Katelyn

Happy April Birthdays!

April 1, 2023 by Katelyn

Happy Birthday, to all our friends out there who are celebrating this month!

While we do have Easter (April 9th) and Earth Day (April 22nd) ahead, April is one of those rare months in which we have no sanctuary resident birthdays so we are counting on you to go big! If you’ve been following the chimpanzees for any length of time, you should all be well instructed at this point on a myriad of celebration options and ideas. Just ask yourselves, “What would the chimpanzees do?” and go from there…well, within some form of reason. 😉

Officially, we’re several steps into spring here in the northern hemisphere. Unofficially, it seems that what has felt like an extra long winter for many, continues to be so here and there. Dependent on where one dwells in this county, you may be anywhere between welcoming this first weekend of April under a winter storm warning, or maybe something a little more spring-like at lower elevations. Maybe it’s just part of the whole April Fool’s theme. But really, that’s pretty apropos for the strange alchemy of winter turning to spring, vacillating between wild and calm, rest and reawakening, dark and light.

Whether you missed the news or not it definitely bears repeating, so feel free to revisit Negra’s inspiring and heart-lifting spring adventure here. I’d say Negra sums up the very nature of spring and all of the seasons of our lives in which it’s magic appears.

Fashion risk-taker and trend-setter, Annie:

One of my all-time favorites of Jody from an Easter past. What you can’t see here is that in her delight, Jody had stopped to give us all one of her endearing genital bounce greetings. (Now, I know many of you are now thinking you want to see this if you haven’t already. I’m sure there are other examples somewhere, but a good one is seen in this way, way back video of an exciting early years event, at 00:35 – it’s kind of Jody’s signature friendly greeting behavior). I have this photo hanging in my kitchen and unfailingly, it makes my heart sing every time I look at it.

Timeless Burrito:

Willy B and an Easter carrot:

Nutmeg and his mama, Betsy:

Sweet Terry:

Thanks so much to you all for being here through all the seasons of the chimpanzees’ and bovines’ lives, and not least of all, your own. We’re so grateful to you, and birthday or not, we celebrate you and everything you make possible in the lives of all who call the sanctuary home, every single day.

Happy Birthday, April celebrating friends! Happy spring!

March birthdays, first birthdays, and second birthdays.

February 28, 2023 by Katelyn

Happy Birthday, March celebrating friends! Why are we wishing you Happy March Birthdays when it’s technically still February? Because tomorrow, March 1st, is Willy B‘s 33rd birthday! Well, I should now say it’s been Willy B’s celebrated birthday because as Diana recently shared on the blog, we’ve since learned that his actual birthday is November 30th! So of course we decided to celebrate both in a kind of Hobbit-style this year, with first birthday and second birthday. 🙂

We hope this inspires all you March revelers to not only start the day in celebration the very second your eyes open tomorrow, but to celebrate your own special day at least twice this month. Willy B would want you to.

We love this guy so much and are so proud of how courageous he’s been this year navigating so many exciting, and understandably sometimes scary, changes.

And our next celebration will be Cy‘s 33rd birthday on March 12th! If you haven’t yet had a chance, you can purchase one of our new limited edition Cy’s Bookclub t-shirts and/or tote bags. Today is the last day to order these through presale if you want to have them in time for his birthday! And if you’re looking for other ways to help celebrate Cy, we also have a few items on our Amazon Wishlist we’d be so grateful to have for his party (we hope to set up his own library)!

We are so thankful for Cy. His commanding and calm presence have been a real gift to us all as his group of now nine continues to navigate their blending. We couldn’t be prouder of each one of them for the courage and growth they continue to show as they build and renew friendships, experience so many new things, and work out issues, like any chimpanzee family, sometimes with ease, and sometimes far from it.

Just about the time everyone is rested up from Cy’s party, we will be on to the next for St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th. And I think it’s safe to say we will all be celebrating the official arrival of spring here in the northern hemisphere on March 20th. Even if it’s still snowing, we will know it’s really spring and that counts for something.

The staff team was busy today with an onsite CPR and First Aid training provided by our wonderful local Kittitas County Fire Protection District 6. Perhaps Cy would have been interested in our training materials. (Though, as Diana noted, it’s Jamie who would have most likely been fascinated by all the resuscitating and bandaging going on). 🙂

Well, rest up, friends! Partying starts at sun-up! 😉 Be sure to join us on the blog tomorrow for Willy B’s bash! And please know that every step of courage, joy and celebration these amazing 16 chimpanzees get to experience would not be possible without the incredible support you all show in so many ways. We are so grateful to you all for being here with us!

Before you end this last day of February while I drift off into a pasta-induced coma (hot tip: don’t eat a big bowl of pasta while you’re trying to work), please enjoy these beautiful bonus photos that Chad graciously said I could use:

Rayne: