It's hard for me to believe that I've missed writing for two weeks. Did you miss me? LOL Well, here I am. I'll try to fill in the news from the last three weeks.
Frankly in the past three weeks I've gone from my all-time high at the Refuge, that I wrote about, to my all-time low at the Refuge. Apart from the usual stuff about washing dishes, trying to work with the biters and visiting the girls, the only news was that I couldn't find Babe. I looked high and low in her enclosure and simply couldn't see her. The staff said that none of the birds had been removed from that enclosure that they knew of. I had to assume that she was sitting behind a toy or on the floor out of sight. But one day on my way home I stopped and told the manager that I couldn't find Babe. She offered right then and there to go with me to point out Babe. However she was so sure that Babe was there and I had simply missed her, that I declined her offer. Mistake #1. I was tired; it was late; I was anxious to get home. Also, I had started seeing a chiropractor about my back which had become a real bother. I was seeing him twice a week. So, after my appointment with him on Friday, I was heading straight out to the Refuge. Therefore I wasn't taking Chris with me. Mistake #2. But I couldn't stop thinking about Babe and worrying a bit. So, last Tuesday, I went back to the Refuge to deliver some cooked potatoes and look for Babe again. No luck. And, of course, I'd forgotten that the manager isn't at the Refuge on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. So, when I got home, I sent a post to both the Director and the manager. The long and the short, which is impossible now that I'm on a roll, is that the manager got a message to me that she had seen Babe and that she'd watch for me on Friday to go see Babe...which she did. She took me to Babe's enclosure and pointed to a petite Umbrella, not unlike Babe and said there's Babe. Now, as much as this bird looked like Babe, she had feathered legs which I knew Babe didn't have. But the manager insisted that was Babe and I had confused Babe with Alicia who had joined the Refuge within a couple of days of Babe and who had bare legs. Mistake #3 was that I thought that the manager knew of my history with Babe, that Babe was at the Refuge because I had vouched for the Refuge and that I love and visit Babe as though she were my own bird. But she couldn't have known all that. That's why she argued with me. She had no idea that it was she that had the birds confused. So, having been told that Alicia had been moved to the medical room, Stephanie got called away and I made my way to the medical room on my own. Sure enough, there was Babe, wearing a collar because she had begun to chew at her legs and ankles. I was upset. The collar she was wearing wasn't big enough to keep her from her legs. Anyway, Babe came to me right away, and snuggled against my chest. And we stayed that way while I waited for the manager to return. That she would return was an assumption on my part. I got increasingly frustrated and Mistake #4, tucked Babe inside the light jacket I had on, went out to the van and drove down to the Director's place. I was going to take Babe in to the Director and talk about the confusion between the two birds and talk about Babe's history with mutilating her legs. Sorry Lina, I didn't know how much detail you had sent with Babe and didn't know what the Director would or wouldn't remember. I pulled into the Director's place at the same time that the manager and a staff member pulled in. Now I'm speculating from what happened next and what was said that the staff member spotted Babe's head sticking up and said something to the manager. And I believe the manager thought I was trying to take Babe away from the Refuge. She certainly knew I was upset about Babe. Bottom line, she told me that I would have to return Babe to the medical room, that only staff with permission from her or the Director were authorized to take a bird out of their enclosure. And again speculating, I believe she told the staff member to follow me to ensure that Babe was indeed put back. The only saving grace in that situation, to me, is knowing that no one is likely to be able to steal Babe from the Refuge and knowing that now the manager knows Babe from Alicia.
Okay, you are almost up-to-date now. I should have just gone home at that point. However, as upset as I was, I knew that if I left it would look like I was guilty of the unspoken charge. So, I went back to work washing dishes for awhile.
What I've failed to mention here is that a week and a half ago, Lorne came down with Shingles. He has a cream that has to be applied at specific times and he can't reach his back to do that part himself. I had to be home for 3pm to do that. I didn't see the manager again before I left. Much is left unsaid.
By now, I think you can see how the trust that I've been trying to build up at the Refuge has had a huge setback and right now I don't know if I'll ever get it back. And all because of a series of mistakes that I made. I wasn't going to tell you all this because frankly, I feel sick to my stomach every time I think of the way I was treated and what the manager is thinking about me now. And...it's much easier and much more enjoyable to write these letters when nice things have happened and I can appear in a more positive light.
That's it. As of last Friday, I go to the chiropractor once a week on Wednesdays. So Chris will be going with me on Fridays again. Lorne is improving now. The December brochure is ready. And I know where Babe is. I will start again to build that trust...if that's even possible. So I guess I'll write again next week.
Love,
Pat
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