Hi Everyone – I have put the latest barn roster up on the SAINTS website (www.saintsrescue.ca/volunteer). You will need a username and password to access this section of the website.
Given the difficulties we are having communicating via the yahoo group I have set up a bulletin board for us. Carol and I have talked about this and I have now completed it so we can try and have a more efficient way of communicating. Those of you who have used brindle will find this format very easy. Please go and register at:
http://messageboard719501.aimoo.com
 As this board is only for SAINTS volunteers I will need to approve all members. I will do it as quickly as I can. If you are having trouble signing up please do not struggle and give up. Pop me an email and I can probably find a way to do it for you – cithomas@shaw.ca I am at work tomorrow so it may take me a bit to get back to you.
Once everyone has had a look at the board let me know if you want any changes made to the rooms/categories. Looking forward to seeing you all over at the new board!
jean gave me the current barn roster for this week and next. it is a bit eye opening to see 21 slots for am/pm feed/meds plus stall cleaning that 19 of which used to have my name attached (but then we didn’t have a written roster) it makes me think of all the other chores that i just did every day, before or after work without even thinking.coming home at lunch to quickly clean the barn if i could, and if i couldn;t get back here, slogging it out in the dark with the barn fiends trying to break on in. the running of the dogs in the evenings while poop and scooping the upper field and the monitering of the barn guys and dogs mobility, mood, happiness and health status with the poop fork and the wheelbarrow all in tow. and then there is the feed runs, and the chickens care…just one part of saints that involves so much time.
maybe that is why i never write anything down, to read it in black and white is too daunting. the phone calls, the emails, the back and forth to vets. the meds, the laundrymats, the tours and the orientations, and the intergrating of new animals into the fold. the people stuff, the constant demands, agendas, the conflicts, and worries and putting out of fires and removing potential flammable issues before they flame, the picking up of meds and special diets, the hauling of heavy bags to save the backs which were more sore and injured and at risk than mine. the cornering of furnace/appliance repairers and the payment of the bills. the answering of questions, and teaching when i remembered to explain the why behind the deed. the dump runs, the water issues, the mopping of the floors, just so i could make a cup of tea.
every second of every day full, with here, with work and with more here.
i am not a patient person with myself, i am not all that patient, period, my patience is given to my human and animal charges. but for me, i just work, i work out my heart and my trouble and my worries with more work. i make decisions quickly, based on what works,  what i know from the past and present and everything i have learned along the way and what i decide is what is needed to get thru the day. i know the difficulties i encountered each day, and i learned how to work around them. i captain my very own ship which is why i started saints instead of fostering seniors for the spca. and i never feel a need to apologise for being who i am, because who i am is perfect for what i do. and that is what this frail ankle has taken away from me. it has reduced me to virtual immobility, to watching others struggling thru my dreams, trying to fill my shoes, except they didn’t know i have always been shoeless, because shoes are too constricting and confining and i lose them or the dogs eat them or they hurt my feet. i did everything i did, not because i am a superhuman with great big feet, but because i didn’t know i was doing it, it just needed to be done. and oh my god, i miss the freedom to do it now.
i have never had the animal’s grace, i have never had the peace of just being. i have never before been dependant and maybe it is a lesson i need to learn. but right now i am too full of regret, and yearning. i just want my life back, the way i made it, the way i lived it, the way i dreamed it every night before i fell asleep.
on a scale of 1 to 10 of terrible occurences, this ankle of mine barely quailfies as a one. that goes to show me how weak i truly am. it sucks looking into the mirror sometimes.
This event is a great opportunity for a couple of reasons. One is that there are dozens of people who state that they can’t foster or transport or do the types of volunteer things mostly required by Rescues, but they still want to help in some way. This is a terrific opportunity to get out there, meet like-minded people, see what an active, busy Rescue looks like, and do something real and tangible to help.
The other reason this event is so great, is that people on the fringes on Rescue (those with little experience, but lots of energy and heart) can make a big difference, make a real contribution. SAINTS is a wonderful place, and if this work party is a volunteer’s first experience at hands-on Rescue work, it’s a great place to start. Come out and see what a well-run, animal-centered, end-of-life hospice Sanctuary should look like. Becoming part of the SAINTS family is life-altering.
As to the fact that SAINTS is way out in Mission, half a mile past the end of the earth….so what? It’s a nice drive, people can car-pool, it’s totally worth the time it takes to get there. Maudie, Dexter, Gideon, Cedric, Cole and Bill (among many, many others) will make it worth your time.
Now is a great time to stop saying “I’d like to help”, “I wish I could help” and “I will find a way to help, someday”, to “I’m there! I am going to help on Saturday.”
