Thankful for:

Although I’m not a fan of Thanksgiving (see last year’s post), I think that our world would be a better place if we more frequently focused on that for which we are thankful instead of nearly constantly complaining about the irksome, hateful and horrid things in our lives.  Granted when there are things in our life that are bad, we should do our best to change them.  The occasional grief and/or sadness in our life cannot always be “fixed”.  Only time and new priorities can help lessen the grief and sadness.  
 

So to avoid another day of complaints on my part, here’s a list of those things for which I am thankful.

1. I am so very grateful that I am a woman. 
2.  No turkey has been killed for my taste buds in over 23 years. 
3.  I have today and tomorrow off…….with pay. 
4.  My cats and dog. 
5.  A relatively pain free day, even though I’ve taken 2 prescription pain pills and 2 over the counter pain pills since 4 AM. 
6.  I have 4 clean litter boxes, with just 5 more to go. 
7.  I have decided not to cook today and, instead, doing that on Saturday. 
8.  I am thankful to have shared my life with numerous cats and dogs over the years.  I still miss those who have died, most especially the greatest cat ever born, my one and only soulmate, Casey Anansi.  The love and understanding I received from Casey forever changed my life for the better.  RIP my darling – gone, but never forgotten.  He has been gone since January 10, 1990. 
9.  Each day brings me closer to retirement.  I just hope I can hang on for another 2 years and 3 months.
10. My diabetes is under control. 
11.  I am able to take care of myself.
12. Although I broke a nail, I didn’t fall today when Tessa came running across the living room and nearly knocked me down.   
13. Joss Whedon and all of his work, especially Buffy the Vampire Slayer, followed closely by Firefly.
14. Aaron Sorkin and especially The West Wing. 

I’m going to leave it there.  I don’t want to push my luck.  So, what are you thankful for today?

 

The Holiday Season

Thanksgiving is a holiday meant for all to give thanks for all that they have.  

Christmas and Hanukkah are holidays where gifts are given to family, friends, neighbors and even co-workers.

As I have lost all of my immediate family, as well as beloved dogs and cats, over the years the holiday season has taken on new meaning – or no meaning – to me.  Certainly, as a vegetarian, the feasts with the carcass of a dead animal as the centerpiece is repulsive.  In the past few years I have chosen to enjoy my time off from work in unconventional ways.  Tomorrow, Christmas Day, I plan to see The Hobbit.  With any luck the theater will be nearly empty.

As far as gifts are concerned, most everyone I know has followed my request for NOTHING PLEASE.  I need to divest myself of enough stuff to fill a large store.  When that will happen is anyone’s guess.  The last thing I need is MORE STUFF.  To practice what I’ve been preaching, both last year and this year, instead of buying gifts for my employees I have donated to a non-human animal charity of my choice.  Both are grassroots, local nonprofits.

Last year I made a monetary contribution to the building fund for the Spay N Save's low cost spay/neuter clinic.  They opened their clinic earlier this year to one and all.  To find out more about Spay N Save, check out this link:  http://www.spaynsave.org/

 

This year, thanks to the recommendation of a friend, I chose the kennel at Harbor House.  Earlier this month Harbor House, a shelter for women who are battered by their partners, opened their kennel for the companion animals of the women who are staying at the shelter.  Most shelters for women who are battered do not permit them to bring their cats and/or dogs with them.  Due to that fact, many women remain in abusive relationships to protect the animals they love.  

This link for Harbor House (http://www.harborhousefl.com/2012/08/3rd-annual-paws-for-peace-walk/) provides a complete description of why these caring people chose to open a kennel that provides a safe haven for these animals.  For many of us, myself included, our companion animals are precious, priceless, irreplaceable members of our families.  

While I realize that it is too late for anyone reading this post to choose to make a donation to a charity this year, I want to encourage each of you to consider doing this for future “special” occasions where you would normally purchase a gift.  Instead of continuing to fall prey to the crass consumerism that abounds, help out a good cause.  Your money will help and you may start a tradition within your circle of family and friends.  You will, most certainly, help raise awareness of the causes you support.  Most of us, especially in the developed world, have enough stuff to last several lifetimes.  No gift is too small for those in need.  

