Walk for Farm Animals 2012: Vegan MOFO Post 1

What a day.

And what an evening before! Holy sponsorships!

The Walk for Farm Animals, which takes place each fall in several U.S. and Canadian cities, benefits Farm Sanctuary, which has two locations in California and one in Watkins Glen, New York. As you may remember, Ryan and I took a little trip to the New York sanctuary this past July, and I blogged about it here, here, and here. It's a wonderful refuge for farmed animals who have been rescued from abuse and neglect. Which sounds sad and depressing. But it's surprisingly not. Both the animals and the people are brimming with happiness, and not in a hippy-dippy way. As I'd mentioned earlier, if you happen to eat animal meat and other animal products, you won't feel hated here. Instead, you'll get a chance to connect to animals that so many of us think of as commodities, and you'll find yourself amazed at their varied personalities. Goats will smother you with love and demand head rubs. And then the wheels start turning on their own as you begin to quietly consider ideas that may have lain dormant for years.

Boston's walk was one of the first of many, and I'd been looking for sponsors since early August. By the eve of my walk, I'd received just over $500 in sponsorships from generous friends, family, blog readers, and even super-secret anonymous donors. (I love a good mystery.) But I was only halfway to my goal. I decided to pull out all the stops and sent out massive emails and facebook posts to everyone. And lo and behold, the money kept rolling in. (Any Evita fans can hum along now.) When I woke up early Saturday morning, I was awed to see that the amount donated was exactly $1,000. I skipped into our guest bedroom (we'd been painting our master bedroom) and excitedly told my hubby the news, in the same squeal-y manner of a kid on Christmas morning running into darkened bedrooms, whispering frantically, "Wake up!" 

We arrived at Boston Common a little before 10 am. Though terrible storms (even tornadoes!) were forecast, my raingear was for naught. It was an absolutely lovely, warm and ultimately sunny morning. There were about 80 or so people walking, several of whom brought their dogs along. One of the first people we met had rescued his dog Max from a shelter, after the dog had been living in someone's basement for months as a puppy, with zero company, human or otherwise. Despite this and despite being in the shelter for a long time, Max was an absolute sweetheart. He won over many hearts that day.

Max, ever the happy dog.

I didn't get to meet this adorable dog, but it looks like Ryan did.

 
There were raffle prizes, lots of yummy vegan goodies donated from Whole Foods and other fine establishments, face-painting for the kiddos, lovely music, and a cow and a pig. (Not real, but wonderful nonetheless.)

Pig and cow taking a much needed break. (It was warm out, and those costumes were like extra cozy robes. Not what you want to be wearing in the city on a muggy day.) I love this shot, though. :)

Before walking, walkers from Fitness Together Belmont got everybody warmed up. We got a great video of this which I can't seem to get to load right. I'll add it later if I can figure it out. But the vision of the cow and pig warming up had me snorting.

A delightful surprise was that a friend from high school, Parm, showed up with her daughter Simi. Parm's sister, Tej, and I were close in high school, having long ago bonded over musical tastes and a love of drawing. I hadn't seen Parm since 1988. Wild! (She looks exactly the same, by the way. She and her Tej are gorgeous. And they apparently have a Dorian Gray thing going on.) Simi was probably one of the neatest kids I'd ever met. I desperately want her to meet my nieces, as I think they'd all become fast friends. She's one of those fun kids you can have a really deep discussion with and come away feeling more enlightened. As Dr. Seuss would say, "that kid is going to move mountains." I hope to meet her brother someday too, as I heard he is also spectacular.

Me, Simi, and Parm

Simi goes for the minimalist face-paint look. A classic.

A perfect shirt for the walk! (Isn't she beautiful?)

She was a real lover of animals. I think she may have been discussing her run-in with dolphins here. I can see why her Aunt Tej loves hanging out with her.

The walk itself meandered through many of the historical areas of Boston. I was so wrapped up in chatting with Parm and Simi, though, that I missed people's reactions to the walk. It was fun, though, walking through this part of Boston on a Saturday morning. There's nothing like playing tourist in your own city, is there?

Here is the whole gang of walkers, dogs included! Incidentally, the walk had its own photographer milling about, and he took some great shots. One of the published photos was of the three of us and it became the official photo that Farm Sanctuary sent out to its followers! If you are on Facebook, just look up Boston Walk for Farm Animals, and you can see all the images.

