abbeys, through the lovely countryside with its vineyards and fields of lavender and sunflowers.  And finally, racing down the Champs-Elysees in Paris on the final day of the 21 day competition.  

 

   This year it was especially important for me since I can't travel to France.  I could, at least, enjoy "visiting" the country every day for those 3 weeks on my television.  It was a bitter-sweet experience and often involved a few tears.  As most of you know, if you've been reading my blog since the beginning, I have had a long running love affair with France and right now I miss it like I miss a lost loved one!

   It was uncertain earlier on in the pandemic whether any of the cycling or tennis competitions would take place this year.  There were (and still are) many questions surrounding the safety of traveling between countries.  Both the T de F and the French Open were held at a later time with many of the competitions leading up to both of these having been cancelled.  There was no Wimbledon this year and the French Open, usually held in the summer, was changed to October.  And the T de F, usually held in July, was postponed to September.

   But, oh how grateful I am that they took place at all!  The French Open is held at the Roland Garros stadium complex on the outskirts of Paris and every telecast included views of the city, often of the Eiffel Tower and its glittering lights every evening.

 

    So, I am thankful for what did take place and for the cyclists and players who were willing to go through all the extra precautions in order to be able to participate.  Unlike American sports, these athletes come from all over the world and so have to "jump through hoops" to be able to travel between countries.  It has been a challenge for everyone to figure out how to make it as safe as possible for them.

   On those days when I feel the depression taking hold (and it does from time to time) I try to think about the things I love and can look forward to.  We have babies at the zoo!  Our siamang couple had a baby last month.  Surprise!  No one knew she was pregnant!  And we have a 2 week old giraffe.  Not a surprise, but certainly a blessing.  We have newly arrived pelicans - a mated pair - who are living with our penguins.  That in itself brings some comic relief!

Eve with her baby

Baby giraffe - tiny and cute

A gift for Penelope

 

   And I look forward to December when I will be going to Universal Studios Orlando for the fifth year in a row to enjoy the parks with my "magical" friend, Renae.  We can pretend we are visiting Scotland while at Hogsmeade and London while at Diagon Alley.  Then we are in Costa Rica when we visit Jurassic Park and San Diego when we are on the wharf.  And New York City and New Orleans and Hollywood and ET's planet . . . 

Hogwarts Castle at Hogsmeade

Gringott's Wizarding Bank in Diagon Alley

 

   I hope you are all finding ways to cope with the craziness that is 2020.  AND, it's an election year!!!  What else can go wrong?  No, don't answer that!!  Let's try to keep our chins up and do what we can to bring happiness and joy to others.  As bad as I feel on some days I know there are others whose circumstances are much worse than mine.  I still have much to be thankful for.  For example, I'm thankful that there are still people reading my blogs! :-)

Beginnings and Endings

 It has been a long time since I've written a blog post.  To be honest, I've been dealing with some depression off and on over the past few months.  It's hard being isolated from all my friends and being unable to do the things I normally enjoy like lunches with friends, movies, vacations . . . 

It was wonderful when the zoo reopened and that has become my place of relaxation and renewal!  And we have an adorable baby moose!!  Atka came to us at about 10 weeks old having been orphaned in Alaska.  He is now almost 5 months and still gets a couple of bottles a day - big moose-sized bottles.  He is quite the cute little guy and enjoys "zooming" around his enclosure.  His keepers have had to baby-proof his outdoor area as it is quite large with some obstacles that are fine for a full-grown moose, but could be tricky for a little guy.  It will be so fun watching him grow and eventually get his antlers.  We lost our older moose about 10 weeks before Atka came to us and that enclosure just seemed so empty.  What a wonderful thing that we now have a new baby to enjoy and love.

 

This morning was the funeral service of a friend and former student, Don Ward.  The family invited me to come but I'm still not comfortable being indoors for long periods of time and so I told his sister, Cindy, that I would be there in spirit.  Don was a very important person to our entire community as he was one of the evening newscasters for KKTV here in the Springs.  So the entire city, and beyond, are mourning his passing.  It was very unexpected.  He was hiking Mount Cameron with friends over the weekend and collapsed just below the summit.  They think it was a heart attack.  He was only 55.  

I had just seen and visited with him a couple of weeks ago at the newsroom.  I was interviewed regarding my participation in the Phase 3 Covid vaccine trial.  When I finished with the interview Don had a few minutes and we sat down and chatted - about everything!  He was a student of mine in the late 70s at Sabin Junior High.  I really enjoyed having him in my French and Drama classes.  He was quite gifted as a student and as a performer.  In fact, he went on to study drama at CU and then found his true calling as a TV reporter. Our paths have crossed numerous times over the many years that we have known each other.  He was funny, bright, talented, generous and a loving son, brother and uncle to his family.  So I have been a little weepy the past few days. 

