Gabe and David's Blogtastic Extravaganza

{READ IN BRITISH ACCENT}

Today was raw. We floated down Sacremmento river on innertubes and our dear freind The Kerrigander was stranded on a tree branch after being capsized in the rapids! We staged a daring rescue and fought a bearcow. In other news we would like to report that our Work Camp experience was excellent enjoying the times of work and the times of play. we have completed various challenges and risen to glory every time. At our annual Talent no Talent (TNT) competition last night there were performances across the talent spectrum. but as we all know the guys skit (a rendition of asher roth's "i love college" now named "i love work camp") trumped all others. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: Gabriel Alexander and David Ayer have succesfully trounced Julie Llanillo in a debate ( for those of you who dont know she is a lawyer and was prior to this incedent invincible in said field of play.) in conclusion its been an awesome week weve all changed, grown and learned many things, we are ready to return home but we will always remember the week we all shared in chico california.

peace out,

D&G

The Work is Done!

We left the Farm Sanctuary. I am so proud of the youth and how hard they worked. We kept a steady pace all week despite the heat. We feel satisfied with our gifts to the Farm and its animals. To the bunnies we leave 10 "bunny boxes" which when stacked create a couple of tunnels, ramps and hiding places. To the Barn Owls, we leave two boxes that will be put high in the rafters of the hay barn. To the goats, we leave a beautiful goat jungle gym (thanks to Mo Wright for helping us with the design!). To the people we leave a series of three compost bins made from pallets and our thanks for their hospitality, their witness to animal rights issues, and their love of the animals at the farm.

My favorite moment today was when Buddy the goat came over to check out the new jungle gym. Mostly, he was drawn to us (an extrovert!) and then rubbed his head on the side of the structure. It was the first contact between the goats and our work and it felt like a blessing. It was great to see many goats hanging out on it later in the day. The structure is incredibly sturdy and we hope will last a long time.

My deepest thanks to all the youth and Alexa, Lea and Julie for working so faithfully this week! We have earned a day of play tomorrow (and sleeping in, Gabe would remind me to tell you). We haven't yet told them what we are doing. But with another 100 degree on the way, you can bet it involves water!

Adam

Alice's farewell to the farm

Today was our very last day working at the Farm Sanctuary. It was very hot, although not the worst day we've had. Amazingly, we actually managed to finish all of our projects. I started out the day putting rabbit "activity centers" together, which involved much pounding of nails.

Then I got to go feed the geriatric cows. They licked fruits and vegetables out of our hands, but managed to knock most of the food on the ground in the process. We left it there, so hopefully they were able to eat it off the ground. Their tongues are very rough, a lot like a big cat's tongue. We also rubbed them again, and were slobbered over again.

After pampering the cows we went to feed goats. Goats are some of the sweetest animals on earth in my opinion. There is a very very social goat named Buddy, who demands attention. I got to play with the goats for a long time, which made me very happy. One of my favorites was a little one named Alicia, who has a twin. I also liked a brown goat named Molly who has a tattered ear. She was the most outgoing female, and she greeted us at the gate when we came with food. After the food was gone the goats decided to taste other things. My camera chord and shorts were both nibbled upon.

We waited in the shade of the barn for a while after the feeding and said hello to the donkeys and sheep that were staying inside. The donkeys have very very soft ears.

We started putting up our jungle gym for the goats later in the morning, and they all seemed very interested, especially Buddy. We had to run a chord for a power drill across the yard, and it was my job to keep Buddy from eating it. He tried a few times, but mostly seemed interested in chewing on the jungle gym. It looked amazing when it was finished, and some of the goats started climbing on it right away. It helped that there was some hay on top of it.

For lunch the interns and some of the staff came and ate cookies left over from the bake sale last night and soy "ice cream" with us. I was surprised that the chocolate "ice cream" was really really really good. After showering we said our last farewells to the farm. I'm not going to miss the prickly plants or the heat, but I am going to miss all of the animals, especially the goats.

Bunny Boxes and Farmer's Market

Today was a really long day. We worked on building bunny boxes and the goat play structure. Alexa and I (Sita) got to work on building the prototype for the bunny boxes. It took a little while to figure out the exact measurements, but we eventually completed the first box. We got to watch the sheep being moved from the barn to the North fields, which was very exciting.

After working for at least four hours we got to eat lunch ang go swimming. The day wasn't as hot as the previous day at the lake, but it was still really nice to be in the water. The day was dry and hot and the water was cool and relaxing.

Today we went to the farmer's market in downtown Chico to work at the Farm Sanctuary's booth. We helped sell vegan desserts to the public and were able to tell them about the food we were selling and our experiences. We all were split up into three groups, each group working an hour shift. After our shirft was over we were allowed to wander throughout the market and find dinner.

Now we are all back at the church and relaxing.

Kerrigan's Insight (again)

Today was quite nice and went by swiftly. I guess the days are still very long, and once evening comes by morning seems like foreverrrr ago. And the next morning, it's as if the previous day never happened. It seems to go by quickly once sleep gets involved. We all must be quite tired after the amount of work.

This morning we went to work at the farm and David and I were sent within the first half-hour to locate a man by the name of 'Fred' somewhere around the farm. Adam didn't specify how much time we had to spend looking for this man, so that plus the vastness of the farm contributed to the amount of time we spent chattering to each other and hollering 'Fred!...Fred!' everywhere we went. Eventually we figured out that they'd found him already and we went back, and then we were sent out to help make a flat area on the hillside of the goat area to place the goat jungle-gyms, which were doing tomorrow. We've got all the different platforms built and they're big! I'm impressed with the progress of myself and my peers.

Later this evening we went to the farmer's market; David and I spent the first hour assisting the FarmSanctuary booth and their bake sale, then we were dispatched to explore the rest of the farmer's market and downtown Chico. We saw many interesting things and people, and had a great time. And now we're here, pretty much exhausted and looking forward to tomorrow. Cheers, everybody! We'll be back soon.

--Kerrigan

Farmers Market

Hey All,

We just returned from the Chico Farmers Market. The animal sanctuary had a cool booth set up. The sanctuary volunteers educated people about factory animal treatment and vegetaranism while we youth worked in shifts to sell baked vegan items (some of which we had made ourselves Wednesday: chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cups, rice crispy treats...) for a donation of a dollar or two to the sanctuary. The treats turned out to be a delicous bargain if I don't say so myself. It was refreshing to see how interested people were in the sanctuary and chill talking to people about our experiences. After working for an hour we walked around the farmers market, visited other boothes, and got some dinner. We found this UnEnergy drink called "Relax Drank" for when "life comes too fast." It felt like summer and it was good just to hang out with everyone.

Peace and Love, Michael

P.S. Happy 13th Birthday to my bro Patrick

A Midweek Gift

We were all excited to have Lea, Alexa, Lorenzo, Way Way and Joey arrive at the farm this morning. The infusion of their energy helped us get through another hot day. It has been two straight days of 100+ degree. It is amazing how draining working only 8:00am to 12:30pm everyday in this heat can be. But we are getting a lot of work done and remain in good spirits. Lorenzo and the girls will leave tomorrow, but Lea and Alexa will stay through until Sunday. Yeah!

On a side note, we heard about President Obama's Summer of Service and felt a little twinge of pride that we are doing our part this week. Tomorrow, we hope to see a standing goat jungle gym!!! G-night!

Adam

SHEEP!!!!

I (Alice) got to start the day by helping with the health checks on a herd of sheep from near Santa Cruz. The sheep were fairly wild, and very scared of people, because they had lived alone on an island for a long time before they came to the Farm Sancuary in 1997. They're at the farm because the government decided to restore the island to it's natural state and began shooting the sheep. The Farm Sanctuary swooped in to rescue them.

To do the health checks we took groups of about 12-20 sheep and cornered them in a part of the barn with pieces of fencing. Then we took them out one at a time, dragging them by their horns in most cases, and held them against a wall while they had their checkup. I met a hornless sheep called Simon, and a very skinny one named Ed. Ed was pulled from the herd onto another area, because he was too skinny. Simon was harder to hold, because we had to hold him in a headlock instead of grabbing his horns. Part of the checkup was a hoof trimming. A farm worker cut bits off of the hooves that were overgrown kind of like trimming fingernails. Some of the sheep were inclined not to stand up during their inspections, which was fine for most of it except when their back legs and feet needed to be checked.

It was very funny watching the sheep when they were let out the gate after their checkups. Most of them were very excited to get out of our grasp, and raced as fast as they could. A bunch of them jumped and leaped too, which was quite adorable. The only one that I saw taking his time was Simon.

Random comment about sheep: They have very pretty eyes.

Then I went and helped cut wood for the goat jungle gym. We are almost finished making the platforms, and hopefully we will get to start putting it up for tomorrow. 53.5 inches is a very strange length to cut a piece of wood.

After lunch we got to make vegan cookies for selling at the farmer's market tomorrow. I made chocolate chip cookies with Michael and Kerrigan. The dough was very delicious, and so were the cookies after they were cooked. I also got to lick a wooden spoon covered in chocolate. That was also quite delicious.

Kerrigan's Insight

So, today, for me, was like a continuation episode of yesterday, in that as soon as we got to the farm, my partner and I immediately resumed the project we'd postponed at the end of the previous day. We finished sawing up the few lonesome boards which hadn't yet found their way to the pile of useful planks, and then started building platforms for somewhat of a 'goat jungle gym'. For this procedure I switched partners and ended up working with David. We both proceeded to thoroughly adopt Russian accents and addressed each other by Yitzik (David) and Nikolai (myself) while working, and also made the decision to address Gabe and Michael by Boris and Mikhail despite their protest. The whole thing was a bit fun and made time go by faster, but as soon as it got hot and time started going slower, the Russian facade faded quickly and I got a bit grumpy. It happens all the time--when I'm hot, I get grumpy and sort of sluggish.

We did manage to finish the job. At the end of the work day, by which time David and I had been exploring methods for the two of us to cut boards that took four people to cut, we found ourselves notably hungry, but needing only one more plank of wood from the pile to finish up. It probably took us longer to get that one plank finished than it would to produce four planks, which goes to show how much the heat can affect you, especially in this summer weather. It was nice and windy the whole time, though, and I appreciated that. I'd love some rain. Cheers to my family and I hope you are all doing well!

--Kerrigan (Nikolai?)

Alex Stuetz's Perspective

Although the Winthropites have only been in Orland/Chico for 3 days, it seems like much longer. I've done so much in the few days I've spent at the Farm Sanctuary. For the most part, I've been cutting down the huge pile of wood with other Winthropites into pieces for the goat jungle gym. However, I've also prepared used pallets for the compost bin that we made. Other than work, we've played Spotlight in the large assembly at the church we're staying at. In the future, I will do laundry tomorrow with David Ayer as members of the work committee. I'm looking forward to the rest of Work Camp.

Alex

Close Encounters of the Bovine Kind

All -

I couldn't be prouder of our youth! Working hard in the kind of heat that makes you forget your own name, they have been vigorously and enthusiastically attacking our projects ( in the shade while drinking plenty of water, not to fear). They have completed two owl houses --no small feat, considering the plans we were working from were incomplete, so we had to improvise -- and their creativity was certainly up to the task. They have nearly finished an activity structure for a herd of goats. They have fed, cleaned, coddled and cuddled the many animals here. They have sung, danced, and made me laugh to the point of tears many times already. And they have once again completely blown me away with their insight, vision, and ability to share those abilities with us and with one another.

And now, a short story: Farm Sanctuary has a special pasture for a few gentle, giant, ancient bovines. They're three old patriarchs who would have normally been turned into hamburgers a decade ago. Instead they've been allowed to age gracefully (or rather, as gracefully as a 2000 pound arthritic cud-chewer can.)

We were given curry combs (hard rubber scrubbers that essentially massage the cow, with the help of human elbow grease), and we gave the old guys a good rub down. I could tell when I hit an especially itchy spot -- the old feller would grunt and sigh and lean into me.

When we were done and I went to walk away, I could tell I was being followed. I turned to find him looking me up close in the face with his huge, luminous brown eyes with their loooong eyelashes (see photo). He nosed me in the chest, and then leaned down and gave me a huge sloppy kiss, right on my knee, with his giant tongue. It was as clear a thank you as I've ever received.

I think many of us are having these kind of up close and personal experiences with these sweet beings that really let us know how much our hard work is appreciated. It makes it so worth while.

Julie (Greer) Llanillo

cows, owl boxes and spotlight excitement

Our first day at the farm was very long. It started out with me (Alice) and some others going to rub down the geriatric cows. They slobbered all over our legs while removing flies from their backs, but seemed to enjoy the attention. Cows have very beautiful eyes. The cow pasture is full of prickly plants of some kind, which were not wonderful to walk through in shorts. After pampering the cows we got to rake out the bunny enclosure. The bunnies were very cute. So were the four ducks and the cat that live with them. There was a very cute black and white bunny with one ear up and one ear down sitting in the yard. Then we got to feed the goats!!!!! They are very funny animals. They will come up to you and look at you, and nuzzle your hand. There is a beautiful huge herd. There was one goat that would only eat the apples. She didn't seem interested in the carrots in the mix.

Next we got to go build things. Sita, Susan, Julie and I got to build owl boxes for the barn owls that live in the hay barn. We had a big yellow crayon to mark up our plywood. I learned how to use a table saw when we cut out the pieces. We had a wonderful teem effort keeping the wood going in a straight line. I managed to eyeball some straight and some crooked cuts, but at the end of the day (after many trimmings of wood and trying to figure out how the wood should fit together since our plans were faulty (only discovered after cutting out all the pieces)) we had one assembled box and all the pieces to the second one. I am not terribly talented at using a power drill.

We got to have three-minute showers in the cow colored bathroom at the farm. Sita and I decided to wash our hair in the hose back at the church, so we put our bathing suits on and soaked the yard in the process. For future reference to anyone who may be wondering: it does not work to dangle a hose from monkey bars to make a shower. It will fall down when you turn it on.

This evening we had a very exciting game of Spotlight, in which I only got caught once. Unfortunately it ended with a broken table, which Adam skillfully fixed. The table did not fall on anyone.

Arrival!

We made it! We arrived at the Farm Sanctuary after an easy drive and had a brief orientation and tour of the farm. The orientation included a short film about the history of the Farm Sanctuary (started in New York) and stories of the first animals that inspired them. Then we visited the cows, goats, turkeys, rabbits, pigs, sheep, donkeys and the 34 new young ducks that are here. Most importantly was meeting the goats for whom we will be building the jungle gym. Each animal has a name here and when that animal dies, their name is also retired. The goats don't seem to know our icebreakers so we may be challenged to learn their names by the end of the week. Overall, they seem only mildly interested in our presence, but scratching them between the eyes seems to get their approval. Tonight we settled into the church in Chico and got organized for the week. We ended the night with a reflection time that included looking at the pile of trash that we genereated during the day on our trip. We decided to use the trash as reminder to connect with the Earth this week. It also inspired us to set up trash, recycling and composting bins for ourselves this week. We also made the word Earth out of our trash as a reminder this week to consider the impact of our choices this week on the environment.

Have You Heard About Workcamp?

The Senior High youth of First Congregational Church of Berkeley are in the final stages of preparing for this year's workcamp. 8 youth and 4 adults will travel to Orland, CA on June 21, 2009 and work for a week at the Farm Sanctuary. The Farm Sanctuary works to end cruelty to farm animals and promotes compassionate living through rescue, education and advocacy. Currently, about 300 animals live comfortably at the sanctuary. We will be doing varioius projects around the farm including building a goat jungle gym and rabbit activity centers. At the same time, we will be learning more about where our food comes from and the stories of the animals at the sanctuary. We will be sleeping and preparing our meals at the First Christian Church of Chico, CA. As always, everyone is eager for workcamp. For some, it is a great way to begin the summer. For others, it is a way to leave high school and step into the larger world. And for me, it is a privilege to spend a week with these amazing youth. I give thanks for the ways they open their lives to each other and the caring community we are creating together. May God bless this year's workcamp! (Photo from the Farm Sanctuary)