Best donation yet

Worked an outdoor event for Hawk Creek today. It was a fun "Winter Festival" thing. On the whole, it was pretty enjoyable, in large part because I'd had the sense to dress appropriately. But I couldn't find gloves before I left the house; in any case, the ones I have reduce dexterity to the point that I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing them while working with a bird. (In emergency situations, nimble fingers can be critical)

So I was out there, doing my bit, talking about the Peregrine Falcon, and shifting my free hand from pocket to armpit and back... when a woman who had come by earlier came back and donated... a pair of gloves!!!

Whoever you were, wonderful stranger in West Seneca, *THANK YOU*. The glove was perfect and warm and delightful, and couldn't have come at a better time. May you have a warm cat in your lap by the fire (and a perfect night for it, too -- the snow is coming down hard this evening, threatening to stick!

Weekend round-up

It's been a busy weekend.

Friday:

• Went to the doctor for a physical. Since last year, I've lost 39 lbs, my blood pressure and pulse are down, and everything is generally as good as it was or better. The doctor said to see him in a couple of years - I'm healthy. Yay!
• Went for a run.
  
• Decided that I'm doing the Buffalo Turkey Trot this year. I've never competed in a footrace before. It's intimidating. Wish me luck!
  
• Got something finished.
• Worked on my Jack Sparrow costume late into the night. It was a little frustrating - the only element I was really having trouble tracking down was the vest -- I figured I could get a shirt or a coat at Goodwill, cut off the sleeves, add some appropriate buttons, and.... Well, I got a flannel shirt at Goodwill, and, after trying it on a couple of times, I said, "Wait! This is a *really nice* flannel shirt. Why would I cut this up??" So I got a men's wool overcoat yesterday at Goodwill, something like this. Only... that looked really good, too. So hooray for getting good clothes cheap, but boo for still not having a vest! Finally, about 7pm Friday, I found a vest that was perfect (or as close as I was going to find).

Saturday

• Wore my Jack Sparrow costume to work Dragon Fest at Hawk Creek. Got many compliments.
• Quiet evening in.

Sunday

• Tried yoga. I think I like it. I'm ... still kinda processing the experience; it was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I enjoyed it.
• Let's see...it's 1pm now.... I think I'm going to do some laundry, pack for the week, maybe go for a run (gotta do that training!)... not sure what else.

---

Update: I ran 5k! 3.1 miles in 36 minutes.

Raison d'etre.

Another fun day of volunteering at Hawk Creek yesterday, and a REALLY wonderful high point: we released a hawk. It was a red-tailed hawk, a species that is common in this area, and it had come in to the center with injuries sustained from flying into a fence. But he'd recovered and was ready to be released. Six or seven of us trudged up the hill behind Hawk Creek. It was a gorgeous fall afternoon, with a strong, cool wind under crystal-clear blue skies. Some cooler weather earlier in the week finally convinced the trees that it was fall, and they've turned beautiful bright reds and yellows. After a careful transfer from handler to releaser, and some last-minute instructions ("Just throw him into the air?" "Yes, he'll know what to do"), and he was away, happy to be gone, flapping over fields, scaring some doves into the air.

It was really a great feeling, watching him fly away. I do a really odd variety of things at Hawk Creek, from cleaning poop and rat guts, to helping with the address book database. But watching that bird fly away today gave me a wonderful feeling of THIS IS WHY I DO IT.

Yesterday was a pretty good day in general. We got there and the weather was nasty - in the 50s and pouring with rain. We had a second classroom session for our handling class, then braved the rain to work with the birds. By the afternoon, the clouds had gone and it had become a blustery, sparkly, clear fall day.

(I wrote the above yesterday, and forgot to post it).

Today it's a bit warmer; on the agenda: Cycling! I'm shooting for something in the 30 mile range, as this could very well be the last weekend of decent riding weather for the season.

"You know what we really need? A chainsaw."

Spent most of today volunteering at Hawk Creek. The best thing about volunteering there is that I never know what I'm going to be doing. Today was typically varied: I resolved some MS Access issues for the mailing list, I helped thaw and move some freezers full of frozen rodents (what did you think the birds ate? Sunflower seeds?), I got to use power tools to rehang the front gates of the center up about two inches higher.... Today's quote comes from me, assessing the best way to remove some wood around the top of one of the poles on the side of the gates. For the gate to hang level, we had to get rid of some of the pole....we ended up using a router. I'd forgotten how satisfying it is to use power tools and build stuff.

Sonya's been abed all day with a migraine; I'm hoping that some delicious supper will help. After preparing said supper, I'm off to the Sleep Center - I'm being tested for sleep apnea. Again. Actually, today they were supposed to be seeing what the best setting would be for the mask that I'd be wearing, but I've lost 30 lbs. since the last test, so.... maybe I don't need it. I hope I don't need it.

Hawk Creek Exhibit!

Today was a pretty good day. I'd wanted to get up early and go for a run, but didn't get to bed last night until 1, and the alarm was set for 7:30.... so no run. But Sonya and I got up early, had breakfast, and drove to the Lewiston Power Center (which sounds either like a bad 80s band, or a mega-industrial facility-- it was the latter), where there was a wildlife festival. We've both worked plenty of exhibits before with Carolina Raptor Center, but at those exhibits, the birds always hung out on perches. At this exhibit, the birds that were out were on someone's glove.

Now, a 1 lb peregrine falcon doesn't seem like much, but at the end of your arm, a pound becomes pretty heavy pretty fast. It was neat, though, being able to hold the birds and answer questions. Next on the agenda: Dinner.

If I can get up.

Oh, so tired.

Chair so comfy.