CASTING CALL FOR...UH....HMMM.

CASTING CALL hath been issued for parts in the sequel "Jurassic Park: China Forcloses on U.S Debt and only GuineaSaurUSreXs Can Save U.S." The piggies are all trying out! And, props to you melters around the country, but it really is cool enough up here to wear this! You like? Spielberg, here we comeZ!

Sharing

                 Gonna snatch that right outta his mouth! Just WATCH me!

                    HEY?! WHADDA-whadda-whadda-whadda-whadda?

Got it back!
NO YOU DID-N'T! GIMME!

SHARING: TAKE 2

It's mine!
Mine!
Nuh-UH!
UH-HUH!
MINE!
Piggies stop to sing "We Are the World" while
mom snatches lettuce to breakZ it in half.
Peace Prevails.

SHARING TAKE 3: IT'S MINE! NO, MINE! I SAW IT FIRST...GIMME!

YES indeed, Raj and Taj set a beautiful, inspiring commitment to their non-violent vegetarian lifestyle: Good work, boys. Thank you for demonstrating your commitment to  peaceful co-existence: You have undoubtedly inspired no one to become a vegetarian. Well done, ambassadors of Peace:  Can either of you spell the word S.H.A.R.E. ?
Thought not.

The Dalai Lama

{Excerpt reproduced in "The Compassionate Diet" from Nobel Peace Prize Recipient His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking on basic rights of animals in his statement to The Nineteenth World Vegetarian Conference in 1967.}
"...Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to a man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not to die, so do other creatures."

Newly released, The Compassionate Diet, addresses health concerns both for the individual and the planet as a whole. It is scientific, pragmatic, and elegant in presenting not eating animals as beneficial to the physical and spiritual well-being of individuals and, collectively, a planet whose resources can no longer be considered inexhaustible.

Scientific arguments are presented for a compassionate diet addressing cancer, cholesterol, diabetes, antibiotics fed to animals, pesticides, coronary disease, genetically modified organisms, estrogenic hormones, saturated fat, obesity, osteoporosis, herbicides, factory-farmed-and-drugged animals, benefits of organic agriculture to the individual and the planet, and many stirring quotes from some unexpected, yet highly recognized leaders throughout history advocating a vegetarian way of life.

Approach your diet for your own health, a commitment to sustainable living, a contribution to lowering Global Warming if you believe it is real (as you melt) or simply a way of life that extends
our own personal humanity to the mute brothers and sisters whose stewardship we may or may
not choose to accept.

There are many arguments pro and con regarding a vegetarian way of life addressed by scientific data contained in this book. And there are stirring pleas, from Jane Goodall to Abraham Lincoln, from Mahatma Gandhi to kd lang, to consider the price each of us pay for the consumption of animals. Whether you are interested in improving your own health, the sustainability of our planet, or are stirred sympathetically by the plight of each mute animal brutally put to death in meat processing plants, "The Compassionate Diet" presents each of us something to contemplate if we are self-reflective about who we are and how we wish to carry ourselves in this world, as well as the planet our children inherit.

Just some thoughts late at night while the guinea pigs sleep soundly, their bellies full of sumptuous watermelon!

Our New Book!

Today the author of our new book autographed it for mom and she gave him a copy of
the C2 Coffee Table Book, courtesy of Eric Blehm, who sent us two copies as gifts.
We know Arran will love his new book as much as we love Arran's.
It's only available through Amazon but if you are interested in healing yourself
and the world one meal at a time, why not cruise over there and thumb through it?
We wanted to eat it but mom said "Piggies!" in that voice with that tone
so we said, "What ya gonna give us, then?" and she produced watermelon.
We spared the book.
(This time!)

Mom's Beautiful Day!

Speaking to us today: Arran Stephens, owner/founder (with his wife, Ratana) of Nature's Path, the largest organic foods company in Canada! He has received numerous awards for his efforts advocating that we leave our living earth better than we found it and is the author of the newly released book "The Compassionate Diet" (with Eliot Jay Rosen) now available through Amazon, all of whose proceeds are donated to charitable organizations.

