If you follow the blog, you may have seen the brief mentions from Kelsi and then J.B. of the very eventful end of December that the Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest staff and volunteers endured this year.
For the first time in over a decade (as far as we can remember), J.B. and I had scheduled a short trip to visit family together (together!) on the east coast for some winter celebrations. Almost as soon as we left, things started to malfunction at the sanctuary as Cle Elum was hit with extreme cold temperatures. J.B. helped troubleshoot the issues at a distance, but the staff on the ground had to navigate mechanical failures and multiple days with a non-functioning well, all the while caring for the chimpanzees and cattle, getting to work in icy conditions, and taking turns staying overnight to look after office cat LouLou and pups Abbey and Benny.
The nonhumans were none the wiser to these issues as the staff and volunteers managed to maintain the routine and get creative with procedures as though everything was in pristine working order. Meanwhile, J.B. and I had to extend our time away due to the weather and the complete meltdown of the aviation industry.
All of this, whilst also being away from their own families, the staff carried on with the CSNW Christmas countdown on the blog and the preparation for holiday festivities without skipping a beat.
J.B. and I couldn’t be more grateful. Neither of us worried in the least that this crew of staff, volunteers, and their spouses could handle whatever obstacle Mother Nature and Murphy’s Law presented to them. There was never a doubt that the nonhumans at the sanctuary were in the best hands possible.
Today, we thank them most humbly with this sponsor-a-day post, and invite you, too, to thank them for looking after the sanctuary every day under any and all circumstances!
