for me..part of the charm of saints..that little bit of magic that defies any common sense...is how we somehow make this rescue fly by the seat of our pants.
you have to understand...this kind of rescue is totally insane. who can possibly financially afford to focus almost exclusively on hundreds of sick and aging animals that no one wants to adopt anyway??? do you know what it costs here for medical care for just this year alone? ann just sent us out an email...2013=$90,000.00 so far. then there is staffing, heat and electricity, hauling in water in the summer months, hay, shavings, cat litter, barn feed, cat, dog and rabbit food, liability insurences, accounting and legal bills...flea and de-worming products for everybody. luckily saints doesn't have to pay for actual housing costs like rent or mortgage payments because I cover that.
still....OMG!..the yearly cost is beyond freaking nutz..it borders on supreme lunacy and it defies any reason on how every year we somehow manage to pay our bills and keep trucking on.
if you add in the occasional bad stuff that once in awhile pops up...septic systems that crash on us..roofs that start leaking, the odd selfish person looking to find some easy way to rip us off..financially, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, whatever...it pretty much sucks. and yet we still go on.
then take the emotional toll of grieving for so many lost but much loved furry and feathered friends..our death toll after 8 yrs of operation is well into the very many hundreds and the very real burdens of someplace like saints on us all are truly great.
how do we do it? well there has to be some magic involved. there is no way in the sane, mathematical, analytical world that saints should be possible. but here we are!
and why is that?
well...it is because of me who had a not very bright dream, and it is because of our incredible volunteers and super amazing staff, and it is because of the wonderful people who help and support us so that we can succeed in this silly dream which became a steadfast reality.
but mostly it is because of the animals..these wonderful and amazing creatures who have somehow managed to survive all of what life has dealt them and made their way here. they are the charm here.
jeanette, percy, Gideon, sparkles and spritely, bill, cole, al, boo, stripe, several daphnes (but for me...esp. our recent lost one)..all of them still here like crazy horse, phoebe, conan the barbarian, raven, chewie, ellie, carl... so many, so very special... magical creatures surrounding us here.
somehow these animals give our earthly minds and bodies flight, they give us a tangible reason to climb mountains. they give us the ability to think outside of all the familiar boxes and believe in the possibilities of faith, of trust, of sometimes super-human strength, of luck and beating the odds.
odie is a pain in the ass but he is a sainted pain in the butt..he like all of the others is the magical, mystical light here that shines out of us all.
I love us.
ahh kevin, you are fully baptised and blessed once one of the saints, pees, poops or pukes on you... it is their special way of saying welcome!
having been pissed on A LOT..that is my story and I am sticking with it.