Not to brag, but according to Negra I’m a pretty good tap dancer. And can you believe I’ve never had a single lesson? If I try to stop, she claps and stomps and demands encore after encore. It’s exhausting but who am I to withhold such a gift?
Jamie is a person of many moods. Most are some variation of anxious, bossy, stubborn, controlling, or the like. But sometimes you walk into the chimp house in the morning and there’s just a lightness to her face. Like she was able to put her worries away for a little while. There are other indicators, as well. Like when she’s wearing a loosely-tied scarf with the bow at a jaunty angle – that’s a dead giveaway. Or when she’s made a nest on the playroom floor with all of her favorite things – boots, books, food puzzles, and so on. This morning, she ran up to the kitchen window with a boot in her pelvic pocket and greeted me with a long series of pant grunts and low moans. This is rare. As I said to Anna and Kelsi, either something was terribly wrong or Jamie was in a fantastic mood. Thankfully, it was the latter.
Her care-free mood continued through breakfast, as Kelsi prepared her morning medication (Jamie is on oral contraceptives to reduce discomfort caused by her swelling).
I can’t believe it’s February. To be clear, I do not cheer for climate change, or for any of the odd weather patterns that are made more likely by the warming of our planet. But it’s hard for all of us running a chimp sanctuary in Washington to not pause and enjoy the mild winter we’re having now. Annie felt the same way this morning and took her breakfast outside.
The Californians continue their war on shifting. Willy B was excited to meet Kelsi and Mave upstairs for breakfast but Honey B wanted none of it. But then Anna had a great idea – With Willy B and Mave upstairs, what if we gave Honey B access to the courtyard by herself? We have tried similar things before, thinking that perhaps Willy B’s intimidating presence prevents the girls from going outside. But this time, we were also going to load the courtyard with Honey B’s favorite foods – chow, gum, lettuce, smoothie, a fruit cup, and green onions. It was a foolproof plan!
Alas, it was not enough to lure Honey B outside this time. But when he was finally given access later in the morning, Willy B was very appreciative of our efforts.
Walks with Jamie are very predictable. She has worn a well-defined path around the perimeter of Young’s Hill over the last ten years with nary a misplaced step. Missy, on the other hand, is all over the place. One minute she’s right behind us, the next minute she’s gone.
You lose her in the brush somewhere, and then she pops up just long enough to let you know that she’s running off again.
This afternoon, Jamie signaled that she’s like to go for a walk but then she grabbed her boot book. I was confused..did she want to take a walk or look at the book?
Both.
Upon returning to the greenhouse, Jamie purposefully grabbed a toy watering can. She was up to something. I followed her inside and found her at the fountain.
