PEOPLE WHO ARE VIOLENT TO ANIMALS RARELY STOP THERE!

Monday, May 03, 2010

Exhausting but gratifying!

Ok, I have had many many great days at the DSC, well pretty much every single time I am there I have a great time, no matter what the occasion, whether it was as visitor, as volunteer, as guest for a luncheon or whatever. Well yesterday was the first OPEN DAY of the season, the drive up there was oddly enough a little bit emotional, maybe because I was a little bit scared of the 'new',  new stuff really isn't my forte, and I am also scared of changes, I just gotten so used to be with the donkeys all on my own, and now there will be tons of people invading their space, so I was not sure how I will like that as it takes away from the tranquility of the place.  As I am driving I had to chuckle to myself as I remembered an email we got a few days back, in which it stated that people will be there even though it calls for a nasty day weather wise, well I used to be one of those peoples, I couldn't wait for the first Sunday or Wednesday in May to go back to the DSC, and I remembered how sad it made me when it was the last visiting Sunday in October and I had to wait a few months to be able to go back. Oh how times have changed. Originally I was suppose to be trained on my paid position there, but things went differently than expected and training will now be on Wednesday before we open. I met up with two other volunteers and we got our DSC t-shirt and were sent down to the barn, where a long time volunteer advised us on our "duties" during opening hours, besides keeping an eye on the behaviour of visitors, informing them with donkey facts, answering questions, searching for and bringing them  "their"adopted donkey for some quality time, it is business as usual, picking up poop. But with so many of us, it happened in no time and we got to mingle, of course in the beginning we just watched and us newbies stuck together and kind of pushed each other ahead of the other to do what needs to be done. I was really surprised how fast it didn't feel odd or uncomfortable to me, which is so not like me, but I had a young boy of 14 and he had a million questions for me, and well I answered every single one of them. He actually stayed quite a long time, therefore time for all these questions.lol, but it was fun and I pretty much knew everything too. It rained in the morning for a little bit but the rest of the day was quite humid and warm. I teamed up with a young volunteer from the University of Guelph and he had just started, so he didn't know too much yet of what to do, hmmm funny I know that feeling, and he asked me  a lot of questions, funny how I can take that on with no problem. We cleaned the dark hill side together and he groomed a few donkeys as I was talking with Helia, a long time volunteer, about a few things, until I was asked by the barn manager if I wanted to take on ROSIE, well poor Rosie was covered from head to toe and front to back with burrs. OMG, poor thing, they were hanging in clumps in her very think and long fur, even inside her ears. It took Helia and me, one on each side, over an hour to free her of those pesty burrs, and she was so good and patient and didn't complain one bit.  I got some quality time with Cocoa, he was really affectionate today with me and I wasn't scared of him at all, but at one point he just head butted me so hard right on my nose that I  could feel my eyes filling up with tears, ouch, that hurt. Lady, a very pretty donkey, wasn't behaving very ladylike today, as she sneezed all over my neck. But hey I wiped snotty donkey noses before, so no big deal. It was a busy day, and visitors streamed in slowly and in good pace so we weren't overrun at any point. Funny, you really can devide the visitors in two groups, people who are really interested and want to find out about the work of theDSC and the donkeys and then the ones that just really come, because they had nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon, and really just wanted to get the kids out of the house. The day ended with the famous carrot walk , and I have seen it many many times, but it is always so much fun to watch anew. It was a totally exhausting but wow so gratifying day...can't wait to do it again.
Oh, I also took my pillows in, as I was meeting up with the craft table coordinator for Donkey Day, and omg everybody just loved them and she put them right in the Longears Boutique. Woo hoo...I guess I will have to make a few more....maybe for next year. :)

4 comments:

Louise said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful, and satisfying time. Just think, that young boy may very well remember that day for the rest of his life. It's great to know that you might have made a difference, isn't it?

Tina said...

It sure it, Louise, and I remember being a visitor and how much of a difference the volunteers made for me to enjoy my visits, so it is great to be now on the other side of the fence, so to speak.

AJ-OAKS said...

Oh wow what a wonderful day! Even if you educated just one person out of the many that were there, it is one who will always remember what you taught and they will pass their knowledge on and so forth.
And did you really think that your pillows weren't going to be a huge hit?! Any donkey lover would be proud to have one.
Yes, yes, you are going to have to make more. :)

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

of course eveybody just loved your darling pillows