January Blahs

The January snow is piled up all around and I've been scanning the web and other blogs trying not to feel so isolated. It's a mixture of the winter blahs and an impending birthday (a birthday that serves as a reminder that my twenty-something days are numbered). I'm not sure which is lending more to the feelings of isolation today... the snow and cold, the birthday thing, or the feeling of being socially isolated as vegetarian. I have a large, loud, and usually supportive family... all omnivores. I have an interesting and at times eclectic mix of friends... mostly omnivores. I even have a very sweet, very thoughtful significant other... most definitely an omnivore.

Here I sit, contemplating a new year, and new age, and the desire for an early spring. It's too early to be playing in the dirt and getting dirt ready for planting (it's all covered with that cold, white stuff). It's totally the wrong season for locally grown produce and farmers' markets (they just make me happy). The snow keeps piling up and I, not liking the snow, am forced to wear socks and shoes and all that winter gear. I know part of this is just spring fever and the January blahs, but I think I need to find something, somehow... just not all together sure what that is.

Isolation is a strange thing at times. I've been a vegetarian over seven years now and can barely remember what it was like before. It affects so many things in everyday life. I check food labels at the grocery and at home, even when I am looking at clothes. Leather? I don't think so. Fur? Absolutely not. Yet, everyday there is it blaring in my face - "You are the family freak." It doesn't have to yell, it just is. My brothers hunt. Guns, bows, ammo, and clothing sporting camo and orange are all around. A camo coated doe skull sits in the dining room as my brother's dog chews on a roasted deer bone (gotten from the guy who processors their kills). Somehow our mailbox is an interesting combination of hunting magazine and catalogues and vegetarian magazines. I guess on the plus side, my brothers don't seem to be very good shots. In all the years my three brothers have been hunting; with shotguns, bows, and muzzle loaders they have only brought home two deer (without counting the one my sister took out when it ran into her car). They eat everything they kill and it has to be better for them than the factory farm crap that comes from most groceries.



I just sometimes wish there was more than me nearby. I hear myths about vegetarian romances, but I don't know if I believe in them. I hear stories about like-minded vegetarians getting together regularly to share foods and culture. I hope these exist. Maybe one day, I'll better understand them. Maybe I need to plant something inside, like an herb or something.

"When man wantonly destroys one of the works of man we call him a vandal. When he destroys one of the works of God we call him a sportsman." --Joseph Wood Krutch

Bow Season... Bleh!

I try to ignore that fact that in this area it is bow hunting season for deer. Of course, then I get those reminders like someone kicking you in the shin or somewhere else. My brothers hunt, my family hunts, and then there is me... the vegetarian and definatly the none hunter of the family. I try to keep my mouth shut, since it does no good otherwise. It just leads to fighting and arguments and that which does not good for anyone. So, I sit and I listen and I bite my lip as I hear them talking on the phone to the processing place regarding the deer that have to pick up and the talk about how the woods were this morning when my brother took his crossbow out, and to my sister calling to find out if anyone got one because she wants venison. I sit, trying not to listen and trying to keep my mouth shut, as I munch on my spicy thai peanut noodles wondering how I managed to become the person I am in this bunch.

"The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of a gun." ~P.G. Wodehouse

Do You Know The Vegetarian Dragon?

It's the day after Christmas and all through the house all the creatures are still living off leftovers from the days before. The stockings are empty, but the tree is still lit. There isn't a ton of leftovers, but there are enough that we seem to keep grazing on the food and sweets that are still left. (Cookies and candy and sweets, oh my.) Lucy, my rabbit, seemed to appreciate the fresh carrots that were left.

In honor of the day, I am sharing one of my favorite kids books, "Herb, The Vegetarian Dragon." I ordered the book quite a while ago from Barefoot Books after reading some stuff online about it. Love the pictures, love the peaceful message, and love the idea. It has message of tolerance and learning to live together, both meat-eaters and vegetarians alike, that I really liked.

http://www.dragonherb.com/book.htm

Hope the holidays were awesome for everyone and the New Year is looking grand.

In the Words of William Ralph Inge; "Deliberate cruelty to our defenceless and beautiful little cousins is surely one of the meanest and most detestable vices of which a human being can be guilty."

In the Words of Isaac Bashevis Singer: "There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is."