When we got back from the walk, raffle prizes were drawn and I won a $25 gift card to Life Alive in Cambridge! Woo-hoo! Ryan and I will be going some weekend soon to try this vegan eatery out. I've only heard great things.

Finally, I would like to thank all the people who sponsored me on the walk! As promised here is my mini-sandwich board, extolling the many virtues of some very cool people. Your generosity has helped many animals currently at Farm Sanctuary enjoy lives without fear, and it will help countless others who are in misery now, not knowing that their lives are about to take a wonderful turn for the better.

Superior

Dana Carvey, as SNL's beloved Church Lady. (Right before her Superior Dance.)

To begin, I wrote a great blog post. Or at least the beginning of one. I say great because it was my love song to other bloggers, paying forward the "One Sweet Blog" award and bragging about the people I've so come to admire. Alas, technology had a hiccup and the whole darn thing evaporated. Not a word remained. Three hours went -poof- into thin air.   (sigh)

So while I began piecing together what I could remember from that post, an NPR article popped onto my Facebook feed, quickly grabbing my attention. Written by Barbara J. King, it was entitled, Do Vegetarians and Vegans Think They Are Better Than Everyone Else? It's a relatively short piece, and one of the few (on this topic) I've read in mainstream news that resonated with me.

So go ahead and give it a quick read-through.

***

All set?

I gave this article a lot of thought.

I don't feel superior to anyone, and have no plans of breaking out into a Superior Dance. The only exception to this is when Ryan and I take our yearly one-day summer pilgrimage to Water Country in New Hampshire to play on the water slides. We've often confessed that it's the one time of year that we feel like "the beautiful people." It's hard to put into words without sounding like a complete jerk, but if you go, you'll know what I'm talking about. It's an interesting place.

Returning to eating habits, though.  If I have friends, family, or strangers that eat meat or cheese or any other animal product in front of me, I never feel morally superior to them.

Number one, I ate all those products for forty-plus years, even when I suspected that things were not as neat and tidy as the animal ag industries led us to believe. There's no way I could ever feel superior and be able to look at myself in the mirror without thinking, "hypocrite." Impossible. And, as Colleen Patrick-Goudreau so aptly put it in the article, being vegan is not an end in itself. Rather, it's taking a walk down a (non-religious) path towards kind living, similar to the bully-prevention trainings we teachers frequent. There's no church, no newsletter, no book. You just do some research and figure out where you can cause the least amount of harm.

And meandering along that path, I've bumped against many inconsistencies in my life:

• I still feed my cats animal meat. (That's a whole other subject. But in my research so far I have not found convincing evidence that cats can survive without taurine, found in animal products. Please prove me wrong, somebody. Interestingly, dogs can do very well on a vegan diet, which really surprised me.) 

• While I no longer buy leather or wool, I still wear many of the products that contain those materials. We still have our down comforters. I'd prefer to use animal-friendly products, now that I know what happens to the animals whose bodies were taken for those mentioned items. But I just don't have the money to replace everything at once. 

• I killed wasps with the other day when they started building a couple of nests near our doorway and one stung Ryan on his way out the door to a gig.

And there are undoubtedly other inconsistencies that I haven't discovered yet. So, in short, I'm standing in a glass house with no stones in my hand. I cannot claim (nor would I want to even if it were possible) moral superiority.

Rather, I feel really sad for the animals when I see a spread of animal products. It has zero to do with me. It has zilch to do with the people eating those products. It has everything to do with what animals have to endure for us to enjoy that little morsel of what-have-you. And though I know incredible progress is taking place even as I write this, I just wish all the unnecessary cruelty would simply stop. I wish I could go back in time and show the old me, "Look, this is what eating this stuff is doing to the animals you love." Not because such time travel would make me an ethically more sound or superior person. But because I just don't want to put anyone through unnecessary pain, fear, or sorrow.

To illustrate, here is an often-told tale in our family of something that happened to my grandmother and her sister when they were still teenagers. Walking together one day, they came across a dog that had been hit by a car and left to suffer on the side of the road. One of them went to a neighbor's house to call the police. Then they stayed right by that dog's side, kneeling beside him protectively and patting his head, telling him help was on the way. When the police officer came, he asked them to step aside so he could get a better look. And then -- this is so awful -- he quickly hopped back onto his motorcycle and ran over the dog. The dog yelped loudly, so he ran over it repeatedly, killing it in a gruesome fashion. I remember my grandmother telling me this story, saying, "I just saw red. I always thought that was just an expression, but I literally saw red and I wanted to kill him." So she and her sister pulled the cop off his motorcycle, got him on the ground, and beat him up. Swear to god.

