A dirt-bike flies through the air amongst the carnival attractions as the sun sets.
I never imagined that I’d become so attached to a fair location, but something about Red Deer really spoke to me. I don’t know if it was the great location for our set-up, the first name basis I achieved with a local pizza joint, or the over-all vibe, but I know I’ll be sad to leave. I also liked what a better host I seemed to be compared to the Moto-cross host.
Kane the Grey Wolf plays with McKenzie and Dirk before a show.We had to do extra shows all day today to make up for the cancelled rain-day, which meant a fittingly busy final hurrah.
Riley with Sydney the Grey Wolf… Did I mention Maddy is back already, and Riley left?.. This must be an older photo… Anyways, i suppose this caption served the purpose of letting you all know that Maddy is back from B.C and our new friend Riley returned… I’m hoping due to the legnth of this caption you will all have read it.
After another late night pack-up [including pizza from the aforementioned pizza place], it was time to sleep before driving to Medicine Hat the next day. I can only hope our next location will be this nice, but hey, it’s a leap of faith.
Sophie the Bison waits for her moment in the spotlight.Logan
Saturday, July 18th, 2015
Today, aside from being a day filled with working, was a “fair” day, as in; I hit up the fair.
I got to see what must’ve been one of THE greatest fireworks displays I’ve ever seen (which there is a small sample of above). I also got to try something NEW, one of my favourite things to do! In this case it was deep-fried avocado.
Overpriced, but tasty.
In other exciting news, I had an AMAZING walk with Boots today! I feel like we are really bonding.
Boots and I resting under a tree..!If anything, I hope this instalment of my blog has proven beyond a doubt that; sometimes the title covers literally what happened, without any hidden subtext.
Logan
Friday, July 17th, 2015
Up until today, despite inclement weather, we have still been able to do all of our scheduled shows (despite smaller audiences when it was windy and drizzly). The forecast for today was rain, 100%, all day… With crazy wind.
One of the reasons I am so confident that it rained all day, was that I had to wake up at 7:30am to take a taxi to Red Deer College to write my first online psychology exam.
Dirk, McKenzie, and Riley batten down the hatches.
After writing the exam (and scoring 70% [not bad]), I had a quick sub at the university Quiznos (I like the Dalhousie Subway better, mind you), and for a taxi back in the pouring rain to the exhibition grounds in time for the first show. The joke was on me though, because there was NO first show.
The sun sets over a foggy fair.
While there were hopes of the weather clearing up, the rest of the day promised just as much wind and rain, which meant our show, and the entire fair was essentially cancelled for the day.
It also meant making up for missing shows tomorrow…
Logan
I figured that after all the nasty weather we’ve had so far, I must’ve seen it all, rain, thunder, sun showers, rainbows, lightning… I was wrong. Very wrong.
We got Hail, and lots of it. We were lucky again in having our shows dry, but in between, before, and after were veritable forms of hell raining down from the angry sky.
Skootles the camel finishes giving rides early as an ominous storm approaches from the west.
I had hoped to have a relaxing day to study for my psychology exam tomorrow at Red Deer College, but the weather thought otherwise…
A different type of “Mounted Police”.
Towards the evening the sky cleared, and the zoo boys were restless until turning our attentions towards a metal stick. We had some fun. Here’s a video of the classic game, “throw the stick”.
Wednesday, July 15th, 2015
Three titles. This one must be good.
To start off, let’s talk about the fresh meat, I’ll prepare you right right now by saying: this is a double entendre (youve been warned, so I’d advise you to look away if you’re easily succeptible to wordplay related injuries).
McKenzie preparing lots of dinners for the big cats and wolves.
With Maddy away in B.C filming, we’ve been left in charge of making dinner for all the animals (something she usually did, very well, I might add). Luckily for me, I just have to give Boots the house cat his kibble…Phew. The other fresh meat in Maddy’s absence is her replacent, Riley, a super nice guy from Abbotsford who joined us to help with shows.
McKenzie and Riley take down our inflatable archway for the oncoming storm… Did I mention the weather has been horrendous?
While it was dry for most of the day today, at least for all of our shows, we did get a lot of in climate weather after the scorching sunshine in the morning… Speaking of it being sunny and warm, we were generously given a cooler of water from the fairground’s! [At least we assume it was meant for us…].
Bowman Valley has a nice ring to it, wouldnt you say?
Here comes the story behind the second title(s)… This is another deep and philosophical one, so if you’d rather read something light, check out this article instead( Dog & Deer).
The whole Bowman Valley debacle (coupled with my psych course) had me thinking about identity, specifically my own. Identity is a tricky thing to understand and even more difficult to have. While I, like most humans, have positive qualities and bad qualities, I wonder which make up what other perceive as “me”. There’s a doctor who quote that sums this up perfectly.
“The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don’t always spoil the good things and make them unimportant.”
Just like the recent weather, humans have good days and bad days, but should always take comfort in knowing that even after the worst storms, something beautiful and positive can still emerge.
Tuesday, July 14th, 2015
At last the day has come. Time to do laundry. There are 3 very easy steps to tell when it is essential that one should do their laundry:
You start rooting through previously worn clothes smelling them to determine their likelihood of being re-worn.
You start wearing bathing suits at shorts, hoodies as shirts, and your sandals, because you are all out of socks.
The final nail in the coffin, is when you start to notice your companions suffering from the previous two steps alongside you.
The trick to getting to the laundro-mat is having a well oiled vehicle to take you there!
