feeling doughie

Ah, finally my first elephant seal pup rescue of the season. Here's roly poly Doughie, whose energetic rolling almost makes me question why I picked him up. Then I recall he was only 37.2 kg (which I guessed nearly dead on), well within advisable limits and below birth weight. And, of course, he was dehydrated, lethargic, and covered with flies.

Little did I know my first ellie might well be my last. Being gone for two weeks, I missed the height of elephant seal activity. As the hospital nears capacity, we get a bit choosier, leaving borderline seals on the beach for observation. So far everyone I've put on watch has been gone the next day so I guess that's a good thing. Still, I may have to go work a shift up in Sausalito to get my fix of these stinky, cackling sea monkeys.

Until then, it seems I am prone to a bit of lethargy myself. As you can see, I have been slow to update my blog. Doughie came in on Wednesday - a full four days ago - and even he couldn't get me writing. Much of my writer's block, however, I think stems more from self restraint than sloth. I am overflowing with juicy stories of my family's quirky insanity - all of which are not necessarily appropriate for public posting.

Then, of course, breaking my sugar fast has put me right back on that beloved nutrition roller coaster - sweet sugary high followed by delightful food coma nap. Even though I recognize the deleterious effects of sugar on my life, I regularly return to the shrine to worship its greatness.

And so I am feeling decidedly doughie. But I'm not particularly down. I love lethargy. I remember learning once that the Koala Bear sleeps nearly 19 hours a day. The other five hours he spends eating Eucalyptus, which is somewhat intoxicating. Ever since then, I have longed to come back in my next life as a Koala. Of course, wild Koalas are victims of predation and habitat loss so I think I'd like to specify that I'd like to be a captive Koala. Probably at the San Diego Zoo. It's the only zoo I've been to that doesn't leave me feeling sad. I learned, ever since my Price is Right experience, that it is best to be quite specific when communicating your dreams.

In any event, I think I have also been reluctant to write as I would have to update you on the two Melissas. Harbor seal Melissa, to everyone's surprise and delight, is totally thriving. She's already graduated from a private condo to the big pool. In fact, when a second seal was introduced to her pool she swam right up to him and slapped him repeatedly. So glad to hear she's a bossy little tank. And yet another reason to head northward and work a couple seal shifts.

Meanwhile, as many have already heard, the real life Melissa has passed on. I learned of the end of her struggle while visiting my folks and I was fortunate to find this picture of Melissa as a baby (hanging out with her older sister, Amanda, her grandmother, my Aunt Fran, her great grandmother, my grandmother Margaret, and her mom, my cousin Ka Ka). Though I know that each of these women is strong enough to survive such an unspeakable loss, I am heart broken for their suffering.