Fostering Escapades, Chapter One: A Duct-Taped Heart

I'm an unabashed dog lover; there's just nothing quite like having a dog around to love.  I'll take the hair and muddy pawprints if I have something soft to pet.  I know there's people that are totally in love with their dog, and then once they have a kid the dog plays second fiddle.  Now, this certainly doesn't get me any closer to that elusive Mother of the Year award, but dogs in my life have always been told they how loved they are far more than the people in my life.  (don't call Child Protective Services, I swear they're reasonably clean and fed!).

The Family Dog position in this household has been vacant for quite some time, for various reasons, one of which being the fact that we just spent a year on the other side of our planet.  Although having a dog grace our household again is never far from my mind, the roadtripping that we're doing this summer isn't all that conducive to furry companionship, so all hiring for the position remains closed.

Shortly after we settled back into our lives here, a neighbor of ours posted on our neighborhood's Facebook page about an urgent need for fostering a dog.  My Fluffy Pet-Wanting Radar sounded an alarm for sure, but I've always chalked up dog fostering as a ruse to get a dog into your home, at which time you'd pretty much have to end up adopting it.  Isn't that the way it works?  All I hear about are 'foster failures'--people who take in a foster pet, fall in love with it, and keep it.

But fostering--wasn't that the perfect way to fill my need for something lovable around here?? (not that my kids aren't lovable, mind you).  I ran it by the Head of HR (Sam), and he agreed that we could have a temp position available to up the fluff quotient in the house.  And while I'd like to say that the root of my desire to foster a pet came from my innate hope to instill a sense of caring for the needy in my boys, in all honesty it was purely selfish.  That Mother of the Year Award isn't looking any more likely, I know.

The very next day, Colorado Canine Rescue gave me a crate, food, toys, a leash, and a collar, and that Friday, after making it very clear to the kids that THIS WOULD NOT BE OUR DOG, WE ARE JUST SAVING ITS LIFE AND PROVIDING A SAFE HOME UNTIL IT'S ADOPTED (and wrapping some duct tape around my heart to insulate it from that pesky emotion of love), our first foster dog made its way from a high-kill shelter in New Mexico where it was scheduled to be put down that weekend to a parking lot in Denver, where we picked her up.

on the way home

Sally, as Kenyon named her, was an Australian Shepherd/Bernese Mountain Dog mix, and had the softest fur ever.  As you can see, after a bath, she settled in nicely.

She was an absolute pleasure to have around--she slept by my bed, followed me from room to room, and was perfectly happy to be a true companion to her human.

helping Jackson with his homework

After just two weeks, the foster organization notified me that an adoption application came in for her.  It looked great--a retired couple had another Australian shepherd and liked to take long walks each morning out in the country.  I called them, and as soon as I started telling them about Sally...I started sobbing.  Not just a little teary-eyed, but can't-get-words-out-sobbing.  Somehow, I was able to choke out some sort of assurance that I was not a crazy person, but that Sally was just really such a wonderful companion.  I guess duct tape isn't the fix-all for everything, because it sure didn't help a damn with protecting my heart.

The day Sally left to start a life with her new family, I managed to keep it together and was truly happy for her.  To help fill the void in my home (and heart), I arranged to have our next temporary fluffy pet arrive later that same day.

I am the last person who you'd think would be a candidate for fostering...but I love it (and the kids do, too; hear that, Mother of the Year judges?).  Taking in a dog is easy, and rescuing from a high-kill shelter that took in 4000 dogs last year and euthanized 2000 of them is directly saving a life.  Try it; you won't be disappointed.

Into the Alpine

Life is too often so busy, or we are mired in the minute details of daily life, that we don't fully enjoy the actual living part of life.  Loved ones being ill, parenting through difficult developmental stages, money stresses...it all takes a toll.  But sometimes you can scramble to the top of all the thick stuff and the air is clear and crisp, like you can breathe for the first time in so long and holy shit the view from up here is unbelievable!

I'm not one of those Colorado residents who is keen to hike all fifty-something of the state's fourteeners (mountains with more than 14,000 feet in elevation, for my Australian readers).  In fact, I've only hiked one (Quandary Peak) and it was the day after Sam and I learned I was pregnant with my first child.  We had been married for a whopping month and I had just begun my second year of law school, so let's just say that I was still in a state of shock as I gingerly placed my hiking boots down with each step.  Even though the tears I shed upon learning about my new condition weren't exactly ones of pure joy, I still didn't want jarring movements to upset any important plans that were taking place inside me.  I stopped and sat a few hundred feet from the top while Sam and our friends continued, and I took a slow breath and looked around.  Man, the view from up there was incredible...and life was so beautiful, even while being absolutely overwhelmed with it.

We are home, slowly putting the pieces back in place in the life in Denver that all of us enjoy.  We are relishing catching up with friends, and it's so heartwarming to see the boys' friendships pick right back up, as if they had simply been paused for a year and then someone had the good sense to pick up the remote and press 'play' again.

The school situation had been a source of stress for months--not only have we mourned the boys not being able to return to the charter school they love, but the options for them were basically nonexistent (save for our neighborhood school, which unfortunately is one of the worst in the state).  The district had been monitoring enrollment at a number of different schools on my behalf for months, but nothing was coming of it and our backup plan was that I would homeschool the boys for the balance of the school year.  I've never been keen on homeschooling, but I was hellbent on not sticking them in a mediocre school to ride out the year.

The day before school started, I got a call that there may be two openings at the school I most wanted the boys in.  It still took some pleading, but miraculously I wooed them into enrolling the boys not only in the school but in the classrooms I wanted.  It's an academically rigorous program, something that the boys were thirsting for and they are lapping it up.  Alex can be slow to warm up to new situations, but the school has been incredibly welcoming and it has made such a positive impact on his ability to assimilate into the school community.  They love school again, which warms my heart.

