If you are not already a big fan of Burrito, you should be after watching today’s video. Seriously, he has been non-stop playful lately. He’s definitely a bright light during these difficult times!
Burrito
Happy Birthday, Amy!
Today was sponsored by Amy Adams, who is celebrating her birthday by giving a day of sanctuary to the chimpanzees! Amy has also generously requested that her friends and loved ones make a difference in the chimps’ lives in honor of her birthday!
Amy, thank you so much for using your own special day as a way to celebrate the chimpanzees and make a difference in their lives. All of us here appreciate your kind heart so much and wish you the happiest birthday yet!
Jamie:
Foxie and Strawberry Shortcake:
Jody:
Mave:
Happy Birthday, Julie!
Many thanks to Karen Olson who is sponsoring this day of sanctuary in honor of her sister, Julie Olson:
“Happy Birthday to the best sister anyone could ever have!”
As you may recall, we recently celebrated Karen’s birthday which was sponsored by Julie! It’s an incredibly uplifting and hopeful thing when we get to see those of you who are family and friends choose to celebrate one another by coming together to contribute to the chimpanzees’ lives, their well-being and happiness. To count them as part of your family.
Happy Birthday, Julie! We’re so grateful to you and Karen for all you’ve done, and continue to do, to ensure the chimpanzees and cattle have days full to the brim with the best we can possibly provide them. All of us here at CSNW send you wishes for the happiest of days!
Missy and Annie:
Where the Wild Honey B’s Are
We often jokingly refer to the chimpanzees as Pacific Northwest chimps due to their love of our often quintessential cloudy, on the cool side days. Though such weather is much less common here on the eastern side of Washington state, we relish our stormy springs. Well, most of us. Okay, maybe just me and the chimpanzees. 😉 Having been born and raised in the foggy coastal redwoods, I understand the chimps’ joy completely. And despite the rainy morning, the chimpanzees didn’t hesitate to rush out to Young’s Hill, hair standing on end with excitement, still clutching their breakfast, to head off on a walk or just enjoy their pineapple outdoors:
Burrito:
Missy and Jody conferring about their neighbors:
Missy wasted no time heading off to run around the perimeter in the rain, chow bag in mouth. She kept stopping to see who was joining her and finally took off at full zoom on her own:
Foxie and her apples:
Cuuuute!:
Burrito is not a fan of walking in the grass or walking in the rain. I mean, tall, wet grass?? Ugh. But he braved it all to come along on a walk with Jamie and Missy and I. Why on earth he took the route full of tall, wet grass vs. the cleared path, only he knows. But he’s just the most endearing guy, sneer face and all:
Burrito, Jamie and Missy:
Nutmeg, Betsy, Honey and Meredith chose to take cover under the Ponderosas in the rain and seemed to think the chimps were kooky for being out in it:
Burrito as it began raining in earnest:
Meanwhile, there’s Honey B. As an enrichment item for the big celebration on Saturday for Queen Negra’s birthday and the chimps’ twelve year anniversary in sanctuary, a knit crown was tossed in the mix of party stuff. The Queen didn’t take an interest in it, but who do you think we found sporting it around her neck today?! Of course! Honey B! Creative person that she is. It’s a little hard to make out as she had been ripping and running and zooming, but it really reminds me of the crown Max in “Where the Wild Things Are” wears.
Here she is enjoying a snack while sitting on her new birthday skateboard:
Happy Birthday to our Queen Negra!
To know Negra is a true honor. She is unapologetically herself. To know who you are is a very important life skill. To have the ability to express yourself is also very important. Negra’s life has not been easy. However, Negra is a chimp who knows how she likes things and what she wants. Negra knows she loves pine-coco juice, lettuce, and chow. Negra as many of us know is the queen of comfort, she loves to make people dance for her, and when she wants to play she is not afraid to initiate it. When she feels like it, she gives the best kisses. Negra also gets to make those choices. She gets to choose where and how to make her nest, if she wants to go out on Young’s Hill, and she gets to express herself how she chooses. If Negra feels annoyed with her caregivers she can show her feelings, and trust us Negra is not afraid of holding back :).
June 13th, 2008 changed many lives. Most importantly everyday for 12 years seven chimps’ lives have gotten better each and everyday. And seven chimps became ten chimps. While our family may be growing, our visions and goals as a sanctuary have not. As Leslie Knope once asked in a TV show called Parks and Rec, “Are you better off now than you were a year ago?”. The answer is ABSOLUTELY and Negra is the perfect example of that. Happy Birthday to our Queen Negra. You are so very special to us.
If you missed the The Queen’s Brunch today you can still donate on our auction page. There are still a few second chance items left. Don’t miss out!
The Queen laying on her throne.
We had a huge forage out on Young’s Hill for lunch. Jody had arms full of cattails and a mouth full of roses. She also scored a big chunk of coconut. However, Jody got a little distracted near Negra. Negra looked over and to her dismay there was an abandoned coconut! Negra looked to be the happiest person in the world!
Negra with the coconut.
Missy zipped around the whole forage. I literally never saw her walking.
Jamie with arms and a foot full of lettuce.
Bubba enjoying his peppers.
Negra loving her lettuce too.
We hope you all had as much fun with the virtual auction and brunch as we did! I will leave you with these two images of Negra.
Happy Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day!
Today the sanctuary community is celebrating the fourth annual Animal Sanctuary Caregiver Day. Here at CSNW, we celebrated a day early because our staff were all here at the same time for Honey B’s birthday party and you can’t share pizza and ice cream over Zoom. Normally we don’t eat where the chimps can see us but there’s not enough room for us to maintain our distance indoors. Notice someone spying on us?
Not wanting to leave Jamie out of the celebration, the team finished lunch quickly and went on a run around the hill.
Burrito tried his best to keep up.
This is what impresses me most about our staff and volunteers. We set aside a brief moment for everyone to relax and eat and all they can think about is making Jamie happy.
I also appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into their work. Yesterday, Honey B had her first birthday celebration here at CSNW, and the staff, led by Chad, our Enrichment Coordinator, spent weeks brainstorming ideas for her party. It’s easy to throw a party, but this had to be a Honey B party. And it was a hit – so much so that Honey B will not let the party end. Seriously, she won’t let us go in to clean up. I guess we can keep the party going another day? (Update: At dinner she reluctantly let us close off the mezzanine. I made a deal with her that we’d move all the stuff, clean, and then put it all back again. She is pleased to once again be buried in her birthday mess.)
The most difficult thing about being a caregiver is not the physical work, though it can be exhausting. It’s the caring. It’s the relentless searching, day after day, for new ways to make others happy, even though you know it’s never going to be good enough. It is hard and it wears you out. I’m glad we have a day to formally acknowledge the importance of sanctuary caregivers. We are so grateful to our staff and volunteers, and to everyone else in our sanctuary community, for never letting up.
I’m sure this guy is grateful, too.
Tomorrow we celebrate the 12th Anniversary of the arrival of the Cle Elum Seven and Negra’s 47th birthday with our first ever virtual celebration. We hope you will celebrate with us! Join us on at this link for The Queen’s Brunch Facebook Live virtual event at 11:00 am Pacific Time on June 13th (you don’t need to have a Facebook account to watch!).
Happy Birthday, Karen!
Julie Olson, and her sister, Karen Olson, have been a such wonderful friends of the chimpanzees for years, and today, Julie is sponsoring a day of sanctuary in honor of Karen:
“I want to sponsor a day for the chimps for my sister Karen’s birthday. She is the one who introduced me to the fact that the chimps arrived in Cle Elum in 2008. She is a huge animal lover and I know this is more meaningful to her than any present I could give her.”
Julie and Karen, you’ve both made a lasting difference in the lives of the chimpanzees and we’re so grateful to have you as part of their family. We’re thrilled to be able to celebrate your special day with you, Karen, and hope you have the most beautiful time of celebration! Happy Birthday from all of us here!
Burrito, always the life of the party:
