Happy, Happy...

Vegan New Year to All!

And again:

And again:

And also, thank you from the little ones...like this baby below...thank you for caring about all other living beings. Earth and life belong to them too. Living vegan is the only meaningful way to respect that truth. Enjoy your New Year!

(thanks to all the creators of the images...all were found on the internet)

Merry Merry...

For all y'all...

Now and always is the season to be vegan...that way we can have year round holidays. Enjoy!

And:

To all beings...and especially to you who take the time to read and maybe even comment. Thank you!

Hooray for Winter Solstice...2012...

The December solstice will occur at 11:12am Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on December 21, 2012. For us living here in the central Oklahoma area that is 5:12am. If you want to know the time in your area for this event you can check here.

Image from timeanddate.com

December Solstice is the event which marks the start of increasing length in hours of sunlight for us in the northern hemisphere (conversely, December Solstice marks the start of shorter daylight hours in the southern hemisphere). While this is our shortest day of the year (hours of sunlight), this is the longest day of the year in the southern hemisphere. You might not realize that the December Solstice occurs on different days in different years: "December 20 and December 23 solstices occur less frequently than December 21 or December 22 solstices in the Gregorian calendar. The last December 23 solstice occurred in 1903 and will not occur again until the year 2303. A December 20 solstice has occurred very rarely, with the next one occurring in the year 2080." (source) The reason for this variance?

As with the June solstice, the December solstice’s varying dates are mainly due to the calendar system. The Gregorian calendar, which is used in most western countries, has 365 days in a common year and 366 days in a leap year. However, the tropical year, which is the length of time the sun takes to return to the same position in the seasons cycle (as seen from Earth), is different to the calendar year. The tropical year is approximately 365.242199 days but varies from year to year because of the influence of other planets. The exact orbital and daily rotational motion of the Earth, such as the “wobble” in the Earth's axis (precession), also contributes to the changing solstice dates. (source)

In other words...the timing for natural cycles is a bit fuzzy.

Human animals in the northern hemisphere have marked this event with celebrations and festivals for thousands of years. The light is returning, with this return spring will eventually occur...new growth in plants...new babies born to many of our wild relatives. All in all, pretty good reasons for celebration.

Greetings and best wishes to you and yours on this holiday season. Please make this a peaceful and caring celebration time by living as an ethical vegan.

These images are available from VeganPeace and you can visit there if you would like to send electronic vegan holiday greetings.

Pictures of Grasshopper, Rose, Rudy and Danny taken by Wanda Embar, Vegan Peace at Farm Sanctuary.

 Be well, be kind and enjoy! Consider visiting a local animal shelter or rescue and giving some of your time and attention to the beings there. They will appreciate it (and so will you). Thank you and happy Holidays!

Driving by the dead.

It's about 12 and 1/2 miles from my house to Heartland Rabbit Rescue. I go south out of Norman on I-35 for a couple of miles, across the South Canadian River then I turn west and travel about 5 more miles. Then I turn south on another highway and go south and west until I'm there. Once I'm there I visit Cutie.

Cutie.

She is shown out on the grounds where she will aggravate other bunnies if she gets a chance or she might undertake a digging project and move much more dirt than seems possible as she digs herself a tunnel.

Cutie again.

I'll also visit Albert too. He often is given the chance to

Albert.

run free and he will galoomp all over the warren grounds busying himself with whatever comes to his mind and/or attention. If he spots a human and he is of a mind to...and he is usually of a mind to. He will run really hard and fast toward that human and come to a screeching stop right at their feet and wait. He wants a head rub. If he gets what he wants...he'll take as much as he wants at that time and then he'll take off again.

Cutie and Albert are safe. They are cared for. They are appreciated and marveled over.

While driving to the rescue, after I turn to the southwest, over on the north side of the road there is a group/herd of bison.

Bison

This group certainly contains mothers and their babies, whether there are any grown guy bison in the group is not known to me.

Baby and mom.

These beings aren't safe. They aren't cared for beyond what is needed to be done to make sure they live long enough to be profitable to kill.

They are beautiful. Their ancestors were here long before any human animals. This part of North America was and is their ancestral home. Now they don't run free. Now they have tags in their ears. Now they are living but they are dead.

Seeing them every day I make the trip...seeing them on the way there and seeing them on the way back is painful and sad-making. It's quite a depressing juxtaposition. I'm traveling to a place where some beings are made safe but to get there I have to travel by the walking dead. They are beautiful beings, magnificent even...but that counts for nothing...they are dead. They are used to benefit a human or humans. Their lives, their cares, their desires, their pains, their fears, their joys big or small...all count for nothing except as might contribute to profit for some human animal.

There are other sorts of beings I drive by...cows...you may do so too. Most of us often pass by areas where the living dead are kept. If you don't do anything else...next time you see a cow or a sheep or a buffalo or anyone else that is one of the living dead...at least suffer a twinge and send them an apology of some kind. For the buffalo at least...we're not only killing them...we stole their homes too.

I'm always happy to see Cutie and Albert and each and every other bunny at the rescue and Midnite and Judy and Molly. But...every trip there and every trip back carries a load of sadness and helplessness. No matter how many are safe at the rescue...many more are dying or are the future dead.

Doing your part to end this culture of death and exploitation will necessitate living as a vegan...please don't put it off any longer. That buffalo baby doesn't deserve what is going to be done to him...and it is all absolutely unnecessary....and wrong.