TRIUMPH OF SPIRIT IN LOVE, NATURE & ART

Animal Rights

Blessed by the Animals 


Last week my husband called me from the back yard.  “Come quick, come see what I found.”  I ran to the back door where he was, holding out his arm, and there in his hand sat a teeny green frog, about the size of a thumbnail.  I oooed and aahhed over it and thanked him for calling me. The frog had jumped onto his arm while my husband was unrolling the garden hose, its temporary home.  “How wonderful!” I said.  And then I thought some more about it and I realized I was jealous.  Jealous of the fact the frog had jumped on my husband’s arm and not mine.  “Well he deserves the frog more than I do,” I found myself thinking, as if any of us deserve such things.

Today I began to think more about this.  I remembered when we had first moved in.  My husband was at work and I saw a mound in the grass moving out the back door window.  Upon closer examination I found to my utter delight it was a box turtle.  This time it was my husband, an affirmed reptile lover, who was jealous and even admitted to being so.  Okay, jealousy of such things is obvious and on the surface in children.  Yet we were dealing with adults here who, it seems, covet visits from animals.  We cherish an interchange with a creature. And why?

I remember the Sunday night a few years ago, apprehensive about a challenging week ahead, when I saw a stag in the woods behind our house.  I called to my husband to come see him.  He was stunning with huge antlers, an imposing presence. And suddenly I knew everything would be alright.  Because I saw the stag in the distance–  majestic, princely, beautiful.  A sign.

And how thrilled we are to have a snapping turtle return every year to lay her eggs in our driveway.  We feel privileged.  Again, blessed.  Or when with delighted guests, we saw a giant luna moth flying in the porch light one night.  And the countless times a butterfly lands on one’s body, on a shoulder or head, or a dragonfly visits an arm or a sleeve.  And, of course, the beautiful hummingbirds. We even had a hummingbird nest in our Black Birch.  Such visits feel so special– to have these delicate, beautiful creatures near us.   Even when my least favorite reptile makes an appearance out from under his home on our back deck, a tiny garter snake, the spirit soars.  

Research has shown how having pets is therapeutic.  We feel blessed by the animals who trust us.  We feel their trust and it is pure, unalloyed by human characteristics. We don’t deserve such trust and yet we receive it as a gift.  We have made contact with a being of a different species who lives in a different world whose being synchronizes with different biological rhythms. The native Americans believed animals to be spiritual guides that have much to teach us.  Psychology tells us Nature is a natural antidepressant.  An animal can disarm the most defensive, bring out the goodness in the criminal, and bring a smile to the face of the young, old and in-between. 

And, yes, animals can be pests when they get into where they don’t belong or become aggressive or defensive in a bad way.  But our world is a rich, vibrant place because of them.  Animals bring us out of ourselves and into the experience of awe.  Their innocence lightens our loads, allows us to share the “mystery of the other” with others,  drawing us closer to our friends and family.   We share the world with animals and they share their hearts with us. And their innocent interactions with us are blessings from God.

Welcome to samples of my work in various art forms showcasing “Eye-locks and Other Fearsome Things.”  “Eye-locks” is a Bipolar/Asperger’s memoir in narrative form that describes the triumph of love over mental illness.


It’s 4 AM and I Miss You


(Please don’t eat my children)

It’s 4:27… 4:28… 4:29 AM

and I miss you

I hope to God you’ll awaken

and bring me coffee

and tell me something funny and I will laugh

and you will be so pleased to see

someone “get” one of your thousands of spontaneous jokes.

I miss you…

you with the beautifully streaked-with-grey, fuzzy hair

and hundreds of lines, going up, down and sideways

around the corners of your shy blue eyes.

You don’t know I am awake

missing you… your suddenly taking my hand

in yours and holding it on the sofa as

we silently watch our country self-destruct.

I hope to God you’ll awaken and all will be okay

for another day

for it is not promised

for it is not guaranteed

Nothing is.

The wonder that is you

that I found so many years ago

after being alone for so long and through so much.

