Thursday evening a mysteriously heavy package from Sherri Tippie arrived in the mail. When I opened it up I found this 
102 clay beavers, mothers and kits, and yearlings and an array of beaver chews which are made from actual beaver-stripped branches in Sherri’s garden. These handmade treasures were for our festival, lovingly wrapped in patchouli scented tissue paper. Sometimes remarkable things have to be processed in smaller doses, so here’s a closeup of the ‘brown family’.
Aren’t these gorgeous? We’ll be finding some very adorable ways to feature these at the beaver festival, but we should all take a moment to realize what a remarkably generous and time consuming gift this is. I first learned about these little beavers in an article years ago, and was dazzled to meet them (and their gifted artist) in person at the conference last year. I loved each one of them AND her and sat through her entire lecture with tears streaming down my face because it made me so happy to hear her in person. Later that night at the banquet dinner I was lucky enough to sit beside her and after endlessly plying her with questions, describing mysterious beaver behavior for her to clarify, and burdening her with heartfelt stardom, I shamelessly begged for her to give some of those beavers for the festival. She was reluctant, they take time to make and she had an Audubon show coming up, but in the end, she made sure I left with 25 that night.
The amazing part? I didn’t even beg for these.
If you haven’t done so already, show your support by picking up a copy of Sherri’s excellent book and subscribing to her newsletter. Here’s her interview this winter on Agents of Change if you need a colorful reminder. And now this likely candidate for more festival-directed begging was sent by longtime supporter GTK. Wouldn’t they be an excellent sponsor?
