Dearest Jessica,

Birds, birds, birds...

You can tell the difference between a male and a female budgie by the color of their cere (the skin covering their nose.) Blue is for boy, and a grayish pink is for girls!

Hello Fellow!

My life has been surrounded by birds in the past couple of days. Starting last Thursday I began working at a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (and when I say work, as always, I mean volunteering.) My friend Alyssa, a coworker (co-volunteerer) at the zoo, works (as in with pay) for her father as a receptionist. He’s a physical therapist, and one of his patients just happened to know of this volunteer opportunity. In being a youth volunteer at the zoo, we’re not allowed to actually handle the animals, even if it’s a rat, thus she jumped at the opportunity to gain some hands on experience. She’s been my ride to the zoo from the start of this year and knew I’d be interested too, so we met at our favorite frozen yogurt place, and began filling out our applications. We turned them the Saturday before last. We were supposed to get an orientation to let us know what we’d be doing and how to do it, but Thursday we got a call saying “We need help!” So both Alyssa and I rushed over. It was 12 in the afternoon and we didn’t leave until 5.

When we first arrived we were immediately thrown into work, first they asked us to do the dishes, which were easy enough, and we finished within 10 minutes. Shortly thereafter we were being rapidly taught by another volunteer how to prepare formula for birds, which birds to feed, how much to feed them, where to record the amount

fed, the time intervals in between each feeding, and what food to feed which birds. It ended up going as so: we had to feed
2 baby wrens
a baby robin
one woodpecker
5 crows inside the bird room
4 crows in an enclosure outside
5 baby birds that I can’t for the life of me recall their names
and one elder bird of that same type

It took about half an hour to feed all of them, and the intervals at which they had to be fed varied from half an hour to an hour, so we had one half hour in between to rest, then we started the process all over again. All of the birds ate a formula called

Mazuri, with the exception of the woodpecker who ate only meal worms… and lots of them. I believe I ended up collecting around 50-70 meal worms that day (from a bin in the kitchen.) The larger birds got their food switched out from Mazuri to a dog food type thing.

(meal worms...yum...)

Surprisingly the baby birds were easiest to feed. When I even came near their cage, the 5 baby unknown birds immediately all opened their mouths and began squeaking for food. The key to hand feeding birds of anytime, I learned, was that you needed to get the food past their trachea, or else they’ll choke (this was told to me, I didn’t learn it the hard way thank goodness!) The elder bird of the same type was one of the sadder of the birds. He was blind in both eyes, it looked like from some infection, so I had to pick him up, and open his beak for him so Alyssa could feed him. He was scared most of the time, understandably

so, as he didn’t know that we were feeding him, until we got it into his mouth.

The woodpecker was amusing bordering on obnoxious. He had his own little tub with a lid that had a screen on it. When we lifted up the lid he’d hop onto the side of his bin, covered in blankets so he could grab onto it, and make these funny squawking noises. I’d pick up a wriggling meal worm with tweezers and he’d open his mouth for me to drop it in. He wasn’t quite good at catching it, and I found myself bending over trying to find these meal worms the majority of the time. When his feeding was done, that’s when it got difficult. He never wanted to go back into his bin, so I’d have to take the lid and try to push him down so I could close it. I would push at him, to the point where I thought he was in, then I’d see his talons still grasping onto the blanket and find that he’d just gone entirely horizontal! Eventually

I’d manage to do it each time.

He looked exactly like Woody Woodpecker!

but more realistically like this!

The crows were the most difficult. They were all injured in some way, a broken foot, a fractured wing, there was one that was blind in one eye, and that sightless eye was white and bulged out of his head, it was really tragic to look at. They had bigger syringes for their feeding and I’d wave it in a circle around their beaks to coax them to open up, but they would only open half-heartedly, not enough for the nozzle to actually go in, then swiftly snap their beaks shut. Alyssa and I would often have to, once again, pry open their beaks for the feeding which, after they realized they were being fed, they were alright.

The baby wrens, and baby robins were absolutely adorable. They were both in an incubator, alongside two hatchlings (which we weren’t allowed to fee

d as it’s extremely easy to kill them) so in order to feed them we had to take them out and hold them in our hands. The robin was my favorite. The moment I held him, he immediately closed his eyes, and even got too lazy to open his beak! We had to open it for him and feed him that way, then waited cautiously to make sure the sleepy bird had swallowed. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.

(Can you imagine, it was even cuter than this?)

Finally we had to feed the 4 crows outside. Two of them wouldn’t stop eating the dog food, which he hand fed them with tweezers like the woodpecker, while the other two would run away upon sight. I think they were just amusing themselves making two girls literally dash around the cage trying the grab hold of them. When we finally did, and we able to get dog food past their beaks, they didn’t even swallow. By the end of the day we had to tell t

he woman we were working for that the birds wouldn’t eat a thing from us, and she had to go feed those two.

