Posts By Ann Loyola

Ann’s history with Earthfire began 20 years ago when she signed on as a part-time fundraising consultant. She was on-hand for the birth and official IRS nonprofit designation of Earthfire Institute. After 18 years serving as Marketing and Development Director at a rural hospital, she’s come back to Earthfire as Assistant Director. Ann enjoys skiing, bicycling, fly fishing, and horseback riding.
Black and yellow Swallowtail butterfly on a red and yellow flower growing up through a crack in the sidewalk

How to Be Positively Hopeful

Have you heard about all of the exciting, cutting-edge discoveries that support a healthy, thriving Earth? Probably not. Media reports about environmental disasters, climate change damage, and bad news in general are headline grabbers. Topics that invoke fear, doom, and anger result in more click-throughs, followers, and viral trolling, leading

Read More
A fork in a raised wooden boardwalk through the woods

Action is a Verb

I’d like to believe that a sizable portion of our world population recognizes that Earth is losing natural resources faster than is sustainable for the long term survival of all Life. And yet, if so many of us realize this truth, why aren’t more of us making use of our

Read More
Two foxes touch noses in the grass

A Foxy Friendship

The result of a Russian breeding experiment, Loki is an unusual fox, different from the others in appearance, mannerisms, and heredity.  Playtime in the animal garden had been somewhat lonely for him. The other foxes repeatedly rejected him. Although they had shown curiosity by circling and sniffing him, it was

Read More
A brown daschund and gray cat snuggle together on a bed

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag

I was raised with cats. Growing up, there was always a family cat roaming the house, moving from lap to lap and bed to bed. Throughout adulthood, I’ve been catless for a total of 7 years, with felines, canines, and the occasional horse sharing my heart for the rest of

Read More
White dog with black spots and black markings on his face

Just a Dream?

Odd things happen to all of us at some time or another. A few weeks ago, I woke up after a vivid dream about my dog, Abe. I was at the trailhead of a popular local path into the foothills, calling out for Abe, who had run off both leashless

Read More
Squirrel

The Squirrel at the Door

I first encountered Skeeter two summers ago, when my husband and I first moved into this apartment. The apartment didn’t have a screen on the back door, but I liked to keep the sliding door open for air when the weather was nice. One day, I heard what I thought

Read More
Wolf dog sniffs a man's hand

Patience and Hope (The Wolfdog)

Hope is an extravagantly handsome dog who has wolf ancestry, although we aren’t sure what percentage of wolf. He lives with us at Earthfire—which is a good thing, because otherwise, he would have been euthanized by a bullet. Several years ago, Jean and Susan got a call from a woman

Read More
Young wolf standing against the backdrop of the blue sky

Befriending Tundra the Wolf

There are just as many personality differences in animals as there are in people, a concept that becomes more evident to me each time I do my daily rounds. While Tanaka the wolf and I are now good friends and he excitedly greets me on my daily visits, not everyone

Read More
Woman and two small children next to a creek

The Very Slow Adventure

The trail to the pebbly beach was a short distance, maybe 400 yards at most. It was a skinny dirt path weaving flatly through pines and aspens, perceived by serious hikers as an uneventful start to greater adventures that awaited miles and miles into the mountains. Cole was four and

Read More
Porcupine sleeping on a branch

Mornings with Teddy

Teddy is a porcupine. He’s about five years old and came to Earthfire Institute as a private rescue four years ago. About a month after I began working here, Susan suggested I choose some animals for mutual mentoring and my first choice was Teddy. Now, three months later, I spend

Read More
Black and yellow Swallowtail butterfly on a red and yellow flower growing up through a crack in the sidewalk

How to Be Positively Hopeful

Have you heard about all of the exciting, cutting-edge discoveries that support a healthy, thriving Earth? Probably not. Media reports about environmental disasters, climate change damage, and bad news in general are headline grabbers. Topics that invoke fear, doom, and anger result in more click-throughs, followers, and viral trolling, leading

Read More
A fork in a raised wooden boardwalk through the woods

Action is a Verb

I’d like to believe that a sizable portion of our world population recognizes that Earth is losing natural resources faster than is sustainable for the long term survival of all Life. And yet, if so many of us realize this truth, why aren’t more of us making use of our

Read More
Two foxes touch noses in the grass

A Foxy Friendship

The result of a Russian breeding experiment, Loki is an unusual fox, different from the others in appearance, mannerisms, and heredity.  Playtime in the animal garden had been somewhat lonely for him. The other foxes repeatedly rejected him. Although they had shown curiosity by circling and sniffing him, it was

Read More
A brown daschund and gray cat snuggle together on a bed

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag

I was raised with cats. Growing up, there was always a family cat roaming the house, moving from lap to lap and bed to bed. Throughout adulthood, I’ve been catless for a total of 7 years, with felines, canines, and the occasional horse sharing my heart for the rest of

Read More
White dog with black spots and black markings on his face

Just a Dream?

Odd things happen to all of us at some time or another. A few weeks ago, I woke up after a vivid dream about my dog, Abe. I was at the trailhead of a popular local path into the foothills, calling out for Abe, who had run off both leashless

Read More
Squirrel

The Squirrel at the Door

I first encountered Skeeter two summers ago, when my husband and I first moved into this apartment. The apartment didn’t have a screen on the back door, but I liked to keep the sliding door open for air when the weather was nice. One day, I heard what I thought

Read More
Wolf dog sniffs a man's hand

Patience and Hope (The Wolfdog)

Hope is an extravagantly handsome dog who has wolf ancestry, although we aren’t sure what percentage of wolf. He lives with us at Earthfire—which is a good thing, because otherwise, he would have been euthanized by a bullet. Several years ago, Jean and Susan got a call from a woman

Read More
Young wolf standing against the backdrop of the blue sky

Befriending Tundra the Wolf

There are just as many personality differences in animals as there are in people, a concept that becomes more evident to me each time I do my daily rounds. While Tanaka the wolf and I are now good friends and he excitedly greets me on my daily visits, not everyone

Read More
Woman and two small children next to a creek

The Very Slow Adventure

The trail to the pebbly beach was a short distance, maybe 400 yards at most. It was a skinny dirt path weaving flatly through pines and aspens, perceived by serious hikers as an uneventful start to greater adventures that awaited miles and miles into the mountains. Cole was four and

Read More
Porcupine sleeping on a branch

Mornings with Teddy

Teddy is a porcupine. He’s about five years old and came to Earthfire Institute as a private rescue four years ago. About a month after I began working here, Susan suggested I choose some animals for mutual mentoring and my first choice was Teddy. Now, three months later, I spend

Read More

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