Posts by Diana
Today is for Oliver
Today is a special sponsor-a-day from supporter Kery Shaw about a rescued senior dog that she and her partner Terran cared for during his last months. I would hazard to guess that most of the people reading this have had some personal connection to animals who were rescued, and all of you will appreciate Oliver’s…
Read MoreIn Celebration of Lisa Stuverud and Linda Vizzare
Supporter Lisa Stuverud is celebrating a birthday today, and her husband Richard sponsored today’s day of sanctuary with this note: Sending a “little something” for the chimps in honor of Lisa’s birthday. With every blog post we get a “whole lotta something” in return…so much love, joy and good feelings ! Thank you so much…
Read MoreSocial Primates
While volunteers Chelsea, Erin, and Kailie were finishing up the big clean of the playroom today, I went in search of some chimpanzees. I found all seven of them on the “top bunk” of the structure in the greenhouse. I was able to watch them for twenty minutes or so as they rested and groomed.…
Read MoreToday is also for Michael – Happy Anniversary!
For our second sponsor-a-day of the day, Alrene Okun is honoring her husband Michael. Arlene shared this message: I would like to sponsor today because it is our 28th wedding anniversary. I am thankful to be married to wonderful man who makes the world a better place. Michael truly cares about people and animals and…
Read MoreClimbing Higher
I had a lot of thoughts as I was watching Missy climbing on top of the roof of the tower structure today while I was also enjoying the gorgeousness of the day, so I made this video.
Read MoreSaturday Lounging
Today was the kind of day to kick your feet up… Annie: take in the wonder of your surroundings… Missy: share a moment with a friend in the sun… Missy & Annie grooming: enjoy what nature has to offer… Burrito eating snow: settle in with a good book… Jamie and a…
Read MoreThe Healing Touch
Even though the chimpanzees always live together as one group, Negra chooses to spend a lot of her time alone – often curled up in a big comfortable nest with a blanket over her head. She has a favorite spot on the catwalk of the playroom by the windows where she can lay in her…
Read MoreFalse Spring at the Sanctuary
I have to keep reminding myself that we’re just in the second week of February. It feels like the end of March outside today, and we haven’t even had much of a winter, making the warm temperature, singing birds, sun, and bare grass even more confusing. Missy, for one, is embracing it all. She shot…
Read MoreYou never know what the day will bring
Wednesday was an eventful day. The drain for the front rooms was clogged, so J.B. rented a plumbing snake to try to clear it. Jamie is always interested when there’s equipment around, so she was watching J.B. as he worked on the drain. Maybe she felt a little left out, or maybe she had been…
Read MoreBurrito Chimpanzee in Black and White
Continuing with the black and white/grey theme from Saturday, and thanks to comments on that blog post, I decided to truly embrace this way of seeing and capturing images by setting the camera to monochrome and finding out what might happen. I had to climb a ladder in the greenhouse to get these photos, but…
Read MoreThe Beauty of Grey
As you probably know, we have an enrichment calendar that guides the volunteer or staff member who is putting together enrichment for the following day for the chimpanzees. It provides some sort of theme for the day, like “art day” or “troll scarves.” Sometimes it’s just a color, which causes us to dig through the…
Read MoreA whirlwind of years
Today is about time flying by and some of the great random moments in the lives of the chimpanzees over the last ten years. I’ve started and stopped this blog so many times today that I lost count. There were toys to clean: Laundry to do: Amazing interns to train: Paper…
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