Birds were the only things we dealt with that day, due to the fact that they had an intense overload of them at the time, but they weren’t the only animals there. There were 4 baby raccoons in another room, and a fawn in another (the fawn from what I’d heard had some neurological problem preventing it from using its back legs.) In another room was the cat socialization room, and Louie was amongst them. That cat had a urinary problem which prevented him from urinating on his own, but he was still persistent on trying to run outside to pee! There were ducks in an outdoor cage next to the crows, and pigeons on the other side. There was an isolation shed in the back for animals that were

being rehabilitated so they could go into the wild and not rely on humans. Back in that area were a few squirrels as well.

It’s an amazing place, but absolutely tiring. That night, I couldn’t get to sleep. There were no birds outside my room, but in my head there was an incessant chirping; the aftermath of 5 hours of nonstop birds. I finally can sympathize with those cartoon characters who’d just been hit in the head.

I’ve much more to say, seeing as I also started my third summer at the zoo this last weekend, but I shall save that for another post!

Until next time,

Love
Sam

Dear Sam

So I know that there is something missing between Hawaii and Seabeck that I wanted to tell you about, but I seriously, for the life of me, cannot remember it. So I'll just tell you a tad about Seabeck and why it was that I wasn't stoked for it. But real quick, here's some background and hopefully, somewhat of a mental image.

Alex one year ago. For his age group they tie-dyed shirts. This was at the end of the week parade.

Ping-Pong! It's huge at Seabeck and everybody loves it. There are sports ladders and ping pong is one of them. Behind the Ping-pong is the Inn. It is where the Main office is, the lounge/ wi-fi hotspot and where all the chess and cribbage games are played. It has a huge wrap around porch with rocking chairs all around.

Seabeck is a non-denominational christian conference center composed of a bunch of old, renovated houses. All of the houses have names of trees. This one is named Cedar and we stayed in it last year. Everybody is assigned rooms in each of the houses. Families usually stay together in the same house, unless otherwise specified. There are anywhere from 1 to 4 beds in each room. Some have bathrooms connected to the room, other houses have communal bathrooms, like a public bathroom with several shower stalls and toilet stalls.

This house is near the Inn and the center of Seabeck. It's name is Madrona and my family is staying there this year. We are the only people in the house. My mom's brother and family were going to come but then things didn't work out for them to. They were going to stay with us in the house.

A picture looking down the hill. Seabeck is right on Hood Canal and is on a hill. If you were standing where this picture was taken, the Inn would be down the hill to the right. To the left would be the Pines house and farther left and down the hill slightly into the woods would be the tennis courts.
This is more towards the right than the picture above. The giant tree in the right hand side of the photo is blocking the front half of the Inn.

The first "top of the hill" picture, if you were to turn around, is this picture. Behind Elise [my cousin, mothers brother's family,] is part of the Pines house where the 14 and up group is held. This is at the top of that hill.

This is my neighbor Jack or Sam. His parents got divorced a month ago. This is from last year. They didn't come this year. Up this road and to the left is the Cedars, that yellow house above. The red house behind him is named Maples. There are lots of Pianos around camp too, one of which is in Maples.

This totem pole is diagonally behind Madrona. The white house towards the left is the one that we are staying in this year. Next to our house on the left in this picture is named Juniper. The Inn is right next to Juniper.

So the reason that I wasn't "stoked" about coming to Seabeck this year is because I don't really know people very well. This isn't a camp where there are different people every year, it's the opposite. Almost all of the same people are here every year. This camp has been running for several decades and I just overheard a woman saying that she has been coming with her family for thirty years. That means that her children have been coming here nearly all of their lives. There are lots of families like that; they grew up in the summer at Seabeck. There are lots of really old friendships and clique-esque kinds of groups. This is only my family's fourth year here and it isn't really the same. Now, I don't mean to say that these people are mean or rude or excluding or anything like that. Pretty much everyone here is extremely nice and polite and kind to each other. There is a special spirit here and a special kind of human peace here that doesn't exist many places elsewhere. But it still isn't the same, being a "newcomer" and such.

Also, the families that we did know previously, aren't here this year. The entire extended Clark family [our neighbors, the twins, the skipping boy, the people that invited us the first time, the couple that got divorced] decided not to come this year. I think the grandpa, who usually pays for all of his children and childrens' families to come each year, is redirecting funds towards a different vacation. The other family that we knew was my moms brothers' family, the Osmuns. So we are small talking loners.

Most of this is probably just in my head though because not everyone here spends time together outside of this once-a-year week. In fact, nearly all of these people, even the ones that have been coming since the diaper days, don't hang out outside of Seabeck. It just seems like things are fine and dandy when they get here.

