So if you’re like me, (and let’s hope you aren’t) there are people in your life that have started buying you ‘beaver gifts’ for they holidays. Maybe you have a beaver doorknocker or a beaver christmas ornament. And some of these gifts are remarkably charmless and some of them make you say OHHHHHHHH outloud for a rather long time. Generally you know which friend is going to buy you which kind of gift ahead of time, and are able to brace yourself appropriately. I’m sure its the same if you protect owls or dolphins or coral reefs. You end up with a rather large collection of items related to your passion. Well a very skilled beaver-gifting friend found me a copy of this for Christmas and it was definitely an OHHHHH.
It was so delightful that I thought I’d track down the author and see if I could get a few copies donated for the Festival. Even my fairly prodigious sleuthing skills couldn’t track Mr. Silver down so I thought I’d pursue the illustrator. Patricia Wynne is a delightful artist who does scientific/natural artwork for a host of projects and topics. She has drawn beavers, birds, sea life, wolves, moose and crustations. She’s been featured in Scientific American the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. She has far, far more important things to worry about than a beaver book that was published 15 years ago. But I thought, why not ask if she has a copy or two to donate? It can’t hurt.
She wrote back immediately and said “I don’t even have a copy anymore!” but then “Let me look through my artwork for the book and see what I have. Then I could donate original art for the auction and it would probably help you more.” Wow. That was a pretty generous answer, to a question I hadn’t even thought to ask. I didn’t know if she would find anything or if I’d ever hear from her again but a few days later she wrote back with four lovely pictures attached. “I found these, pick one and I’ll frame it and send it to you.”
Talk about a kid in a candy shop! (Or a beaver in a willow grove!) My eyes were drawn immediately to a very adorable image of kits sleeping together, but I settled on a big ‘beaver action’ image with chewing and beavers at the lodge. I thanked her profusely and sent off my ‘Sophie’s choice”.
After voting, I realized with a pang that the sleeping kits had been THREE cuddling kits with no mom. Three Kits with NO MOM!!! Like our three kits who were orphaned this year when Mother beaver died. The image was a small painting and wouldn’t fetch as much at auction, but I knew it was the one that I should have chosen. It was our story. It was part of the Epic Tail. I wrote back in a panic, “can I change my vote?”. I told her about mother beaver dying and how she had broken her tooth and lost so much weight and then managed to have three kits anyway and groomed them even when she couldn’t groom herself.
“I will send them both” said Patricia. And she did.
Start saving your money now because these are going to be HOT auction items this summer!