Did she protect the dog because she thought it made her morally superior? I doubt it. When you know someone is suffering that intensely, you want to stop it. It has absolutely nothing to do with you, does it? You just want it to stop. And you feel upset and angry over what they have had to endure, particularly if it is completely avoidable.

And so it is with seeing others consume animals. I don't feel better than them, because that would be ridiculous. I don't even see myself in the picture. I just wish desperately it would all stop. Because it can stop so easily. As Ellen Degeneres so beautifully put it, animal rights should really be "the right to be left alone."

So no Superior Dance today. :)  Let's just give the animals a break and leave them alone.

***

PS. My Walk for Farm Animals is coming up this Saturday in Boston! I'm 55% of the way towards my goal of raising $1,000 for Farm Sanctuary. If you'd like to sponsor my walk (even $5 would help!), please go to this link. Thank you very much!

Zoltar Clues Me In (Farm Sanctuary visit, part III)

Despite not wanting to leave Farm Sanctuary, we had to eat. On our first night there, we went off to grab some dinner and explore the downtown area of Watkins Glen.

We found a cute pub place where Ryan got a veggie burger and I enjoyed a Portabello mushroom burger. With plenty of light left in the day, we meandered toward Seneca Lake, one of New York's Finger Lakes. It was much bigger than I had anticipated!

As we neared the docks lined with waiting, bobbing boats, I saw it.

The Zoltar booth.

I started jumping up and down and squealing to my husband behind me. Though it turned out that it wasn't my husband -- Ryan was lagging behind, taking artsy pictures -- but an alarmed dude who pretended not to notice my mistake.

The dollar spent to get a fortune was money well spent. Zoltar chatted with me in a creepy way, and I heard about my future. That's the beauty of being on vacation. You get to do lots of goofy stuff and be a tourist, and people -- including men locked in booths --  have to be nice to you.

If the print on the fortune is too small to read, just click on the picture and it should get big. I hope.

How about that fortune? I was pretty thrilled. (Later, walking back, we passed by another couple standing by Zoltar. Like me, the man got a good fortune, but sadly his wife did not. Which is pretty stinky. You don't want to get a bad fortune on vacation.)

Here we are walking out on the rock jetty. Jetties are always a thrill, somehow. And endlessly exciting if you are a kid.

I overexposed him -- how naughty -- but otherwise I like this shot of Ryan. It looks like he has fire shooting out of his head.

The next day we went out to a place I had dreamed about visiting since my friend Tracy told me about it in college: Moosewood Restaurant. Despite not being a vegetarian in those years, I adored their cookbooks.

Several years later, I worked at a phenomenal music camp for two summers as a sort of art director. I have the happiest memories of that place. I worked with some of the most gifted, beautiful people on the planet. I should really write a separate post about that place, as it really was a safe haven in the world. Thus their name, Kinhaven Music School. I usually go up once a year in the off-season just to walk the grounds and visit the town. It feels like a part of me now, and I'd venture a guess that anyone who worked or attended there feels the same.

Anywho, back to the subject. All the meals at this camp had vegetarian options, which I preferred. I don't recall if there were vegan options or not, because it wasn't on my radar back then. But most of the recipes were from the Moosewood cookbooks and the food was mouthwatering. (You don't often hear that about camp food, but it was always delicious.)

Moosewood Restaurant is in downtown Ithaca, about half an hour from Farm Sanctuary. Most of the food is vegetarian, with many vegan options, as well as dishes that can be easily tweaked to be vegan. The menu changes daily and dinner and lunch menus are different each day.

We were seated outside in a lovely, shaded area. First off, the cocktails were incredible. I'm pretty picky with my cocktails. If I can even slightly taste the alcohol, my gag reflex kicks in and I end up enduring my drink. Not so here. Each was a scrumptious balance of flavors and not overly sweet. I don't even recall what we ordered, but they were perfect, very very pretty, and refreshing on a hot day.