There was one really old lady last year, at the fire of friendship, who told a story about how long she and a few other grannies had been coming to Seabeck [I think it was something ridiculous like 50 years...] She said that she loved these ladies dearly and eagerly looked forward to Seabeck every year and to seeing them but, on the ferry ride over from Vashon Island, realized that she had forgotten their names. She didn't see them outside of Seabeck, yet it was like they had never left when they got back. She remember their names when she saw their faces [and name tags :) everybody wears them all the time at Seabeck. They're made out of cross sections of small trees,] and they all had a really great time that year.

That's how Seabeck is for a lot of people. We just don't really have anybody that we are super friends with at Seabeck. If that makes any sense at all. I just wish I had an aged friendship here. I think that you would really enjoy it though! You should come someday with me :) It would be really fun. I think that I have talked to you about it in the past... Either way.

Things are a lot better now though. You get out of life what you put into it. I feel really happy and peaceful sitting here in the Inn surrounded by small groups of chatting people, chess games, and others working on laptops [probably blogging or something cool like that ;)] at 11:00 pm. Everybody loves each other and I think that I forget this feeling when I'm not feeling it... :)

Anyways. It was super fun seeing you at the Zoo, and guess what?! I just remembered the topic that I forgot: The Date (duh duh duh duuuuuuuh.) I will blog about that after you have posted a time or two :) Until then!

Time has flown by SOO ridiculously fast and I can't believe that neither of us have posted since before spring break!! Tons of life has happened but none of it has been chronicled :( So we must begin now! This post shall be a brief overveiw of Hawaii! Here are some of my favorite photo :) You can find all the rest Here and Here.

This was our tour guide at the Polynesian Cultural Center. His name was Sam :) Sam was a student at BYU Hawaii from a poor country in asia (I can't remember exactally which one right now,) and his accent was VERY thick and he had a teensy problem putting words together correctly. It was fine though, if you tried you could understand him decently. He is part of a program that lets him go to school all expenses paid if he a) works at the PCC and b) gets good grades and c) goes back to his native country after he has completed his studies and helps his country. It's a very good program that benefits a great deal of ethinic persons who come from poor situations and/or countries. He had a cheek lisp because of his native tounge, and he said "Yes" like a filler word; like we say like.
This picture was on a submarine at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. It was called the Bowfin. We went on a tour of the inside and it was TINY! I cannot imagine cramming grown men into it, plunging into the deep and then staying there for months. Such closed quarters and claustrophobia... *shudder* The tour was hard enough!

Here, all of my siblings and I are standing atop the deck of the USS Missouri. Nicknamed "Mighty Mo," it was the last battleship built by the United States Navy. It toured the world, spending some time in Washington waters, before finally being steered back to a naval base on Ford Island near the USS Arizona Memorial. It is said that Mighty Mo is positioned so that it watches over the USS Arizona so that it can rest in peace, but far enough away to not take the focus off the memorial.

This is another picture of the PCC. Here a young, svelt, sexy shirtless male is nimbly bounding up a tree to retrieve a coconut. FUN FACT: in Samoa, the men do all of the cooking and cleaning and "house" work. This picture was from that Island of the Center.

The fact that you can get married in a gorgeous place like this for FREE, is amazing and super rad. Isn't it beautiful? It's less than a mile from the coast and if you walk up a smallish hill behind the temple you can see the coast and off into the horizon. I personally think that it would be really cool to get hitched there ;)

Me infront of the Pearl Harbor sign. It was taken for an APUSH Field trip assignment...

See those sexy sexy sexy sexy men dancing shirtless on that raft? They were EVERYWHERE!! :D It was so wonderful! And the best part is that they ALL attend BYU Hawaii. So if I went to that school, I would be around these hunks everyday :) SOO tempting. There was a night show that we went to and it was an HOUR AND A HALF of these strong, tan, shirtless men tribal dancing. Best 90 minutes of my life.

A really cool sign at the USS Missouri Battleship. It showed which direction a bunch of major cities in the world were.

A giant map was painted on the concrete at the Pearl Harbor Memorial. We all stood on it and pointed to where in the world we were.

Another one of the Lagoons. That day was a little grayer/stormier, but it was still beautiful. Around sunset.

My sister, me and Alex watching the river boat show. [can you guess what I was gazing at?]

There were four man made lagoons about 10 minutes [golf-carting] away from our town house. This was one of them around sunset. They were all perfect and beautiful. Clear blue water, soft sand, 80 degrees constant and it was direct sun and humid. Perfect.

A picture of the Town house that we stayed in on Oahu. It ended up being extremely cheaper than getting two hotel rooms for 8 days and there was a lot more room. We had a full kitchen which meant that we didn't eat out nearly at all. We shopped at Costco. We were the scrawniest, whitest, touristiest people in that Costco.

My sister, Mother and I all ready to go to church! We got knitted lais from the ward. That's what they give the tourists/ visitors. What a perfect way to mix LDS churchies and Hawaii. At least there wasn't any green Jell-o... ;)

Next up: I totally just forgot my next topic... No joke. When I remember, I'll post. :(