Arran's son, Arjan and his wife (celebrating their one year wedding anniversary)
Rimjhim, daughter of Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj. They live in Vancouver, B.C. Our guinea pig sanctuary/hospice was mom's wedding gift to them. They asked their friends around the world to do something kind for others instead of buying them wedding presents so people all around the world DID! 
EXTRAORDINARY COUPLE!

Friends mom hasn't seen in a long time all gathered together beneath the orchard trees and mom was so happy to see them her hands shook with emotion; not the greatest photo but happy faces all 'round!

Today was the 25th Anniversary of the Sawan Kirpal Meditation Center in Birch Bay, WA where mom learned the meditation she practices today. Arran Stephens, Founder/Owner of Nature's Path Organic Food Company in Vancouver, B.C. recounted to all how the Center was established from its earliest days...how terrified locals originally "asked if they were cannibals who ate their children" when a very unusual  newspaper article broke the story of who had purchased the property! Locals had mom's friends confused with...well, some "cannibals who ate their children" although exactly who those cannibals were was never exactly disclosed. Apparently, the news reporter was a little #?$%#@!?

The first directors of the center, Barbara and Dieter Schugt (RIP) were close friends of mom's and Barbara still is. Dieter went on to become the beloved mayor of Blaine, WA, and the Center is now a much sought-after haven and refuge enjoyed by all who come, irregardless of race, religion, education, politics...here we are all friends.

(Dieter was so well respected and admired that one summer mom and bff Susan were coming off Mt. Baker when some older climbers were throwing their ice axes into the car next to them. Mom figured they were locals and asked where they lived: Blaine. They also knew Dieter and Barbara, so when mom shared her close friendship with the Schugts, they invited mom and Susan to dine with them after the climb, but Susan had to return to Seattle...shucks! (This year 50 feet of snow
and you can't get up there without an ice axe! TRANSLATE: MOM AIN'T GOIN' CUZ IT HATH BEEN DECREED THAT NOBODY GIVIN' OUR MOMMA NO ICE AXE!)

All we know about meditation is this:
When mom left home today she felt very, very sad.
(Calvin and me having our bone diseases.)
When mom came home tonight she was real happy and peaceful inside.
The current directors of the Center, Sandy and Ron Kulman are also wonderful friends who never let mom come home empty-handed, so watermelon for us piggies TONIGHT: "SQUEEEEEE!"


We don't know much, but we do know this: mom + meditation = Big HAPPY.
And always treats for us! Ommm...nom-nom-nom, chomp, slirpy watermelon!

‪K.D. Lang sings Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah‬‏ - YouTube

‪K.D. Lang sings Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah‬‏ - YouTube

This moves us. "Love is not a victory march..."

Dirty cage cleaning late at night what love is. And heart Breakage.
That what love is: Hallelujah.

P.S. Mom read all about "Job" to us, losing his herds

of everything and everything...(such drama.)

(Shhh...she ain't no Job, ya just didn't hear it here!)

Hallelujah...

Dear Friends,

It is very unusual for gregarious Raj Mahal not to race around his obstacle course during Runabouts with his brother. Yesterday, he crawled into his box and stayed there. We have never seen him do this. Nor has Taj, who was so concerned he went to check on his brother. Why aren't you playing with me?

This behavior is often a sign that an animal is ill and when mom sees this she takes us to the vet immediately. Guinea pigs instinctively disguise illness because, in the wild, in the Andes Mountains, it would make them vulnerable to predation. So, by the time you notice one behaving differently, chances are he/she is already quite ill.

If Raj is sick, and we don't yet know, for this happened yesterday and he has not yet been seen by our new vet, that would make half the herd...mom is taking this pretty hard, and even began reading the Bible last night FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HER ENTIRE LIFE: The chapter on Job! Because to have half the herd...well, she needed spiritual succor. And lollipops or ice cream. We only had the Bible. (Although today the gluten-free vegan baker has a bag o'goodies saved for her at Avellino's Cafe!) He only bakes these on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. He is also going to Italy in the fall, but only for two weeks. We will have to buy and freeze A LOT!

Mom played the song she loves listening to when she cleans our cages and cries (what is
with That crying and this song?!) It brings her to her knees, and since she is already there
as she cleans our cages, we figured it was just convenience?!