Upon arriving at a very unique laundry place here in Red Deer I noticed all the machines had names. Kelly, my machine.
While at first it’s an endearing concept, It is quickly spoiled by the knowledge that “I just put a load into Kelly”. We didn’t have much time to stick around the laundry place, which meant that “Jewel”, my promiscuously named drier, didn’t have time to get hot enough to finish the job…[There it is again..]. This meant only one option upon arrival back at the fair… Drying our clothes gypsy style.
What’s the world record for “longest clothes-line”?We completed an intricate system of lines, for a maximum DRY.
Shows start here tomorrow, but I feel ready with my freshly cleaned clothes.
Logan
Let’s face it, you’re all getting tired of hearing about us humans. Let’s mix it up.
As you may have guessed by the title, this “issue” of my blog is all about Baghera the Jaguar.
A photo of Baghera at the Bowmanville Zoo (taken by the zoo).
When Baghera (also called Baggy) came to our zoo from Jungle Cat World in Orono, he was only just over 1 year old.
Baghera looking fierce.
In his time at the zoo over the past decade or so, Baghera has been in hundreds of shows, often alongside Boots, the house-cat, whom he “competes with”. He’s also done a lot of movies and TV, namely Peter Benchley’s “Amazon”. Baggy just recently he headed out to B.C (with Maddy) to film something new… A cat is more famous than me. In the film project Maddy’s character will have to “attack” Baghera, which means he needs to get used to her being close first.
In the wild, Jaguars like Baghera are found in central and South America, where they are a threatened species. One of the biggest threats facing them is the deforestation of forests, especially the Amazon in Peru and Ecuador.
Baghera sizes up his new scene partner as they train. She’s got meat, so she must be alright. A photo of Baghera and Maddy on the set in B.C! [The photo obvioiusly not taken by me, as I am still in Red Deer].
As for the humans today, all we did is set up the rest of our material for the shows on wednesday!
Sunday, July 12th, 2015
After last nights late bedtime due to packing up, I wasn’t too excited to be up so early in the morning to leave. At the same time however, I was very excited to leave. After a quick shower and an emotional “last time using the wi-fi”, we were on the road on the 6 hour drive to Red Deer, Alberta.
After about halfway the drive was going smoothly. You should all know by now that when a drive is going smoothly, it’s not going to be long before “something” happens. McKenzie stretching his legs after getting stopped at a truck inspection station.
It was an inspection station. A place where the employees are trained to find what’s wrong with your trucks, and oh boy, are they ever good at it.
Passing time while stopped at inspection.After finally being cleared to go, we finally drove to Red Deer, and saw a beautiful spot waiting for us! It was GREEN! Not only are we surrounded by grass, but also trees all around us, pleasant for the animals and humans alike.
Setting up the shade tarp, with Dirk on the roof.
Hopefully a relaxing day tomorrow with some laundry! [im running out of clothes]!
Logan
Today was our last day of shows here in Lloydminster, and the general feeling was that of relief, as our location in the middle of a parking lot was less than ideal, not to mention the heat and wind. After what felt like a relaxed morning, I got all cozy and set up to do some serious psychology studying… Not much sooner than had I sat down, all hell broke loose. It started by the wind catching in our tarps, and knocking over half of our people barriers… Shoot. After up righting the overturned panels, the pole holding up a shade tarp in the arena with the lions and tiger fell down… Shoot. Did I mention Dirk was out grocery shopping? This was going to be a “three of us problem”… After some persuading of the cats to stop chewing on the pole, and some resting, the madness was mostly over, leaving a whole few minutes before shows… Shoot.
After three successful shows, and some peaceful camel rides, all was finally at peace at the fair… Thank-goodness.
A hazy and muggy, yet peaceful end to the day at the fair.
The day was far from over yet, as we still had to pack-up… Everything. Finally at about 5am
Dirk gives Skootles the Camel a little smooch between rides.
Today was a day much like any other. Specifically the previous few days, as it was HOT outside. All I could think about all day was a big, sweet, delicious cob of roasted corn, which I could smell all the way from our secluded corner of the fair grounds, and some nice cool rain.
The best way to explain how I ended up with my wish for corn coming true, is that it started when I befriended some kids in the bathroom… Before you get concerned, let me elaborate. A couple days prior, while waiting in line to use the fairground’s shower, I chatted with some 13 year old boys also waiting in line. I told them I was with the animals, and about our show, and they said they were there with their parents selling BBQ and roasted corn. Today I decided, after seeing the kids at our show, to find their food-booth and buy something… To my utter and pleasant surprises, they enjoyed our show so much, they insisted I have some free corn! How could the day get any better?
After the sun had gone down, and my urge for cooling rain had died down, the heavens opened up.
McKenzie, Dirk, Maddy, and I run out into the late night rain to make sure the animals are dry and safe!
After what had been a relaxing night, filled with pretzels and TV, we ran out into the brisk soggy night, quickly rain-proofing items.
Raindrops on our tarp.
Of course, now for this weeks “book recommendation”! I am part-way through “Slaughterhouse Five”, by Kurt Vonnegut, and it is superb. If you are interested in satire, there is nobody more sharp and witty than Vonnegut, especially in this book, which is a not very discreet comment on the effects of war. If you’re more into science fiction, I would recommend “Galapagos”, also by Vonnegut, as it combines science, satire, and drama seemlessly in a story spanning millions of years, about seal-human, narrated by a ghost.
Logan
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Logan Robins 