Better late then never

Well it’s been a while since I wrote but for a retired guy life has been very busy. I’ve been retired a little over two years and enjoying every minute of it. That said after the first 6-12 months I began to feel a need to do something. I was recruited to work at an health insurance company in Wisconsin to do case reviews and work with the Utilization Management team discussing patients that were hospitalized or in nursing homes to ensure they were at the correct level of care and that they had safe places to go to after discharge. I really like the team of nurses I work with and the mental challenge that keeps my medical brain refreshed. Very fortunate. Again.

My wife volunteers at a therapeutic riding facility in Florida which she absolutely loves. The first time I went to pick her up all I could see was her famous smile as she walked along beside a horse steadying a child rider. She fights to get slots on the volunteer schedule before they fill up and is very disappointed when a session is cancelled though if there volunteers to muck stalls. I think it’s the horse smell that is her addiction. I kind of like it too so much so when we had our farm (another story for another day) we had multiple horses. Jo suggested I join her at the stable. Did I mention that while I like horses I am often put off by “horse people”, not all mind you but then again walking in a field of land mines not every step is a bad one. But the bad ones are really bad. Jo said that the people at this stable were nice but I’m still gun shy from prior experiences and have declined for now. But I do like that horse smell and grooming is kind of zen like with most horses. We will see.

Jo and I were talking about my volunteer quest and we had seen info about the local wildlife conservation organization. A great organization that lobbies for maintaining contiguous swaths of undeveloped Everglades, estuaries and other ecosystems. Those of you that know me know I am not a tree hugger that drives a Subaru with a save the planet sticker. I am however someone who has hunted, fished, hiked and would like for future generations to enjoy nature and its beauty like I have. This organization is doing great work to help SW Florida be recognizable well into the future working on compromises that respects and balances landowners and developers rights with habitat protection. Unlike the fringe groups who have the all or none stance this group tries to find a solution that works for everyone. I started volunteering in the hospital for injured wild animals at this organizations headquarters. My first day while cleaning a bird cage I looked up and was at eye level with a Pelican who had been let out to roam the room and was poking me to get the fish I was loading into what turned out to be his cage. They are hilarious birds but BIG when at eye level. The work there while rewarding was intense and tiring with lots of cleaning cages, squatting and remembering protocols to keep the birds calm and healthy. I hadn’t placed a feeding tube since my work in the ICU until passing one down the throat of a cormorant. Another BIG bird when close up.

The only usually relaxing time was when we walked gopher tortoises. Yup we walked the tortoises. These tortoises had been brought in as a result of Hurricane Irma that destroyed much of their habitat by pushing beach sand inland and over their habitats. To survive on the sparse feed they ended up eating sand with the few remaining sprigs of grass making the constipated. Yup I said it. The therapy for these tortoises involved warm sitz baths we volunteers made for them to sit in for 10 minutes, then 30 minutes of outside time on the lawns and then medication and a healthy diet prescribed by the staff vet. OK walking a tortoise should be easy right? Well first they are heavy so they needed to be put in Rubbermaid bins, placed in wagons and pulled to the assigned lawn. Then we were to document the amount of time the spent eating or sunning or walking. My first tortoise was into sunning and Im thinking easy peasy. Well shortly into my 30 minutes a fellow volunteer came running over saying he had lost his turtle!!! My turtle was still sunning and not at all bothered by the histrionics around him. Turns out the volunteer had probably been on his phone and “speedy” had taken off for home and made it about 100 feet across a travelled road over two high curbs and behind a guardrail where we finally found him. From my lazy turtle experience so far I imagined this guy had probably put his turtle down and not looked up from his phone for 30 minutes. That was until I was assigned “speedy” the next time I volunteered. This turtle’s legs started moving the minute I took him out of his container and off he went. He spent 95% of his time running (seriously he was fast) toward the same area he went toward before. Only stopping occasionally to eat. I tried moving him to other areas, spinning him around (gently) and redirecting him by getting in his way and he always headed North I assume toward where he was found. You had to see this guys determination and speed to believe it. I would love to have posted pictures of the critters maybe even a video of speedy but the Conservation organization has an agreement with the Florida Fish and Game that allows them to treat and in some sad cases euthanize wild animals many of which are endangered and protected. This agreement comes with stipulations that these arent taken for entertainment and they ask that we not take pictures. Below is a photo I found on the web.

Our leaving for our cross country trip put an end to my time at the Conservation Wildlife Hospital and Im not sure I am going back to that job as the bending to clean cages and the frenetic pace to get everything cleaned etc was a back killer. But it was an amazing once in a lifetime chance to see and handle wild critters to nurse them back to health and release them back into the wild.

Now that we are heading back Im trying to decide what my next adventure will be. There are so many retired people that some places have turned me down due to too many volunteers at least during snow bird season. But I have several ideas that should generate more stories.

I know this post wasnt the usual travel post but has been a fun part of my time between trips. Our next camping trip that Ive scheduled so far (Im hoping for more) is to Florida Horse Country for a rodeo. Yee ha.