 Towards the end of the live stream broadcast of Don's service this morning, I received a text and photo from France of Hélène and Giuseppe's grandson, Raphael.  It seemed so fitting that I would be saying goodbye to one friend who just left this world and then say hello to a tiny soul who had just entered this world.  This was the first time since Covid that H and G have been able to see their only grandchild!  His parents live in England and travel between there and France has been on hold for many months.  But finally it worked out for their daughter to bring little R to see his grandparents.  What a special gift!  I loved seeing the photo of Hélène holding her grandson.  What joy!  I hate that I can not make it to France this year.  I have made and canceled reservation 3 times now.  Will look forward to 2021! Won't we all!!

I was going to entitle this "The Lingering Virus, The Vaccine Trial and the Lost Vacation", but then decided on a different approach.  However, I do want to let you know that I will be getting the second vaccine shot on Tuesday.  They say that if anyone has any side effects that it will happen after the second shot.  So I have nothing on my calendar for Wednesday or Thursday just in case.  But I do have reservations for the zoo on Friday.  I need something to look forward to!

We have 100 dogs coming in on a rescue later today and will do intake on them Monday afternoon.  That is something I always enjoy - welcoming all those precious pups to freedom.  For most of them, this is the first time they have ever been handled with kind, loving hands.  The ending of a horrible life and the beginning of a wonderful life.  

If you would like to know more about Don, you can google him on facebook.  He loved travel, music, writing, and photography - and his family! You can see what a talented and caring man he was.  Our community will miss his presence for many years to come.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.  I felt like I needed (for my own sake) to write about Don.  But I also wanted to show that life is precious and we all must enjoy what we can and cherish those moments that bring us happiness.  May you all find joy in this difficult time.  I send my love and hugs to all. 

I Went to the ZOO!!!

I am so excited that after more than 2 months of being closed, our zoo reopened to zoo members only
last week.  I had to go onto their website and reserve a day and time as they are limiting the number of visitors.  Masks are highly recommended but not required and I was pleased to see that most people were wearing them.  The hardest part is maintaining social distancing, especially when everyone wants to see the same animals up close!  The indoor exhibits had signs telling of the capacity limit and most people were abiding by that - except at the grizzly exhibit.  The sign said limit of 8 inside the small area where you can watch the bears in their pool.  Digger was entertaining everyone in the pool and so everyone was trying to pack inside to see him.  You will notice from my photo that I was unable to get very close.  I stood quite a ways outside the enclosure and stood on my tippytoes!  But Emmet was happy to pose from me outside.  When Digger is in the pool he doesn't usually let Emmet come in!

I woke up that morning, Tuesday, to wind, cold and rain!  My timed entry was for 1 pm and it was starting to clear up by then.  By 2 it was sunny and I was beginning to regret wearing my coat!  The grill restaurant was open, but the self-service cup refill was unavailable.  That was part of the info on the website so I took my own water bottle filled with iced tea.  Had I wanted or needed to, there are hands-free water bottle refill stations.  There were hand sanitizer stations at almost every exhibit and there were even a few portable hand washing stations scattered about.

The best part of the visit was seeing the new Water's Edge Africa exhibit which houses our hippo girls (back from St Louis!) and our new penguin colony.  I don't think the photos do it justice!  It is really wonderful!  So without further ado, here are the photos from my first day back!!!

The Entrance to Water's Edge Africa

The Penguin Beach

Entrance to the Penguin Exhibit

It must have been too cold to swim!

I love this statue in the area outside the hippo exhibit

The outdoor hippo pool

Welcome back girls!!

The indoor hippo pool

Lemur island is partly inside and partly outside

The indoor hippo enrichment area

One of Asha's silly poses

2 year old Kera is quite agile and quite active

2 year old giraffe, Viv, loves Bahati the okapi!

One of our zebra brothers

I was impressed with how high this peacock could fly!

Can you find Bhutan, our snow leopard?

Emmet was not happy that Digger got in the pool before he did

Digger, enjoying an audience!

Regal Ouray

Kale, our female porcupine, sunbathing

Our female beaver, Ginger, having a swim

Roxie, our oldest gorilla at 43, was enjoying her time outside

Aslan and his 2 siblings will be 5 in 2 weeks

I hope you enjoyed the photos.  I have 2 reservations for visits next week!  Trying to make up for lost time.  It was so good to be back!  Almost like a normal day!