As some of you know, I volunteer at Fearless Kitty Rescue in Fountain Hills, AZ. They've become partnered/networked with animal-sanctuary giant Best Friends Animal Society. Twelve of us carpooled up to Utah and volunteered with the organization this past weekend. It's one of the best things I've ever done. You can do it too, just sign up and get there (or volunteer for Fearless Kitty and go with them next year).
I'll give you the background first, give you a tour in Part II, and then show you the fun we had in Part III.
Best Friends has been around for over 30 years, gets over $60 million dollars in grants/donations every year, and with help from its national network of rescues like Fearless Kitty and county shelters is on track to "Save them all." There will always be community cats out and about (there are an estimated 70 million of them out there), but what Best Friends, Fearless Kitty, and others are aiming for is to stop the killing. Best Friends is going city by city determined to make it happen.
Best Friends is a big fan of trap and return (TNR) of feral cats because it makes room for adoptable cats in shelters/rescues, without resorting to killing (by euthanasia by the humane or worst methods by others). There are a lot of misunderstandings towards and misinformation about community cats. They are problems because they're not fixed. Resolve that situation and return them to where you found them, and they'll keep others from entering the neighborhood and colonies will eventually die out. They also kill vermin like rats and mice, and things like scorpions. Once fixed they're less likely to spray, howl, or fight - which is what most people complain about. It's working. In 1984, when Best Friends began, 17 million dogs & cats were being euthanized every year. It's now down to 4 million per year. That's still 9,000 per day(7 per minute!), but it's progress.
Best Friends offers portions of grants it receives (PetsMart is very generous) to rescues and shelters to help with adoptions and TNR programs. Fearless Kitty got one such grant last year that allowed it to temporarily bring its adoption fees down from $100 to $25 (it costs $ to feed, house, test, vaccinate, spay/neuter, microchip, etc.), which definitely resulted in more adoptions. The more it adopted out, the more it took in, etc. etc.
Fearless Kitty has attracted 100 volunteers and has saved over 530 cats since it started just 3 years ago. It is in the running for a local grant to help it in this endeavor, so if you live in Fountain Hills & recycle with Republic Services, please consider donating your points to Fearless Kitty. If you're not a local resident, you can also help simply by going to smile.amazon.com, select Fearless Kitty as the non-profit you want your purchases to benefit, and just shop like you always do. Oh, and fix your pets!
There. That's the background. I came on the trip because I may want to do TNR, rescue, or even run a sanctuary myself someday, so wanted to learn from the best. I also just wanted to have fun.
People say that Arizona doesn't have seasons, but I disagree. They may not be like other states', but there is definitely a winter - usually January/February - when we can have freezing temps and snow dustings. There absolutely is a summer, when the temps go over 100, usually starting in mid-May until about mid-October. The rest of the months are a crap shoot. If you miss "dead" trees in winter and blooms in spring, just drive north an hour. When we hit 101 on May 1st, I thought - uh oh, here we go. Luckily, that was a blip, and we've had marvelous weather in the 70s/80s. Perfect hiking weather.
This weekend's hike was the Peralta Trail in the Superstition's. That really is my favorite AZ mountain range. First I had to brave the 7-mile dirt road to get to the trail. It wasn't too bad, just a little slippery on turns thanks to the loose gravel.
And then you have to sign in, just in case. It's been a long time since I've done that, but it was somewhat comforting to know that there might be a nugget of information as to my whereabouts should I disappear.
My plan was to keep it simple though - just head to the saddle via the narrow trail, wave at Needle Rock, and head back the way I came. There were other trails up top to turn this into a long loop, but I stuck with my plan. The trail was beautiful from the beginning and stayed that way throughout. It took exactly an hour up and an hour back (a little over 4 miles).
Notice the lonely tree to the right? Odd.
Once on the saddle, a cold wind hit me in the face. I didn't last long.
There were cool rock formations along the way.
The return was just as stunning.
That is now on my list of top hikes, for sure. Reportedly, it can get pretty crowded, which tells you its level of difficulty (medium), but it wasn't too bad this Mother's Day.
Michael was hiking too, although he kayaked to his trail first. Apparently the current was a little stronger than they would have liked, but all made it to the island they were aiming for.
I come at this Mother's Day a little more introspective than usual due to the rather sudden loss of a good friend who treated Michael and me as her own kids.
I've been lucky not only to have a mom that I get along with and admire, but to still have her around. I know many people who have lost their moms early in life or just don't have a good relationship with them, and I can't imagine where I'd be today without mine. We've traveled to many places - from Morocco, to Mexico, to a 3-week stint in Europe, and all over the U.S. We've skied, sailed, and hiked together.