On the drive to school this morning, the boys got into a heated argument, debating who was smarter--Leonardo Da Vinci (who Alex has been studying) or the fictional character in the book Jackson was reading.    Our biggest disciplinary issue for this one brief chapter of mid-January 2013 is the fact that the kids read throughout the morning as they are supposed to be getting ready for school.  That's right--I catch myself using an exasperated tone telling the boys to Stop reading or there's going to be a consequence!.

. . . . .

Annual New Years Family Hike 2013

The boys are rediscovering their belongings and Kenyon put on a CD of music that we had purchased at a kids' birthday party years ago from a Colorado musician named Jeff Kagan who sings about the outdoors.  One song, called Into the Alpine, has always spoken to me.

I know that at any moment there could be something larger to deal with, something heavy, but right now it feels like we're right up there in the alpine, and I love the view.

ENP in B&W

There's something about these elephants, especially when they're wet, that I just love in black and white...

Elephant Nature Park, Part II

We woke up in the morning excited about spending more time with the beloved elephants.  A side benefit was the fact that the food at this place was incredible, and breakfast was no exception--a long buffet of Thai dishes, the kind of buffet where your plate grows to gargantuan proportions because as you move along you happen upon things you just can't refuse.

The day was also special because it was Alex's 8th birthday, celebrated with a cake the park had prepared.

Sam was interested in hanging out with one of the mahouts and arranged a time in the morning to sit and watch him carve.  As a thank you, he drew a picture of baby Navann and his mother as a gift.  It amazes me that he can take two moving targets and come up with this likeness as a result.  My attempt would have resulted in a stick figure elephant that more resembled a beach ball impaled by 5 toothpicks.

We were able to spend time with the veterinarian who was treating a chronic infection in one of the elephants, whose injured leg caused her to get abcesses in her cheek and shoulder from lying down.  Rather than a dainty syringe, medicine is administered in huge pumping spray bottles like you'd see an exterminator use.  Here, the vet has just pumped her wound full of an antibacterial liquid and is pressing on it to flush out excess medicine and pus.

The most incredible part of the two days was arming ourselves with bunches of bananas and walking around the grounds, spending time with and learning about the different family groups.  Despite their difficult pasts, these creatures exude such a gentle demeanor that is captivating to witness firsthand.

Not separated by a railing...

...not standing on a wooden platform...

...and not near a building.

The sanctuary is also home to water buffalo...

...as well as hundreds of dogs who were displaced during the recent floods.  A few of the dogs followed us around the property, remarkably fearless of their much larger pachyderm companions.

As soon as my winning lottery numbers are drawn, I'll be booking a weeklong volunteer experience at the Elephant Nature Park for my family and friends.  I'm counting the minutes until then.

Elephant Nature Park, Part 1

I'll conservatively estimate that there are 65,387 elephant parks in Thailand.  When I was planning our trip, I spent a gross fair amount of time, possibly in lieu of cleaning our flat, looking into the different parks.  We knew we wanted to get as up close and personal as we could, and the vast majority of parks include a ride on an elephant.  The more I looked into it, though, my search narrowed and I to spend our time at a park where the elephants were treated wonderfully.

When I saw the volunteer program at the Elephant Nature Park, my search ended.  We wanted to do the full week volunteer program, but the required Monday start didn't work out for the days we'd be in the country so we settled on the 2-day experience.

We were picked up from our guesthouse in the morning and watched a video about the park and Lek, the amazing woman who runs the place.  The park is a sanctuary for elephants who have rescued from various forms of abuse--logging, street begging, trekking, land mine victim...I was teary-eyed watching the video and  figured I'd be a wreck for the next two days.

The stories of these elephants and how they've come together to form 5 family groups within the park are overwhelming and heartwarming.  I'll share one, but please visit the park someday and learn the rest on your own.

Jokia, while pregnant, worked in the logging industry in a village near the Burma border.  She birthed her baby while working on a steep hill and the baby died after falling down the hill with Jokia unable to rescue her.  Afterwards, Jokia refused to work and her owners repeatedly poked at her eyes with sticks, eventually leaving her blind.

After many attempts, Lek was able to buy Jokia and bring her to the park where she could bathe in the river and enjoy her life.  Mae Perm, the nana elephant of the park, took Jokia under her wing and the two are always together, with Mae Perm acting as Jokia's eyes.

We began by feeding the elephants; because they are vegetarians, they spend up to 18 hours a day eating so there were always opportunities to reach into a basket and offer something to an outstretched trunk.

We were fortunate enough to visit just 6 weeks after the surprise birth of baby Navann, an adorable elephant whose mum is recovering from a land mine injury to her foot.  Because of her injury, she is contained in an enclosure so they can control the infection to the wound.

Navann with his mahout (elephant caretaker)

Somehow, all the mahouts are artistic and they carve as they sit with the elephants.

In the afternoon, we went down to the river to bathe the elephants.

The kids had an absolute ball, although kids+river+buckets=heaven so I think they could have been throwing buckets of water at a cement post and had almost as much fun.

We found flat rocks we could use to scrub their coarse skin.

It's difficult to put into words what this was like.  All of us were in awe, all day, of these beautiful creatures, their incredibly gentle nature...

...and of their good fortune in being saved by Lek and living on this grand property.

In the evening, we had a Thai massage.  I honestly am gobsmacked that I spend more for a cup of coffee in my normal life than the 30 minute experience I had here.  Jackson and Alex had their first massages--Jackson said the bum massage made him a little nervous but he figured they wouldn't do anything inappropriate. Ha!

The accomodation was simple but lovely, and we went to bed excited for what the next day held in store.