My Grassmere Wildlife Park Years And Charles Fracé

I’ve dealt with all sorts of “wildlife” while working in the music business over the years, whether it involved lining up musicians for recording sessions or - these days - working with songwriters and… even more dangerous…. song pluggers!

But seriously, there was one chapter in my life that was fraught with bureaucratic non-profit woes (which SanFran S may be able to understand) but had the wonderful upside of having some of the most memorable experiences with animals that I am sure I will ever have. I had the opportunity to hold river otters when they were still babies, scratch coyotes behind the ears, have large birds of prey swoop so closely over my head that I could feel the soundless & gentle rush of air down through my hair and – as you can see in these photos – run with a cougar cub across a winter meadow.

Just before construction on the Grassmere Wildlife Park - where I worked then - was finished, I had the awesome experience of meeting the celebrated wildlife artist, Charles Fracé. During the Park’s history, we hosted many wildlife art exhibitions and one included nothing but the startlingly real works of this amazing painter. It was difficult to believe, as you stared closely at the paintings, that the fur was not soft and real and that the water not really wet or rocks not actually sharp and hard. (I have included a photo of Mr. Fracé here with the first director of Grassmere.

In our own art collection, Uncle R and I have a print signed by Charles Fracé and I love that it is a cougar. It reminds me of the exciting afternoon that I had “babysitting” a cougar cub, who sat on my desk and swatted at my phone when it rang. I finally took him outside and we ran across the rolling meadow grass on a crisp winter afternoon.

In present day I am thankful to be working back in the music industry – the industry that brought me to Nashville – but I am also grateful for the other paths that the Lord has lead me down over the years and the sweet friends that I made and remarkable moments that I had the blessing to be a part of along the way.

Happy Saturday to my Pamela’s Girls!!!

Auntie J