10/28/2024
Hello team!!! That's how it feels after the land fundraiser. "WE made a great TEAM!" Those who donated, shared posts, cheered us all on. It was a beautiful thing and a legacy that will last forever for the wildlife. I will never forget that magic that we all felt while the funds rolled in and the dream became a reality. I was TERRIFIED that I had asked too much, and the thought of returning tens of thousands of $5 bills if we couldn't raise it made me wonder if I had finally lost my mind, but you all came through and didn't leave me hanging. It was amazing!
I have let the realtor know we can close next week after Facebook sends the rest of our $. (should be Monday) They likely won't be ready until the 1st, which is fine. I am just anxious to get it done! I have the banner for the fence and I can't wait to hang it and stake the claim for the animals!
Attention also comes with drawbacks, but I've never been one to hesitate sticking my neck out for a fight for the helpless. Being picked on in return is part of the process and I am used to it though some of my crew were ready to scrap! Someone posted on a local news page something about having a hunting lease behind the land (along with some other cruel comments) and Austyn and Katie were going nuts! I told them to respond with "That's the piece we will buy next then!" and he went silent. ;) I will have game cameras over there. The deer can stand inside our fence line and make faces at them. If they continue to mess with me I will put a pre release cage over there and license it as wildlife rehab property and the hunting boundary goes 300 ft outside OUR fence. Don't play with me! (personally I think he was full of it)
It's not about owning it all and letting nature take over. Just a piece here and there, close enough to protect, a little wild pocket of "nobody's business" to give our wildlife a safe place to rest from dodging bullets part of the year. "You hate hunters don't you"... I hear that often. No, but I want nothing to do with killing healthy animals when I work so hard to save them. I respect people's rights to hunt and I keep my mouth shut. Poach or waste or a sorry shot without tracking resulting in an injured suffering animal I have to try to save... or end- mouth OPENS and the wrath unfolds. It HURTS my heart when I have to clean up the mess. "Take what you need legally and humanely, use what you take and don't risk a poor shot, and I don't want to hear anything about it" and you won't hear a word from me.
I'm not here to fight. I've fought for decades to do what I do and today I just fight for lives and share what I do. I am merely exercising my rights to protect what I can by doing all that I am able, and without all of you, I am helpless to do much but work on one life at a time, which is fine, but I also get to be a part of something astounding with all of YOU!
Alone I am just one voice. The power that will buy that 40 acres that I am a part of comes from a million people sharing a like mind. Compassion, reverence, appreciation and respect for Nature and her children and our need to protect them when we can. We have our place in the world and we are far more than we think we are. Know THAT!
I like our village. 💚
Annette