Unadulterated joy you bring me

as I worry about your every breath

God keep you in his arms

and protect you

for it is 4:38 AM and I am missing you

as you lie in the arms of Morpheus

and I see lights on across the street

Others are awake

as you slumber

Time drags on as I am alone

I cannot wait for you to awaken

to see the twinkle in your eye

and the tousled hair.

I miss you

as I sit here typing and

reading of other’s lives.

It is 4:45 AM

about two more hours

for you lie

in our bed of 33 years.

It is 4:46 AM

and time goes so slowly

as I count the hours

until you awaken.

You with your gentle voice

the pleasant voice

that helped so many

as you listened to their anguish

A healer I always said you were/are.

Almost 5 AM

and I miss you.

If I miss you this much now,

oh, and here come the tears,

what of the day or night

God takes one of us away.

Or could we be so lucky

to go in each other’s arms?

My morbid mind

destroying the present with

fearing the future

It is 4:54 AM

and you have arisen

to make water.

You will stop by to see me

and ask why I am up

and ask me when I will come back to bed.

You are gone again

having returned to

the embrace of sleep

For a second the thrill of you

all tousled and concerned

shot through me.

I will come join you

and look at the lights across the way

and wait if I can’t sleep

for you to awaken

and greet me with another day

as our shared time together

zips by with a vengeance now

my time with you.

5:03… eternity

the pain in my throat and head

throbbing

I should lie down

but it has been so long

since words have come

5:05 AM…5:10 AM

I feel chill

I feel pain

missing you.

5:11 AM

Let me go

lie next to you

and think of the wonder

of your presence

in our marital bed.

5:25 AM…


Turtle Tears


It is before dawn on a moonlit night.  The moon has swept the trees and grass in silver.  I await the sun.  The moon wakes me to whisper about the silent beauty of the predawn hours.  The yard is white magic and I imagine a monarch butterfly now sleeping,  awaken to find a turtle to drink its tears. Monarch butterflies drink turtle tears.  Why are the turtles crying? They cry for the ailing earth.  They cry for those who suffer.  They cry for the dying.   They cry for those striving to become one with all.  They cry for the sap in the trees flowing.  They cry for the animals who are constantly on guard for their lives.  They cry for the bird egg which will not ever hatch.  They cry for the dying stars in an ever expanding universe.  They cry for the unawareness of the high and mighty.  Turtle tears are like diamonds sparkling in candlelight. like dew drops on a drooping Lily of the Valley.  Come now to drink my tears, dear Monarch.  Your beauty gladdens my heart.  Your heart drops manna from the heavens into my soul.  Come now, dear Monarch.  Come lick the dew drops in my eyes. 


Happy Mother’s Day!


Happy Mother’s Day!

Love and pride in the mother’s eyes, complete trust in the infant’s sleep


Elephantine Love



Veneration of the Lamb


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“Lamb of God, you who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us!”

“What has happened to our instinct for unity?  The creatures know the rhythm of the earth.   They have not forgotten the oneness of which we are a part.  So in the Celtic world, they are messengers of Christ, the One who comes to reconnect us to the Heart of Being.”  (Christ of the Celts by J. Philip Newell)


Giving Thanks to the Animals


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On the day those in the U.S. set aside for giving thanks, I thank God for the animals who have led me on a higher path in my life.  Animals have been among my best teachers.

HAPPY DAY OF GRATITUDE TO ALL!

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(Dedicated to Duchie and to Ko-Ko)


Do Lions Feel?


This video should put to rest any doubt that  all animals are sentient beings.  I feel badly that this lion is trapped in a zoo but at least he was saved from death.  Obviously never forgot his saviour.

http://www.vitality101.com/Fun/lion-kisses-rescuer


Bees Buzzing, Fuzzing and Fading


Beautiful fuzziness going strong

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But not for long

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Fading fast

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They will not last

Please  act fast

and sign the petition below:

 http://act.credoaction.com/sign/syngenta_bees?nosig=1&t=1&akid=11795.2247563.eaCuKn


Wool Woes for Sheep


Again, a hard decision over whether to post or not to post, because the material is very disturbing.  But it seems to be better to educate people as to what is going on in farms in the United States and Australia and how sheep suffer unspeakable torture.  Why?  So man can buy wool.  Sheep, innocent sheep are in, as Isaac Bashevis Singer writes about all animals, “an eternal Treblinka. “

Please don’t buy wool.  Other materials such as Polartec are as good for keeping warm, if not better, and are good for the environment, and most importantly, no animal is harmed to make the material.


