Carlene's Blog

… and some lion cubs too! Does it sound fabulous? It was! Okay, here’s my story. There are two Wild Animal Parks in the area. One about two hours away, where the animals roam free and you drive through in your car. The other is a half hour south of here in Bandon – yes, the Bandon of many golf courses – and you walk thought that one. We had planned to visit both, but while in Bandon last week test driving our new RAV 4, I got into a conversation with a woman sitting next to us at lunch. Yeah, I know – I do that a lot. Anyhow, she and her family had just come from the Wild Animal Park and she told me that she got to hold tiger and lion cubs. She advised me to hurry because they usually take the babies off display in August.

We got to the park and it was both amazing and sad. Many of the animal, big animals, like lions tigers, bears, bison were all in cages. The cages were pretty good sized, but…I hate to see animals in cages of any size. Many of them were pacing, a sure sign of distress. While there were critters in cages, there were many roaming free, too. Deer, goats, peacocks, and mini-goats were wandering around free. They were all very friendly and looking for food. Of course, we had to buy some food and feed the obviously starving creatures. Yes, that’s a joke. I loved being so close to the deer! They nibbled gently at my fingers and let me pet their heads and stroke their velvety antlers.

The keepers brought out lion cubs to interact with the crowd. You had to line up and then only had a few minutes with the babies. We saw the lion cubs first, a male and female from the same litter, only six weeks old but boy did they have big feet! They were very feisty and vocal. There were some soft plush toys in the enclosure for the cubs to play with and I was amazed at how both of them went right for the throat of the toy animals! Talk about instinct. I waited my turn and then sat on the sawdust and got to cuddle the lions! There fur was soft and a little stiff and they had spots! I guess they remain when the lions become adults but are covered by fur. Too soon, I had to give up my place and leave.

We walk around, carefully – lots of loose animals trotting around, until the keepers brought out the tigers. There were three males from the same litter, and they were only four weeks old – yup, big feet too. They were more cuddly then the lions and wanted to rug their faces against yours. We were told not to pet their heads, nor let them lick our fingers. Hey, they’re babies they could get yucky human germs and get sick! I sat on the ground and the keeper piled all three boys on my lap. Boy, did I want to take them home, but of course, they grow up.

Altogether we spend a couple of hours at the park then headed back to Coos. When we got home Dukie ran over and started sniffing the front of my pants. He flopped back on his butt, looked up at me with the funniest expression on his face as if to say, “How could you?” then he continued to sniff and walk around me – I guess he thought maybe I had a tiger in my pocket!

So ended another wonderful Oregon adventure

We got up this morning and decided to take the pups for a run on the sand dunes. It’s about a 10 minute ride. Both dogs go nuts when Dennis gets out the ramp (Tara has bad hips) and they’re raring to go! We got to the end of our driveway and….Tara curled up for a nap, Duke stuck his head out the window to let his ears flap for the remainder of the ride. On the way there, I commented to Dennis that I hadn’t seen any deer since the weather got nice. Someone must have been listening. We barely got out of the car, when I looked up near the top the highest dune (about a four story building high) and there stood two deer! They are so dainty and beautiful! The dogs didn’t see them – too far away. The deer gazed at us a bit, then slowly walked up to the top of the dune and disappeared. What a lovely way to start the day!

Dukie chased his ball until he was pooped. Tara explored with her black Frisbee hanging out of her mouth and we all had a good time. We drove him, did stuff, had a early lunch then headed up to Winchester Bay/Reedsport for the big chainsaw woodcarving show! The sun was shining, the breeze wasn’t too bad and it was in the low 60’s. Perfect!

It cost a big $2.00 to get in to the show (everything here is so much less expensive!) There were booths, food stalls and all around the perimeter, people set up with huge hunks of wood and everywhere there was sawdust! Now, today was day three of the show, so all the carvers had made a start on their projects.. Of course each carver had product to sell to the crowd. Some of it was extraordinary, some so-so, but  I sure couldn’t do it. We got a free ice cream bar from one of the local banks. Wandered and of course Dennis fell in love. It’s his birthday tomorrow so he bought himself a gift. It’s a three-foot high carved wooden moose holding a welcome sign. I guess we’re Oregonians now! We barely got the moose into our car when the carvers started up again, so we wandered and watched. It really was an amazing thing to see. The artists all had a variety of tools but basically used chainsaws. I just cannot imagine how they see a figure in a block of wood. Takes real talent. We watched for a while then headed out. On the way through Reedsport, we stopped to look in some of the local antique shows. I’m hooked on Antiques Road Show and just know one of these days I’ll find a treasure. Stop laughing. I actually did buy an old book with a pub date of 1898 for a dollar. It’s full of remedies for illness, recipes and all kinds of weird stuff. I’ll enjoy browsing through it next winter on cold rainy days.

So ended another wonderful Oregon adventure.

When Harmony Jane Jones loses her cat, her car, her job and her boyfriend, all within the space of a week, she does what any twenty-something woman would do—she runs away and joins the circus. With finesse rather than a whip, Harmony takes charge of her life, finds a new career and possibly the man of her dreams.

Come along with Harmony, a tall curvaceous blond travels who travels to Oklahoma to help promote a local circus. She only has one little problem, okay, maybe two. She hates clowns, and she doesn’t have a clue how to promote the circus. Talk about on the job training. Sure, she worked with the world famous BEBOP, an ad agency in San Diego, so promoting a circus should be a snap, right? While traveling from town to town in her pink SUV, nicknamed the Pink Putter for its unfortunate habit of back-firing, Harmony survives a tornado, adopts an abandoned dog, rescues her brother from evil kidnappers and meets the man who might ultimately father her children.

Roman Circus is a humorous sweet romance that’s suitable for all audiences. Available row in e-book format from:

www.nobleromance.com

ENJOY!!!