The salads were very simple but delicious. I tend to judge restaurants by their salads. Not because that's all I eat. (I've got a monster appetite.) But because so many places get it wrong by using overenthusiastic dressing that hijacks the vegetables or by using so-so ingredients that make the salad more of a seedy pit-stop than an event. These salads were the perfect beginning of a meal with just the right amount of dressing to really accentuate the taste of the fresh vegetables.

Me and my cute date at Moosewood Restaurant.

Again, it's been a couple of weeks since we were there, and I now forget what we ordered. (And I can't check the menu because, of course, it changes daily.) But trust me -- this grub was danged tasty. 

Here's a video about the restaurant, if you're thinking of going. (Shared with permission from Moosewood Restaurant.)

Upon leaving Moosewood, we came across this great Volkswagen bus parked out front. It's a happy-mobile. Did any of you ever play Punchbuggy when you were little? My Gramma taught us grandkids how to play, except it was called Teakettle. And a bus, of course, was "double teakettle." Which was two points. Not too shabby.

I just noticed what seems to be a ticket (?) on their windshield. Volkswagen buses should be exempt from tickets, don't you think?

We'd originally planned to stay at Farm Sanctuary two nights, but as I said in the last post, those rooms fill up quick and there was only one night available. So we found this nearby B&B for the second night. It's called The Ginger Cat Bed and Breakfast and it's all vegan! I'd actually seen it advertised in VegNews and it had won an award from the magazine.

The rooms were comfy and homey and exactly what we wanted. Ryan and I are big B&B fans and were super-thrilled that this one happened to be vegan. Our host, Gita, was completely charming, and had generous bowls of fresh fruit -- including a huge bowl of cherries -- ready for us when we arrived. There's a funky little kitchen area just for guests that has every kind of tea you could want, plus snacks and all the fixins for coffee. And she had several year's worth of VegNews magazines, which was fun for me as I adore that magazine and have only been a subscriber for one year.  (Thank you to Dad and Mary, who renewed my lapsed subscription!) Later that night, I settled into our comfortable bed and got my magazine fix. 

The ginger cat Wally, Gita, and me. Gita let us come visit her sweet kitties in her section of the house. (No kitties in the B&B section due to guest allergies, so if you are allergic to cats, you will be in good shape!)

Gita gave us some great local food recommendations, including The Harvest Cafe, where they made several vegan meals. Though we were initially full from our large and late lunch, we decided at the last minute to go out and were so glad we did! The cafe is located in nearby Montour Falls, about a 15-minute drive from the Ginger Cat (and probably the same distance from Farm Sanctuary.)

It was a rainy and unusually chilly night. The perfect night to go out and enjoy good food, great company, and wonderful entertainment!

Thursday night happened to be karoake night, and it was a blast! Here I am enjoying some homemade nachos (they make the chips there!) and they were, hands down, the best nachos I've ever tasted, vegan or otherwise.

Super happy gal. Note my favorite "Joyful Vegan" t-shirt. You can purchase one to your liking (endless styles!) at Compassionate Cook -- super comfy material and they fit great.

It was a real local scene. Everybody seemed to know everyone else, and they were laughing, egging each other on, and taking turns at the microphone.

One of the most popular acts was the chef, William, who periodically came out to sing. My favorite number he did was To All the Girls I've Loved Before, singing (quite accurately) both the parts originally sung by Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias. This guy needs to have his own show. He's that talented and funny. I hadn't laughed that hard in weeks. Beautiful voice. Keep your eyes peeled for William on America's Got Talent someday. (He's not scheduled to go on, but he should be.)

And then Ryan went up on stage and did his own version of Let's Get It On. Hysterical. Some of it he did with all the whoops that the song requires. And at other times he performed it comically serious. ("Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on.") I had tears running down my face from his funny stunts. We left there in high spirits and went back the next day for a great lunch, right before we left for home.

Ryan, getting it on.

Ryan and William after the show. I love this picture.

This was Valerie, one of the owners and a peach of a gal. Made you feel instantly at home. She's also the doppelganger of one of my dearest Peace Corps friends. To the point where I asked her if they might be related.

On our last day, we packed up, bid adieu to Gita (after she'd given us some tasty muffins to take for the trip!) and went to Watkins Glen State Park, where we explored the gorgeous Watkins Glen Gorge. The views were spectacular, though the deep pools kind of freaked me out in a thrilling way. 

There were little wormy caterpillars everywhere, once we'd hiked up near the top of the gorge. It looked very Tolkienesque. Can you spot one in here?

