Your Friendly Neighborhood Construction Worker

I cannot wait to sleep in a bed again. I mean a real bed- not the couch, the floor, some cushions. Being 5' 9 1/2" and sleeping on a 5' couch is totally fine for all of four days... after that it becomes torture, literally. I spent my night sleeping in fits, interrupted by charlie horse's and shin splints. I woke up with my legs aching from the muscle spasms all night, and I proceeded to torture my legs all day.

The day began innocently enough at CTR. I was handed a bin of fruits and veggies and was given the task of sorting them into bins by species (is that the right word?). Easy enough, and I got to hang out in the very pleasant cooler. I then waited around for a volunteer to arrive until nine- she was supposed to be my partner throughout the morning. Turns out she had called out and word just didn't get around to the keepers... So I then got the task of mixing and pouring concrete by myself. Kizzy, Max and Christian had got a new platform and the bottom of the poles needed to be solidified into the ground. Their enclosure is on "Tiger Hill" at the top of the compound... the 80 lb bags of cement, wheelbarrow and shovel were on the far end of the compound. Needless to say, I had to bring them up. Uphill. The entire way.

One pole got fixed into the ground, and I then got a call to head down to the new enclosure to help raise panels again. Being the monkey that I am, I was up and down the ladders helping weave fences together and get everything set up...for two hours. By this time I was hot, irritated and hungry, and I just really, really wanted to get the second pole fixed into the ground. It really only takes maybe 10 minutes to get concrete mixed and poured, and it had so far taken me over three hours! With an hour to spare till lunch I finally got back, got my cement poured and all my tools cleaned up (And while this sounds easy, the fact that I was wheelbarrowing around an animal enclosure and kept slamming my shins into the wheelbarrow every time I hit a root made it a little bit more difficult). I had just enough time to get a new platform into Nakobi's (one of the cougars) enclosures before lunch.

The rest of my day was spent fixing shift gate handles again, and helping out with the fence. I am naturally a clumsy person and was just exhausted, so I tripped (and fell) twice, and almost fell off the ladder. Yay me! By the end of the day I was physically shaking every time I tried to pick anything up... I am so out of shape. It all needed to be done though, and I am glad that I could help to expand and improve the rescue, even if it is just in that no one will stab themselves on the wires when shifting cats anymore!

In a very cool moment, I did get to sit and observe the leopards for a few minutes today. One of them (I don't know if it was Shadow or Smokey) was growling and rubbing himself on things in his cage. The way his tail curled and kinked reminded me of my kitty Simian, but his big yellow eyes told me he wanted nothing more than to eat me. He rolled in the dirt, belly up, jumped up into his den box and groomed his brother/sister. I don't know if any of you have ever heard a leopard growl, but the sound is fascinating, tantalizing and terrifying. I think if I were out in the wild and heard it I would know that my time had come. People who keep them as pets are nuts!

Jellybean- the resident white tiger. This is why people should not own tigers... I mean really, Jellybean??

Another view of the pretty boy.

Julio, one of the most striking-looking ocelots here. He is under one of the shift gates between his two pens- his favorite spot to be.

Unfortunately Geoff really needed to get home by 5, so we actually left the rescue half an hour early, and I missed saying my goodbyes to Melanie and Kristin-neither of whom work tomorrow. I did run into Lenore who gave me a huge hug and told me how impressed they were with me, how they will miss me, and hope that I come back some day. She was very sincere and I was very touched. I know they get a lot of people in and out of there and a compliment from any of the keepers is never frivolous.

Tonight I will be packing everything up and loading what I can into my car. I am both very sad and very excited to be going home! I will certainly miss the animals and the amazing adventure that this has been. There is nothing like spending your day surrounded by tiger chuffs and growls, the "meow"s of servals, ocelots and caracals, the calls of lionesses talking to each other across the distance, and the growling of angry leopards.

For those who wanted my recipe (yes, Gael that is you :)) It follows:


Chicken Marsala:
1-1.5 lbs Chicken Breasts
1 t. Pepper
½ t. Thyme
¼ t.  Garlic Powder
¾ t. Salt
½ t. Oregano
½ t. Parsley
¼ tsp. Marjoram
Olive Oil
1/3 c. Butter
2 t. Shallots (or onions)
2 t. Garlic
¼ c. Marsala Wine (Cooking wine works just fine)
1 container of mushrooms, sliced (can be any kind- Baby Bella’s or Buttons are personal favorites)
2 t. Corn starch (or flour if corn starch is not available)
1 c. Cold Chicken Broth
2 T. Heavy Whipping Cream
1 t. Parsley

Directions:
Combine first 7 ingredients. Coat chicken lightly with oil and coat with spices. Fry chicken in olive oil until completely cooked, remove to covered plate. In saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until garlic is lightly browned. Add marsala and simmer 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and cook about 15 minutes or until mushrooms are at desired tenderness. Dissolve corn starch in broth. Add to saucepan and simmer until sauce is thickened slightly. Add Parsley and heavy cream, simmer 3-4 minutes.

It serves great over spaghetti, and you can always increase the amount of sauce.

 ~Rich With Life~