This is our response to those who have told her to "get rid of us so she can take better care of herself."WE ARE THE BETTER CARE, PEOPLE, WHAT PART OF ANIMAL RESCUE
DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?  She tells them: "They rescue me," then notes never to have
further contact with that person: cold hearts don't make good friends.

Leonard Cohen says it best and kd lang sings it best in "Hallelujah" because anyone who
works in any field of service to others experiences that it is not always a "feel-good" experience
for - if it is truly an act of humble, selfless service, THERE WILL BE MUCH HEART BREAKAGE. If your heart doesn't break...well, we don't have any friends engaged in animal
rescue or other forms of service whose hearts do not break. Without fanfare, in the silence of
the night, often alone...we weep. We do the best we can and never manage to save them all.
So we weep. We sing "Hallelujah" then get up the next morning and do it all over again
because that is who we are! And we have found our Calling. And we LIVE IT AND IT
KILLS US AND THAT IS SOMETHING WE ACCEPT. For those of you who don't
"get it" please go to the Humane Society and hug the sorriest, most pathetic, least likely
to be adopted animal and see if you don't "get it" after that!

"Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah"


~from "Hallelujah"
written by Leonard Cohen
best sung by kd lang...have hankies

To Love Another...

"To love another person is to see the face of God..."
~ from the musical "Les Miserable"

We sing: To love an orphan creature is to see the face of God.

We are being sorely tested here at the Sanctuary on every level. We have turned
within in Silence to conduct a profound inner assessment of our values in Life.
And we choose Love.
Whatever trials await us, we choose Love, and for those who do not understand why
animal rescue people choose Love, we pray for them to experience the Love that rescue
work brings. But, more than that, we pray for those who do not understand, to recognize
that - in the end - those we rescue Ultimately rescue us.

We Choose Love. So, to our Challenges and Challengers: BRING IT! WE CHOOSE LOVE!

Raj Goes Leaving...

"Don't wanna hear no more bad news. I is hiding until you gots good news. Or fresh treats...NO!
Good news...Fresh treats...no, GOOD NEWS!"

Raj is upset with the news about Calvin.

We all are.

But he came back when he heard mom open the fridge...they always do.
Now if we could just hear some good news.

Next month she is taking me and him to a new vet here in town, close to home.
They not "exotics" specialists but they is willing to take us and our blood,
from the sound of it. That next month, then we all gonna follow Raj like in
this picture!

And mom had better get happy because we haz just about had enough with what she
callz "Menopausal Mood-Swings" which we know is just sadness about us. We
isn't sad, we is happy: Guinea pigs just don't know any other way. Glad we isn't
human, frankly, mom not setting a real good example right now. But she is
cuddling us more.  If she don't buck up we gonna get the "Annies" from the
Annie-Pa-Looza they had to all come in and sing "Tomorrow" while she still asleep.
We said we is happy. Nevah said we wasn't BAD!

What Men-oh!PAWZ anyway?

‪Adele - Rolling In The Deep‬‏ - YouTube

‪Adele - Rolling In The Deep‬‏ - YouTube

Watch and Listen^^^

We LOVE her:  Woman got soul!

Reminds mom of Southern women,

steel magnolias...helpin' mom today.

She sleeping but got on her favorite

radio station from Seattle to keep her

heart beating...Calvin seems like his

old self, just happier for his runabout.

And Coconut now wantin' The Love

she been getting...the girl wasn't

at all socialized when she came here.

MacNutPie helped her a lot after he

moved in. But mom combing that flea

comb through her and scratching her

"sweet spot" while she munches on

her favorites treats, yeah, life is GOOD.

Mom took her migraine meds and gonna

sleep for a long, long time, we can tell.

So she got our cages all stocked up and

we are going to stomp our feet to this

song, hop in the air and steal food outta

each others' mouths, and love Calvin and

YumYum, whose spine is slowly fusing...
Vet never called back with a diagnosis or
info on Calvin.

So, together we embrace Life:
let no moment together slip by
unaccounted for,
because
Heartbreak bears her own
gifts, unasked for, perhaps.
But if we move trembling hands
and paws courageously to unravel
Heartbreak's Ribbon... peer Inside...
we discover We are bruised,

NOT BROKEN:
Rolling IN THE DEEP,
STEEL MAGNOLIAS.