So that was our trip out to Farm Sanctuary. Two and a half days did not feel like enough, but it's always nice leaving a vacation wanting a little bit more. Had we stayed longer, I would have liked to have taken a couple more farm tours, sampled the goods at the many local wineries, and visited the Corning Museum of Glass. Next year, we hope to attend the Farm Sanctuary Hoe-Down, so maybe we can add on all those fun things next time. And get the nachos again. And maybe I'll even sing karaoke next time.

Thanks for reading this lengthy tome about our trip! I hope you can make it out to Watkins Glen someday.

Oh! And again, I'm walking in the Walk for Farm Animals (Boston, September 8) to raise funds for the work of Farm Sanctuary. You can go here or click the badge on the top right part of this page. I'm trying to raise $1,000 and am now at $450, thanks to many generous people out there!

 ***

PS. I never took pictures of my restaurant meal before and had to laugh out loud when I recently saw this video from Cadry's Kitchen, an amazing blog I highly recommend you read. There are many other such videos on her site. You should definitely check out Gulp: Ryan's repeatedly been watching that one and laughing his telltale laugh. (Those of you who know him personally know the laugh I'm talking about.) Cadry and her equally funny husband are brilliant. Check them out.

(Shared with permission from Cadry's Kitchen.)

Martha, My Dear (visit to Farm Sanctuary, part II)

Get your tissues ready. There's some sweetness to come.

When we first arrived at Farm Sanctuary, it was late afternoon on Wednesday. The main office had closed by then, but they'd left a key out for us, so we brought our stuff into the cabin, relieved to finally be there after a six and a half hour drive. 

We stayed at the cabin to the right.

 Touching photos of animals from the farm adorned all the walls. Such a friendly atmosphere. You'll also note that I've learned to walk at vampire-speed. Been meaning to mention that, but it felt like bragging.

I was kicking myself for not taking a picture in the evening when we got there. Now we just look like slobs.

A view of the back of the main people barn and the three cabins.

The cabins are pretty darned cute and spotless and even have a mini-fridge in each one. (I know that's pretty standard, but I couldn't help getting excited.) The bathrooms are in the main "people barn" to the left. Like everything at Farm Sanctuary, they were uber-clean, with very nice-smelling soaps -- non animal-tested, of course -- and great showers.

We took a relaxing walk around the farm admiring all the animals from afar -- tours were over by that time, but you could walk around outside of the barns until 5 -- and then we went out to explore the town of Watkins Glen and find some dinner. (More on all that on the next post!) Then back home to our delightfully cozy cabin, where we went to sleep with the windows open, enjoying the light breeze and the sounds of the megafans keeping the barns cool across the farm.

(If you want to stay here, check this link for more information. Also, you should book early because they fill up pretty fast.)

Breakfast started at 8, but we were up and ready earlier. While Ryan took a shower, I went off to look at the Rainbow Bridge Memorial, which was a ways back behind the cabins.

The walk to Rainbow Bridge. Ryan followed me soon after and said he saw a fox on this path! 

Pretty scenery on the walk over.

Upon turning a corner I saw this:

Beautiful fountain in the garden. Ryan took this shot.

It looks like a normal garden-y type place, but upon closer inspection, you'll notice that each of the flagstones is a tribute to somebody's companion animal. I took many many pictures of them and had a lump in my throat the whole time. The outpouring of love felt like walking into the hallowed ground of other people's happy memories, many of which morphed into my own memories of beloved cats.

One of the favorites was one written to Martha. Being a Beatles fan, I just about lost it when I read the words.

 

See? Now I'm getting that lump in my throat again. Here are the many other tributes to people's furry and feathered friends.

I'm trying to come up with words to sum this up, but I don't think there are words. Animals come into our lives, we love them, and when they finally leave -- always too soon -- it can leave a bittersweet hole like no other. 

The walk back to breakfast.

But to leave you with a smile, here is one of the resident kitties who greeted us in the main barn as we made our way to the breakfast room.

If you'd like to sponsor me in the Walk for Farm Animals (Boston, September 8) to raise funds for the work of Farm Sanctuary, you can go here or click the badge on the top right part of this page. I'm trying to raise $1,000 and am already at $400, thanks to many generous people out there!

Do you have any tales of animals that touched your heart or any favorite tributes from the memorial pictures above?