During this enduring recession, it has been the small, grassroots and local nonprofits that have suffered the most.  The majority of these groups do not have a stockpile of money to help them through the tough times.  Local cat and dog rescue groups often operate in the red because of mounting veterinarian bills to save the lives of the sick, injured or abused animals they take into their care.  I encourage each of you to look around your community and find good nonprofits that need some help.  If you can’t give items they need or make a monetary gift, consider volunteering your time.  Most need caring, reliable volunteers for everyday tasks throughout the year, not just during the holiday season.  

The giant nonprofits that you’ve heard of or whose ads you often see of television generally have endowments or large bank accounts.  Don’t believe me?  Check out Guidestar to see the latest IRS 990s of some of the nonprofits you have heard about.  The larger the group, the larger the staff, the larger the expenses that don’t go directly to their cause.  United Way, for example, takes at least 15% of your donation simply for managing the fundraising.  When you get a phone call to raise funds for your local police or fire department, that call is made by a fundraising firm.  That firm may keep 40% or more of each donation they collect.  You would be better off taking some home baked cookies to your local fire station or even donating some money if the local firefighters are volunteers.  

This is just my 2 cents.  Take it for whatever it’s worth to you.

WISHING EACH OF YOU A JOYOUS AND SAFE 

HOLIDAY SEASON!!

Thanksgiving - A Celebration of What?

Over the years my feelings about Thanksgiving have changed dramatically.  As a child, I looked forward to the new coloring pages of pumpkins, turkeys and Pilgrims.  There were crafts and plays.  That first stage was - FUN.

As an adolescent I looked forward to time off from school and The Dinner.  My mother was a wonderful cook and she made the best dressing ever.  When my father died in early 1965, holidays in general became something different.  Not only was his absence discomforting, but it became a time to reexamine what holidays actually meant.  At the same time, holidays were becoming more and more about consumerism, buying new and better decorations and Family.  Without dad, family wasn't the same for me.  The word was like a slap in the face.  It made me feel like I didn't "belong."  As the years progressed I began to feel more and more like someone on the outside. 

Aging does give one perspective.  My idea of family changed and designated days to celebrate some created occasion has become an artificial construct for me.  These special days had subtle messages for many people.  It wasn't just those who didn't have a conventional or traditional family who were marginalized, but those of differing religions, other than American origins, those who couldn't afford the crass consumerism flooding the airwaves.  The myths of a harmonious 1st Thanksgiving, the forcing of some sort of ideal family and/or lifestyle, the underlying guilting of those who didn't fit that ideal.  Square pegs unwelcome in the Norman Rockwell America.

The final straw and/or the final epiphany happened when I chose to become vegetarian.  My eyes had been opened to the overwhelming abuse and cruelty inflicted upon non-human animals and it was unconscionable.  Their pain became my pain, my sadness.  The sight of a golden brown dead turkey as the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving table was/is repellent.  Happy Turkey Day became the new expression for this holiday.  Happy Turkey?  Excuse me, but I know those turkeys would be much happier if they were still alive.  The massacre of millions of turkeys each year for Tradition is an obscenity  The truth of how massive numbers of turkeys are bred and raised to meet the ever increasing Need, created by marketing executives, is horrid to see and even worse for those turkeys to endure.  No longer are turkeys the multicolored birds of my youth.  Now turkeys are white.  They are bred to have oversized breasts, so large that it is often difficult for them to keep from toppling over.  Why is this done?  Because the white flesh of the turkeys' breasts are the favored part of this bird.  They are "engineered" to fit the tastes of their predators.

Add to the abuse and cruelty toward these marvelous creatures the abuse and cruelty the European invaders and then the "Americans" visited upon the First Peoples, the REAL Americans.  The violence of this holiday, either hidden or ignored by most is the reality of this holiday/holy day to me.  For the rest of America apparently ignorance is bliss.  Unfortunately once faced with the truth, I can't wipe it from my memory or ignore it.  I will enjoy the day, and will spend it with my family - 4-legged and furry. 

Wishing each of you and all of us -

PEACE ON EARTH & GOODWILL TOWARD 

ALL LIVING THINGS

To see a video inside Butterball, the largest purveyor of dead turkeys, visit this link:

  http://www.butterballabuse.com/

And, if you're interested, here are a couple of links about the first Thanksgiving and the National Day of Mourning, observed on Thanksgiving Day since 1970.

http://www.uaine.org/ and

http://www.uaine.org/wmsuta.htm