We've had our rough patches, but who wouldn't after 49 years?! My mom's been a steady force in my life, despite whatever I've thrown at her, and that dependability and reliability has allowed me to take chances I doubt I would have taken without knowing I had someone to fall back on if I messed up.
In a sense, we've grown up together. Throughout my life, people have overheard our telephone conversations and been shocked to find I was talking to my mom the whole time. She is my best friend.
I saw a card the other day that had what mom's say vs what they mean and laughed at this one:
Wow, that's great, Sweetie! --> I'm not paying attention, but you sounded excited so I went with it.
I've come up with a lot of crazy ideas in my lifetime (and doubt I'm done yet), and despite the fact that she was probably thinking the above (or even simply "Oh boy"), my mom has always had my back. Although she gives advice, she keeps whatever reservations she has about my antics to herself (or shares them over wine with others who shake their heads in understanding and sympathy), letting me at least try. She is always there if things don't go as planned - without judgment. What a gift.
I am grateful for the fact that I have a number of strong women in my life, some of them younger than me - all inspire me. I love watching these women accomplish the things they do. Some are single, some have kids, some work, some don't. All are independent spirits with generous souls.
My friend Nancy was no different. Living in Colorado, she had a love affair with St. Kitts, visited often, and read whatever she could from people writing from the island. When she stumbled across my Island Babble blog, she read it from beginning to end and got in touch. If I missed a week, she'd be emailing to ask if I was okay. One day she showed up to my ramshackle office at the Shiggidy Shack beach bar to introduce herself, and to be honest, scared me. She knew everything about my life and was so excited to meet me, she cried. Not long after, Michael came to pick me up and take me home only to get smothered in a loving embrace from this complete stranger before I had a chance to introduce her. The look on his face was priceless. I have to admit, we wondered if we had a stalker on our hands; she was so exuberant!
Deciding she was harmless, we got together with her a few times while she was visiting and now had a face to put with the emails that came regularly. By the time Michael's and my stint on St. Kitts was over 4 years later, Nancy and her husband had moved to Arizona. Eventually we ended up back there too, and the friendship deepened. She missed her adult kids, so took it upon herself to lavish us with the home cooking, craft projects, and hugs she wasn't always able to share with them. Our families are far away too, so it was nice to have this surrogate parent.
My heart goes out to my late friend's children, who are spending their first Mother's Day without their mom. Whatever your age, a parents' death is painful.
Know that I love you Mom and appreciate your sacrifices, your patience, and your support. Also know that I've got your back too.
We're officially at the middle mark of our 4-month preparation to leave. Michael's been in the BVI's for 2 months and in another 2 months, I'll have joined him with the fur babies. It's been an incredibly expensive endeavor so far and somewhat stressful trying to get everything coordinated, but it is easier than buying a boat and sailing off, so I'm trying not to let it get to me.
I've done some hiking, and saw a bull snake for the first time on a trail. A big one. I'm glad it was a non-venomous snake because I actually didn't see it, the person I was hiking with did, just as I was about to walk past and very close to the thing.
I went to a gala to raise funds for Liberty Wildlife, a bird (and other small critter) rescue I volunteered with last year. Needless to say, that after living on a boat for 3 years and then a Caribbean island for 4, I don't have a lot of dress up stuff. My date (I was actually her date) lent me 4 dresses of hers and I chose the one that went with the only dressy pair of shoes I own (never worn and about to be donated to Goodwill since they're not good beach shoes). I have not put on nylons, nail polish, or heels in about 2 decades. It turned out surprisingly ok, though!
The event was at the Montelucia Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley. This was the first such event for Liberty and their tables were sold out, so yay them!
This is the resort's stock photo, but it sums it up nicely.
Lots of Liberty handlers were around the property with various birds (and snakes).
There were a lot of things to bid on for various auctions in order to raise funds, some with minimum bids in the thousands. Um, I'm just browsing, thanks.
There was a dinner and lots of speeches to explain what Liberty is all about. It was hard to concentrate on the speaker when the eagle came on stage.
At the end, they release a rehabilitated barred owl (you'll recall I got to witness the release of a great horned owl last year) to freedom. It was a lot of fun and a nice way to break up what had been kind of a rough week. My beer in a wine glass was a nice touch. Not sure why my hair is looking so terrible in these photos, I swear it was cute in person.
Last week, I made the rez's for our final departure - July 5th. The trip requires a lot of things to go just right, but if (when?) they don't, I've got us arriving at each location (Miami, St. Thomas, Tortola, and finally Virgin Gorda) early enough, that there should be later flights/ferries to catch to still be able to pull it off. We shall see...
This week, I hope to hear from immigration so I can get my stuff going - medical, local police, etc. The cats are still plugging through their requirements (titer tests at $363 each, thank you...). As I said at the beginning - this is an expensive endeavor.
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