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Wednesday, March 8, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
Helping our neighbors
By Katy Yoder
Columnist
PHOTO PROVIDED
A pair of week-old river otter pups get a checkup at the Oregon Zoo. Photo
by Michael Durham, courtesy of the Oregon Zoo.
Oregon Zoo welcomes
two new otter pups
Tilly, a North American
river otter, is raising two tiny
pups, born February 26 at the
Oregon Zoo. The new arrivals
— one male and one female —
weighed around 4 ounces each
at birth and have already dou-
bled that thanks to their moth-
er’s naturally high-fat milk.
“Young river otters are
extremely dependent on their
moms, and Tilly has been very
nurturing,” said Julie Christie,
senior keeper for the zoo’s
North America area. “She did
a great job raising her first
two pups, Mo and Ziggy, both
born in 2013. And she was a
terrific adoptive mom to Little
Pudding, the orphan pup who
was rescued from a roadside in
2015. We expect she’ll do well
with her new babies as well.”
Tilly and her pups are
currently in a private mater-
nity den, and it will likely be
another month or two before
visitors can see them in their
Cascade Stream and Pond
habitat. Young river otters
usually open their eyes after
three to six weeks, and begin
walking at about five weeks.
Surprisingly, swimming
does not come naturally to
river otters — pups must be
taught to swim by their moms.
Tilly’s first pup, Mo, made a
big splash with otter fans a
few years ago when a video
of his rough-and-tumble swim
lessons went viral, logging
more than 890,000 views on
the zoo’s YouTube channel.
Keepers have yet to decide
on names for the two new
pups, though it is likely they
will be named after local riv-
ers or waterways. Mo was
named for the Molalla River,
Ziggy for the ZigZag. Little
Pudding bears the name of
a Pudding River tributary in
Marion County.
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Spring Fling
Gary and I volunteered
as monitors at the Sisters
Cold Weather Shelter last
month. I was a bit reticent
about doing it, but the ori-
entation that was given
before our shift alleviated
my concerns and I became
excited to help. Having
spent five years working in
the financial district of San
Francisco, I had shared the
sidewalks with those less
fortunate than me.
I kept my distance.
During my time in the
city, I gave some money
and others food but never
stopped long enough
to carry on a conversa-
tion. I was afraid of them.
Especially those who were
obviously suffering from
mental illness or severe
addiction. I didn’t know
how to connect, and so I
didn’t. The people I saw
in the city were strangers,
and except for the several
seconds that we shared
the same space, I had no
other way to know their
story.
Volunteering at the
warming shelter was a
completely different expe-
rience. These people were
my neighbors. They share
Sisters with me. They work
in town, shop at Ray’s or
Melvin’s and go to the
library, just like me. Their
children go to the same
school my child went to.
The only difference is
when they go home at night
they’re going to a car, a tent
or a sleeping bag laid out
under a tree.
I talked to these peo-
ple and didn’t know they
were homeless. They are
not strangers. They are my
neighbors. I’m so grate-
ful for the chance to get
to know them and briefly
share their struggles and
better understand their cir-
cumstances. We shared
a table and ate dinner
together, we talked about
the weather and a myriad
of other topics. I watched
their children play and eat
a warm, healthy meal. I
began to know them.
Their circumstances are
varied, but one common
denominator remains: they
need a place to call home.
They long for a place they
can afford in Sisters where
they work and their chil-
dren go to school. But low-
income houses or apart-
ments are hard to find. So
they survive in the woods,
walking into town each
day to join the ranks of the
working poor.
The warming shelter has
been life-saving. We’ve all
had our troubles this win-
ter. Some of our roofs have
leaked or caved in — but we
had a roof over our heads.
For many of our homeless
neighbors, the snow was too
deep for them to get back to
their camps. For many their
camps were crushed under
the weight of the snow. It
sure put my complaints into
perspective!
One thing I learned
through my cancer expe-
rience is to deal with this
moment and do what I can
to make it better. Keeping
that in mind, our commu-
nity can help by volunteer-
ing our time as a monitor
or by providing food for
dinner and breakfast. There
are so many aspects of our
town to be proud of. Up
until this month, that has
proven true for the warm-
ing shelter, too. But as folks
begin to feel the thawing
of spring, they forget that
there are still families liv-
ing outside who need our
help.
I invite you to join the
dedicated people who have
been managing this much-
needed resource in Sisters.
You can go to signup.com
and search for the Sisters
Cold Weather Shelter.
The location is now at the
Episcopal church at 68825
Brooks Camp Rd. You
can call 541-639-7321 for
more information about
what’s needed for the final
month of service to our
neighbors.
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