Sir Paul McCartney on Animal Suffering


WARNING: This post is graphic in nature.  I have long debated whether to post it or not.  It features Paul McCartney speaking on the nightmare of slaughter houses and showing how animals are horrifically mistreated.  But if we subject animals to these horrors by creating a market for meat than the very least we can do is suffer the discomfort of watching a video showing how our meat comes to our tables.  Paul McCartney got me well on my way to being totally vegetarian which seems to be in the offing as I think more and more of any kind of meat as flesh of innocents.


The Horrors of Horse Racing


All that you see on this video is true.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  My brother worked on many racetracks, including Belmont, and he told us stories that were heartbreaking.  He finally got out of the race track business because he loved horses but could not abide the cruelty of how horses were treated.  The video explains…


Animal Friendship



PETA – STOP THE SEAL SLAUGHTER!


Please sign the petition and do whatever you can to stop this horrific cruelty. It is a crime of against God’s creatures and a heinous act on the part of men who call themselves human.

Ronnie's Blog

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Stop the Seal Slaughter! Urge Canada to End Shameful Killing

For centuries, pregnant harp seals have migrated from Greenland down the coast of Canada, stopping each spring to give birth on the ice floes off Newfoundland. And every year, the Canadian government funds a trade in which the baby seals are massacred by club-wielding sealers from the local fishing community while their pelts remain soft enough to sell on the international fur market. The commercial seal slaughter is not a subsistence activity for native peoples but an off-season fishing industry cash grab, and it accounts for less than 1 per cent of Newfoundland’s economy.

Over the last few years, all major markets have banned seal-pelt imports, including the US, the European Union, Mexico, Taiwan and even Russia, which had been importing 95 per cent of Canadian sealskins. The only reason the Canadian government continues to defend this dead industry is…

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Animal Ghosts


The documentary, “The Ghost in Our Machine,” follows photographer, Jo-Anne McArthur as she takes pictures to show animal abuse on factory farms and how animals are helped by sanctuaries like Farm Sanctuary.  It is a disturbing film but an extremely important one.  We must rethink how we contribute to the cruelty inflicted upon dogs, cats, foxes, minks and farm animals.  Please watch the trailer below.  Jo-Anne McArthur has a book of her photographs and writings called, “We Animals.”


Radioactive Fish


http://stockdalewolfe.artistwebsites.com/featured/radioactive-fish-ellen-stockdale-wolfe.html


Video

Save the Seals



How Wolves Change Rivers



Video

Blind Comraderie


Two blind cows suffering a lifetime of abuse come together for the first time…


James Bond speaks out for Whales


To sign petition, click link below:

https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Advocacy;jsessionid=B1225EDC9A25D487838A6C3C8A6F66E8.app321b?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3337&autologin=true&s_src=EMOSONPETBGD0214BG3&utm_source=link&utm_medium=alert&utm_campaign=email


Man and Gorilla


A moving testament to the feelings of animals…

Violet's Vegan Comics

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For the Love of a Dog


No words needed..


Video

Elephants NEVER forget….the bond of love.


http://www.wimp.com/elephantsreunited/

After a very long separation, a loving reunion! Get out the handkerchiefs! If this is not love, i don’t know what is!


Soulful Eyeful


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It being the holidays

missing

loved ones

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one of the most loved

one of the best teachers

a little dog

Ko-Ko

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all innocence

all love

all pure soul

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oh, to nuzzle her fur

smell her dander

feel her tongue

upon my face

and her fluffy fur

against my skin

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and Dutchie

another innocent

another tactile teacher

peace personified

oh to hold her in my lap

as she sleeps

and have her total trust

lying on blue-jeaned legs

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oh for a visit

from either

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or another gift

from Ko-ko

who shared a vision

of the beyond

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after she passed

now

no wee ones

just an ache

where love still lives