By Daisy Keefer, PMRCAA Summer Arts Program Intern 2021
As the Summer Art Programs intern at Pine Meadow Ranch, each day seems to be a bit different. Between the people, the animals, and my role assisting with the arts program, I always have something new to look forward to. Typically, I spend half to three quarters of my day in the office. I send emails, prepare content for program outreach, organize information, and work on my designated projects. I love talking to community members and artists, and luckily that’s a huge part of my job.
But the other half of my job, the part where I get to be out on the ranch, is my favorite part. The cows, sheep, chickens, horses, quail, hawks, and our dear donkey Juanita are always a welcome companion on my walks across the Ranch.
In the beginning, I didn’t expect to spend a lot of my time on the grounds, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to help wrangle sheep on my second day on the job. But there I was, looking at a downed electric fence and 16 loose sheep. I speedily made my way to the main office to let others know that the sheep had escaped. From my colleagues’ reactions, these sheep were seldom well-behaved, and their escape was more of an annoyance than an emergency. Regardless, the sheep needed to be wrangled. So there I was on my second day of work, trying to lure and capture sheep with my colleagues. With assistance from a bucket of feed, we were able to coerce the sheep back into their pen. After that, I just went back to my desk and carried on with my next duty for the day.
While I haven’t had any more run-ins with the sheep, I am grateful to work in such a beautiful place where I can be close to animals and nature and experience something new every day. Although much of my work takes place at my desk, I also get to spend a lot of time away from it. More adventures yet to come!
UPDATE: I helped herd cows today instead of sheep; another tick off my ranch to-do list!
Summer internships like Daisy’s occur annually at Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture (PMRCAA). The Summer Program Intern engages with visiting artists, community groups and other visitors and events at PMRCAA. In addition, they have the opportunity to work closely with the Ranch Operations team to assist with on-property projects including native plant programs, regenerative agriculture activities and unique facility development. Future internship opportunities will be posted annually in the spring.
