Today was an absolutely amazing wonderful day, probably one of the most unforgettable days in my life. It was such an honour, such a privilege and just pure joy to be part of this wonderful organisation and actually seeing that all your help, no matter how little it might seem to me, is used in such an amazing powerful way.
The weather couldn't have been any better than it was, not a cloud in the sky, the drive there was absolutely gorgeous with the array of colourful leaves draping over the unpaved country back roads like a canape. I was getting a little nervous as I approached the Sanctuary, simply for the fact that I was going there alone and not knowing anybody there, I mean I know Kyle, the donkey boy ( his new nickname and he wears the shirt to prove it) and some of the volunteers, but I don't really know them know them, so that was my biggest cause for some anxiety, but I sucked it up as it was all for my beloved Donkeys. I parked my Jeep and the barnyard was already full of people, we all got a name tag and were then left to our own devises to visit with the donkeys. It's funny, even though the donkeys all look very similar in appearance, after many visits one tends to know which one is which, not all of them, but I recognize my Hershey pretty much right away, even though there might be 10 who look just like him ( brown standard donkey), but his ears are different, they are pointing inwards like devil horns, and that just fits his personality to the T. Gordon, my other adopted donkey, is white grey and pretty big, his ears are huge and he mostly hangs his head low, since he is very shy and timid and still leery of people, but he gotten so much better already. At 12: 30 we were invited for Lunch. There were formal tables set up in the barn with carrot bushels and donkey figurines as centerpieces, really cute. It was buffet style with plenty salads, lasagne, bread, wine, pop and water, and of course desserts, all sort of pies. I was sitting with some ladies from Kingcity, Cambridge and Guelph, and it was very nice. Many of the donors there have been sponsoring for years but never have been out to the Farm and it was just amazing to see how much they fell in love with this place, for the same reasons I did some years ago. And I found it kind of ironic that me, poor me, had some info to share with them, that they didn't know, and I knew from my many visits there. After Lunch, Sandra Pady, the owner and operator of the Farm, made a beautiful presentation and showed a beautiful slideshow about the donkeys. After that Donkey boy shared some stories about his rescues and the success about the DSC. And answered questions for anybody who had some. I learned a few new things and really decided I want to be a bigger part in this picture. And hopefully I will get over my inner "Schweinehund" and suck it up and do it instead of just dreaming about it. The afternoon was rounded off with the infamous Carrot walk and everybody loved it.
I think I was mostly amazed by all these different people, from all walks of lives, and their love for these beautiful animals, and in fact all animals as one found out during different conversations. I think everybody left this place that afternoon feeling so much better and proud of doing what they are doing. What a beautiful day!
After that beautiful slide show I was inspired to make my own with some of the pictures I have taken over the years during my visits to the DSC. Here is my result.....------------->
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