Unforeseen Satisfaction
Recently I started volunteering at a farm animal sanctuary once a week near my home – scooping poop – it’s easy and mindless work - and gives me time to think about mundane things like what color I’m going to paint my toenails.
As well, this experience has given me the opportunity to bond with the animals who live at the sanctuary. Olive the pig; Granite, Elmer, and Boulder the goats; Thistle the donkey; and Greta, Dexter, and Magnus the horses. Three other pigs, Evan, Dean, and Cooper are in a barn and always seem to be snoozing when I arrive, and the steers Colossus, Jed, and Astro are in a corralled pasture by themselves as is a small herd of horses. Beautifully feathered roosters strut their stuff in a separate enclosure and obviously don’t feel pressure to get up and announce the day at the crack of dawn. This morning the sleepy heads didn’t wake up until 10!
Photo Credit: J. Howeth
Photo Credit: J. Howeth
I bring apples for anyone who’s interested, and that’s pretty much everyone. I am a city girl through and through, so this has been the neatest experience for me. I never knew that horse’s lips were so soft! Or that goats aren’t all that wild about taking an apple from me if I have horse saliva on my hand. Or that pigs just let you toss an apple into their mouths and are very forgiving if your aim is off. It’s simply too much fun and the joyous sound of munching and crunching is heartwarming.
After this little meet and greet, I survey where I want to start. When I first arrive at the sanctuary, I can feel quite overwhelmed by the amount of manure that needs scooping up, but I try not to panic. I gather my tools – a rake, my favorite pink, light-weight hybrid “rake shovel,” and a cool Rubber Maid bucket on wheels. After finding an album of classical music on my Spotify, I set the volume as loud as possible, and get down to work. Usually, I listen to Vivaldi or Pachelbel, something with lots of strings, but every now and then I listen to one of Tchaikovsky’s or Beethoven’s bombastic pieces and that seems to provide a thrill for everyone. I spend anywhere from 2 to 4 hours filling up bucketloads of manure that I then unload into a pile at the edge of the property that resembles Mount Vesuvius minus the volcanic plume lazily drifting from the center. Like I said, mindless, but also rather amazing.
Photo Credit: J. Howeth
Photo Credit: J. Howeth
While the task can initially feel daunting, little by little I can see my progress. It reminds me of that expression about eating an elephant one bite at a time, although really, who would want to eat a majestic animal like an elephant in the first place? But the point is, with perseverance and all its attendant synonyms - tenacity, determination, purposefulness – you really can accomplish big things by just setting a goal and steadily aiming for it.
I come away from my day at the sanctuary with a sense of satisfaction, contentment even, and boundless affection for these sweet animals who listen to my classical music with me.
