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Saturday, June 13th, 2015
After a short sleep following our long journey to Moose Jaw, I awoke to the trucks moving once again.  It seemed that the wal-mart parking lot we stopped in the night before wasn’t to be our new home (I’d figured).  If you thought living inside a curling club was pretty zany, wait until you hear where we are living now…    
We are parked right within the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive  Centre!  Not only does this present the ideal opportunity to title my blogs with owl puns, but it’s incredible getting to see these owls and learn more about them, mere feet from where I sleep!  Today was a little windy, but sunny, and all of our animals are very happy to be outside (as am I)!  One thing the praries have that takes some getting used to is all the holes in ground…  The number of times I’ve tripped today must rival the amounts I’ve tripped this entire past year.  I anticipate becoming accustomed to it though, as the rest of the landscape is stunning.

Here’s a photo of Sophie The bison going for a walk to stretch her legs after the long drive.  She’s definitely a little bigger than the house cat I take for walks…
Logan

Friday, June 12th, 2015

Today was the day.  We were finally leaving the Brandon Curling Club, and moving on to our next stop, Moose Jaw, Manitoba.  While the prospect of moving on to something new was exciting, it also meant packing up everything we had established the past week.  Here is a little glimpse (in the form of a time-lapse) of just how much work goes into setting/packing up a show as you move from city to city!  

   
We didn’t leave Brandon until almost 11:00pm, which meant another long and tiring overnight drive.  There were also crazy thunderstorms during most of the drive, followed by truck troubles.  Just our luck.  Finally, at about 4am, we arrived and I promptly got some sleep!  

As for this Friday’s book recommendation, it’s an early science fiction novella written by Ross Rocklynne, called Time Wants A Skeleton.  It’s a really short and fun story, and makes excellent use of time travel as a plot device.

That’s all for now, from the middle of Canada!
Logan

Thursday, June 11th, 2015
I am pleased to announce first and foremost, that despite the close quarters, last nights sleeping situation went great (We stayed up late watching tv, then didn’t have to head to our own separate trucks..)!  We slept in until 11:30am, and then got right to work feeding/watering/cleaning the animals!    The most exciting part of today however, was finally DOING MY LAUNDRY!  I never thought I could be so excited just to have clean clothes..!

I learned today that we would be clearing out tomorrow, unsure of exactly where we will hang our hats next…  So, here comes my second deep and meaningful blog post.  One of my biggest insecurities is my fear of the unknown.  While I like to imagine myself as fun, laid-back, and spontaneous, in truth I can be very calculating, and enjoy a routine.  I’ve always found it easier to appear/be  spontaneous amongst the backdrop of order and routine!  The best metaphor for this is..  If you have a large number of pale coloured butterflies, fluttering around freely without rhyme or reason in a jungle, the addition of a brightly coloured butterfly will fade into the masses, stifled by the commotion, and uncertainty.  However if all pale butterflies were in pale cocoons, sitting still in the jungle, with only one brightly coloured cocoon, it would stand out amongst the others, drawing interest, and seeming novel and maybe even special.  Sometimes it’s easier to stand out in simpler situations, but… it’s not always better.  This past year I had an incredibly difficult time with the transition between high-school and univeristy…  At high-school all it took was some chutzpah and time to stand out against the daily routine, something I had mastered over my incredible four years there.  University is the frenzy of butterflies, fluttering about in different directions, forcing you to flap your wings harder and fly higher, or fade into the swarms.  While I struggled to soar high enough this year, I think I learned in the end the skills I will need to return with a passionate fury this coming fall.  
While it frightens me not knowing exactly where we are heading to tomorrow, it excited me just as much.  Adventure relies on the unknown, and this is my grandest adventure yet.
For your animal photo of the day, I’ve got Kane, our (huge) Grey wolf with his keeper, McKenzie.. I would’ve used wolves in my metaphor above, but they don’t metamorphasize…  Those would be HUGE cocoons if they did…
Here’s to not knowing what lies ahead!
Logan 

Wednesday, June 10th, 2015
Today I learned that the truck I’ve been sleeping in this past week is going into the shop to be fixed up.  While on the positive side, this means (hopefully) no more driving complications, it also means that Maddy and I lost our bedrooms.  This called for the four of us to share the one other trailer, truly putting to the test just how well we get along.  To add to the “lord of the flies/trapped together vibe”, I also got the crew started on watching one of my favourite shows in the world, LOST.  I brought all 6 seasons on DVD, and if the rate we watched it at last night continues, we will easily finish by the time August rolls around!  It really hit me for the first time today just how unique and crazy my situation is…  I’m currently living in a truck, parked in a curling rink, in Manitoba, with a dozen wild animals..  If this doesn’t do anything else, it’ll be a great story to tell grandchildren in the future! On a more animal themed note, our little lion cub is already growing quickly! She’s got four little teeth, and a personality to match! 
Hopefully doing laundry tomorrow.. [im starting to smell as bad as the animals..]
Logan 

Tuesday, June 9th, 2015

Today was my first true “day off”, and while I appreciated sleeping in, it was a fools errand trying to avoid boredom.  First I enjoyed a delightful breakfast sandwich on my recently purchased bread. The I read, I watched a movie, I played my melodica (mouth piano instrument) while twisting and dancing around wildly, much to the amusement of building workers… I thought about complaining of my woes, but figured there wouldn’t be much sympathy for someone who’s job is as easy as mine on days like today.  I also spent some time playing with the lion cub (still nameless/still cute), as well as trying to get some better photos of the animals!  Below I’ve got the adorable cub, and everybody’s favourite camel, Skootles (who rolled in her shavings to become “camel-flauged”)!

