Cindy's Page
A nature lover from birth, I've had nearly every type of pet imaginable. Now, I have a job at the North Carolina Zoo and have many exotic friends. By that, I mean, elephants, rhinos, zebra, ostrich, giraffe, lions, chimpanzees, warthogs and baboons. I've even worked with other animals for short periods of time.
The most exciting thing about work now is that our chimp group has been moved to the Kansas City Zoo because our barn and exhibit is being renovated. I had the chance to help move the group to Kansas City and have had a chance to go back to visit them. They were very excited to see me when I was there just before Christmas.
I have also had the chance to help hand-raise 5 infant chimpanzees. Now that I'm in the 7th month of my second pregnancy, the continued experience will come in handy. There will be nearly 8 years between the births of Carson and this baby.
I don't mean to imply that a human baby and a chimp baby are just alike, because there is very little comparison. A chimp baby needs to be held 24 hours a day for the first year of it's life. At least I'll be able to put this one down and sleep without it attached to my person.
Back to the pet notion. I currently have 11 house cats, yes, 11!! They were all strays or they all needed care of some kind. One has 3 legs, one has other health problems, one was shot in the head and found his way to us, and so on, and so on. Hugh thinks there is an invisible sign above our house that says, "All Strays Welcome!!"
We also have 2 dogs, both strays, and a fish that was given to us by a good friend because his tank-mate was beating him up. I've had to learn to say no, especially lately. How can I take care of all these pets, the ones I work with, Hugh, Carson and the new baby? It's not going to be easy.
I've always felt a connection to animals; a connection that I've never had with people. It takes another animal person sometimes to understand how I feel. I can relate to animals I've never met much easier than people I've never met.
The chimps that I work with are a perfect example of how I feel we should be able to act with other people. There are definite leaders in a chimp society and all others fall into a certain rank. If a dispute arises, the animals immediately fight it out. There is much screaming and chasing, but in the end, all sit and groom each other. The dispute is settled and forgotten. Wouldn't it be great to be able to give someone a piece of your mind and then forget it. The world would probably be a less violent and a more peaceful place.
I have other hobbies other than the animals in my life. I do lots of crafts, and I love to work in the herb garden. All of our Christmas presents this year were homemade. I really feel that's what Christmas is partly about, giving of yourself.
My herb garden has really suffered this year. Everything needs attention. I was so sick with morning sickness this spring that I could not make myself go outside and bend down to weed or divide or even harvest anything.
The good news is that Elijah is due in March and I'll have lots of time off (after being tired and worn out) to work in the garden, I hope.
Hugh grew a small raised-bed garden this year and I was able to can some of the tomatos so that we could use them this winter. We hope the grape vines and the asparagus will bear this year.
We spend most of our family time in the gardens. Carson likes to help harvest things and he likes to plant seedlings and watch them grow. We walk the paths nearly every day when the plants begin peeking above the ground in the spring. This way, we can talk, weed, and we never miss those beautiful blooms that might otherwise be overlooked. We hope to have pictures starting this spring so that everyone can follow their progress with us.
I'm sure there is more I could tell, but if I said it all now, I'd have no need to change all of this later!
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