This weekend I worked two days up at the wolf conservation center, for two educational programs. New years day was the first, with the visitors starting their arrival at 11 a.m., myself arriving at about 10:30. Setup was easy for this program, the only notable bit was a donor had sent us an old couch the previous night, so we tossed it in with the wolves. The last couch we gave them they destroyed, but they seemed totally disinterested in this one. The visitors had all trickled in by 11:15, and there was a fresh snowfall on the ground. All went unusually according to plan that day, with only one family leaving early due to cold. The only real humorous event occurred when, while trying to get him to howl, one of the wolves, Atka, decided to play a little tease on the visitors. Rearing his head back and beginning to howl, he abruptly stopped and looked back down, straight at the visitors, as if to say "Ha! You thought I was going to be cooperative today!"

The 01/02 session was another story. The temperature dropped severely, down to single digits, and there was a heavy active snowfall with howling winds. This made conditions on the private road very slippery, making both our jobs difficult and the visitors lives even more so. On the footpath up to the education building out Mule (4x4) got stuck while we were sawdusting the walk, and we improvised a solution of dragging the sawdust contained to put weight on the rear wheels (it worked). Several visitors' cars got stuck and needed to be pushed, and one group of 8 failed to show up. Once the group was assembled the presentation (indoor in the education building) went embarrassingly as the door wouldn't shut, so I stood in the back and held the large wooden door shut, fighting the wind. Once outside the weather became even more severe, and through the outdoor program we lost about half the visitors, who trickled off back to their cars and homes (presumably) to escape the cold. The wolves, however, loved this, and, pity for the people who couldn't stand the cold, were very active today. Out of the wolves the visitors actually get to meet (as opposed to our Mexican Wolves, which are kept away from visitors as they are critically endangered and part of a wild reintroduction effort), only Lukas, the beta wolf of the ambassador pack (the ones visitors meet) and a Canadian Gray Wolf, didn't show. He's usually shyer around humans than his fellows, sticking away from the visitors and making brief appearances, but today he only showed u after the program was over and the visitors were gone, as I was working on de-icing a walkway nearby. All the others were very active and playful today, and one of our female Red Wolves (also critically endangered) even made a highly unusual close-range visit. Truly, if you could stand the cold, it was fantastic session.

Next, I have some very special news. A while ago I connected with and made friends with a boy named Ryan, a furry by the FA username of  Wolf_4_Life Things take their course, as they tend to do in nature, and this wonderful guy is now my boyfriend/mate as of the last month of 2009. Great new years gift :3 I love him dearly and look forward to a wonderful 2010 with his company