   
Logan

Monday, June 8th, 2015
Today was my first day “off” since leaving last week, which was very well needed.  I got to sleep in, go grocery shopping, go lumber shopping, watch a movie, and get even MORE sleep.  The big excitement of the day came when we mixed (for the first time) Uno: the Siberian Tiger & Asland: the African Lion, with our four year old lioness: Athena (photo below).  While there was a little bit of tension mixing these big cats, it didn’t take long before they were rolling around and having fun together.  The most entertaining part was Athena smacking Uno in the face (playfully), and Uno kept coming back for more!  I couldn’t have really asked for a better summer job right before starting my degree in “Animal Behaviour”!  
Another point of interest; no sooner did the petting zoo leave from next to us, a reptile zoo moved in…  At least lizards are quieter than goats!

Logan   

Sunday, June 7th, 2015
I have officially been gone from Bowmanville for over a week now.  The time has gone by incredibly quickly, but at the same time, incredibly slowly.  One thing I realized this afternoon was the fact I have been living essentially indoors for 5 days, stuck inside the Brandon Curling Club.  It is well past time to escape [hopefully sooner, rather than later we will pack up and head outside!].  Today we held our final shows here in Brandon, with all being received very well..!  The people here in Manitoba have been a special treat to showcase our animals too, because many of them have never seen animals like these (at least this up close).  People who live in Bowmanville have a unique numbness to wild animals, probably due to the number of time elephants, camels, and horses have strolled through the town in the nearly 100 years our zoo has been open.  It is refreshing to see people experiencing these animals for the first time, and even more so when you see how captivated they are by the danger the species are in in the wild.  Overall, I loved Manitoba.  Next up for us is a huge 10 day gap between stops, followed by Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan!  Other stray observations of the day:  

-Bagged salads are a (delicious) lifesaver for meals.

-Baby emus are possibly the cutest things ever walk the earth (see photo).

-I still have another 80+ blog posts to make.. Let’s see where they go!
Goodnight,
Logan 

Saturday, June 6th, 2015
As the Manitoba Summer Fair here in Brandon hit its full swing, we had our busiest day yet! We had animal shows at 1pm, 3pm, 5:15pm, and 6:30pm, with lion cub encounters filling every conceivable gap in between.  I was recently given some advice by my father to talk a little bit more about how I feel about everything going on, since I am the protagonist of this adventure.  I’m sitting outside typing this, so Mosquitos are nasty, but I will try to reflect.  Here goes nothing..!

(THINGS MAY GET EMOTIONAL/MUSHY AT THIS POINT)

I couldn’t be more thankful that my travelling companions (Dirk, Maddy, & McKenzie) are so much fun and so incredibly easy to work (and live) with. You can’t change the world alone, and I love the team I’ve got.  Even though I’ve only been gone a week, I am missing home A LOT.  It was a rough transition to spend the whole year away at university, and to then only have a month at home was even harder.  I am especially sorely missing my poor girlfriend, Sabrina, who of the 5 months we have been dating, we’ve only spent 1 month together.  Today I asked at the end of each of my shows who would be going home today, and trying to make a difference for animals in the wild.  In four heart melting moments, over 100 (in total) hands were raised today.  Whether they meant it or not, it is still a difference I was able to make, which made me incredibly happy inside.

On a less emotional note, every Friday I am planning on recommending a book (as I have/will be doing a lot of reading).  The first, is titled “White as the Waves”,  and is the classic story of Moby Dick told from perspective of the whale himself.  It was not only refreshigy well written, but scientifically accurate, and extremely thought provoking.  I would highly recommend it!
That’s all for tonight,

Time for sleep!
Logan 

Friday, June 5th, 2015
Today was our first day with 3 shows and we were on FIRE!  All shows had packed crowds, and were incredibly well received!  Our little lion cub was also very popular at her “meet-and-greet” station.  Tomorrow is calling for some rain, but hopefully that doesn’t keep the visitors away!  I had some fun with Uno the tiger, who was only “tasting” me…  It’s also very pleasant and lovely outside this evening!  
Logan

Thursday, June 4th, 2015

I awoke this morning to the peaceful glow of the fluorescent lights in the curling rink, accompanied by the serendipitous bleats of our neighbouring petting zoo’s goats.  The smell was of animals, both inside and out of truck, and the air tasted faintly like wood shavings.  A jumped in my tan pants and threw on my tan shirt.  My senses concluded; I’m at home.  I decided since I had not had a really substantial breakfast since I left, that I would splurge a little, and I walked across the fair-grounds to a hotel next to us for their “breakfast buffet” [It was bliss, especially because it wasn’t being sold next to squeegees and washer fluid].  After being nice and full, it was back to work, setting up for the show, and making sure my animal friends got their breakfast too.  We had another successful two shows today, as well as A LOT of people getting their photos taken with the lion cub (who is still nameless).  I realized today just how lucky I am, getting to do a job that encompasses almost ALL of my passions; Animals, Hosting/Performing, and photography!  I am downloading an all new show soundtrack tonight (with a few great Disney tracks from the likes of Lion King & Jungle Book) which I hope enhance our already great show even more.  Below is a photo of Uno, a Siberian tiger, there is a photo of him from last August, and one from today…  They grow up so fast..!
Logan