As a pet sitter, I often get emails from people asking if I provide such-and-such a service. I’m always happy to answer these types of questions because, like all animal lovers, I want to help out a pet in any way I can. If I can’t provide a service, I’ll try to recommend someone who can. Most of the people who contact me have some date or dates in mind when they reach out. Unfortunately, emergencies arise, and having someone who has met your pets, even briefly, is better than trying to find a stranger to care for them if you are in a predicament.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only federal holiday designated by Congress as a National Day of Service. On that Monday, I took a few moments to reflect on just how fortunate Skidompha is to have the support of our volunteers and how Skidompha would be a very different institution without their generous work. Indulge me a little horn tooting.

I took a brief bee break on Tuesday and was reminded I missed my winter bee update for 2023. Apologies for that. I’m pleased to report that our hive is doing well. We have a good winter population with frames of honey, and we have not needed to supplement with feed yet.

Thanks to everyone who has made a donation to our annual appeal. As of this writing we are just $7,685 away from meeting our $40,000 goal, which, thanks to our matching grants, will magically become $80,000 if we can meet it. Those kind donors have allowed us to extend the appeal period to Jan. 15, so please, if you haven’t yet made your donation, it’s not too late! Every little bit helps, and remember, it will be doubled if we meet this goal!