Freedom and Uncertainty

Its 10pm. I'm at the sealife center in the IseaU and otters are screaming next to me. Tonight marks my last otter shift before Carolyn comes to visit! They have been rowdy tonight leaping out of the water wrestling and screaming. I have been on seal duty for the past several weeks and care for the otters has changed drastically in that time. Before we got to hold them and groom then and nuzzle them (this was frowned upon but seriously impossible not to). Now we get to watch them play but can't interfere. As they get bigger they will get more aggressive and unsafe to handle. Its hard to imagine the little girl otter being anything but sweet, but when I hear stories of otters ripping peoples faces off I grudgingly oblige.
Tomorrow they are releasing Dipper, Lyra and Draco three of our harbor seals that have been with us most of the summer. Unfortunately I have to work in the morning and will not be able to attend the release. I'm a little dissapointed that I don't get to see them reintroduced to the wild. With all the hours of tubing them and temping them and fish schooling them it would be nice to watch them waddle their way back into the ocean. But at least I'm comforted in the fact that I was here and I did so much in their rehabilitation, plus im sure there will be pictures and videos I can watch. So heres to you Dipper Draco and Lyra! Go be free!
Dipper is getting a satelitte tag so we can track his progress and see where he goes. This has been very successful in the past and has shown our rehabilitated seals travel great distances.
In rehab there is still Andy- our pitifully small harbor seal with a bad case of megaesophagus, the fur seal who has not been doing well lately and we have seen several regurgitations during feedings and blood in her stools, and scotor the stubborn duck who doesn't want to swim. I love them all, especially the fur seal which I have become alarmingly attached to. I'm scared for his future as the vets and supervisors are starting to get concerned about his declining health. Hes so cute and helpless. I'm not sure how I will take it if he keeps going down the same road.
I have been offered an extension on the internship and subsequent housing. I will be staying for an extra month helping out with anything I can, though tomorrow we will be 3 seals less and the work load will be lightened again. I'll continue working in the gift shop and enjoying Seward while I still can. I'll be sad to see my roommates and co-workers, Maggie and Katie go. Its hard to think about if I will ever see them again. We had so many fun times this summer and I would not have enjoyed it half as much without them.
I haven't thought about it too much but lately with the days getting shorter and the rain getting heavier I know that my time here is nearing the end. Earlier in the summer I looked forward to coming home to see everyone. I miss my family and my friends so much sometimes that it hurts and it will be great to see them. But everyone has lives at home, jobs or school or plans in general. I have nothing planned except the next 6 weeks of my life. This has become an increasingly daunting thought. I still have no idea what I really even want to do with my life. I am applying to vet school but is that something I even want? or am capable of? I don't know anything anymore. The only things I know are that I love animals, I love traveling and I love hiking. I just need a job that combines all three. A tall order. The mystery is intriguing and terrifying, I can do anything I want, where ever I want.
Enough of the boring woes of me. I am very VERY excited to be spending more time in Seward. I have fallen in love with this town and the people and the sealife center and the mountains. Definitely my favorite place. Carolyn is coming this week and we are going to Denali. After I finish working at the center I am visiting Alyssa in Washington. I CANT WAIT. and then home where me and Katie are planning adventures aplenty and I get to see all of my other close friends. Then of course there is my cousin, Julies wedding in Pennsylvania and my family. This is the longest I ahve gone without my parents at one time. While I only have the next six weeks of my life planned out, they are some pretty damn good weeks.

On a completely different note, I ran in my first 5k yesterday! It was a fundraiser for the rehab department! I loveeee running in organized races Ive decided. So much fun. I finished 3rd in my age group and got a time of 25:40. Yay. fun things. I wonder what my time would have been if I had trained even slightly.
Also the sealife center softball team that I joined got 2nd place in the playoffs! Better than they have ever played! (Not that I helped with any part of that, I am completely terrible at softball and know it. But it was great fun to play on the team anyway. we even all got little silver medals.)