A Daring Rescue

Okay, not quite so daring, but I did rescue a little white fancy rat from impending doom.

As I approached the park with my dog last week, I noticed something little and fluffy in the grass.  That's a rare sight as there are no fluffy things in our park.  Not with all the predatory birds (like hawks) that live there.  I walked up to it and saw that is was a little rat, seemingly healthy and clean but scared to death.  I can't imagine how it got there, except maybe it's owner no longer felt like having a pet rat and thought the park would be a good place to set it free.  Not smart.

So I took my dog back home, dumped my recycling box and grabbed a towel.  I ran back downstairs to the park (it's across the street) and my new little friend was being stalked by big black crows!  He wasn't moving, he just made himself into a ball.  I shooed the crows away, though they were rather reluctant to leave.  I quickly threw the towel over the fluffy one, wrapped him up and took him home.  All the while reassuring him that he was safe and he was loved.

 

I kept thinking of the quote, "When you see something that needs to be done and you think, 'Someone should really do something about that.'  Remember that YOU are someone."

I know it's a risky move to take home a stray rat, but I wasn't going to leave him out there to face danger alone.  I put him in the big box, got him some water and in the few minutes I had before needing to leave for work, researched what to feed him.  Dog food, veggies and fruit.  Check, check and check.  I hated to leave him for the day, but I had to go to work.

When I came home, he still looked scared but the worst for him was over.  I didn't know what to do with him but my heart said, keep him.  I have the space and I have the love.  So I did tons of research, called friends who have had rats as pets before and most importantly, made him an appointment to go to the vet.

He's a healthy little guy I have named Charlie.  His favorite snacks are peanuts still in the shell and my dog's (vegan) dog food.  He likes building hills in his cage out of the bedding.  And he falls asleep when I (very badly) sing him improvised lullabies.  

Charlie has become my poster child for kindness and compassion.  If a little rat can be saved from a terrible situation, then anyone can.

But there's another message too.  That life can change in an instant.  You could be in the worst possible scenario with not a single shred of hope or salvation anywhere in sight.  Then in a flash, life can scoop you up, reassure you that you are safe and give you a life better than you could have ever imagined.  (Charlie is quite the spoiled rat.)

If it can happen for Charlie, it can happen for anyone.

♥∞,

~B  (and Charlie.)

Transformation

This weekend + me= Transformation.

It all started Friday night with a special LA screening of the Cafe Gratitude documentary, May I Be Frank.  The movie follows Frank Ferrante through 42 Days of Transformation lead by three young men, Cary, Ryland and Conor of Cafe Gratitude.  During the process, he only ate raw vegan food, practiced gratitude, visited holistic practitioners and got a weekly colonic.  Frank's transformation is miraculous.  He has become a radiant and beautiful person from the inside out.  Frank and the filmmakers were there after the screening to discuss how it all happened.  It was a truly inspirational night filled some of my favorite faces and set the tone for the weekend to come.

Saturday Animal Acres held their Compassionate Cooking Event which I was a volunteer for.  There were food demonstrations all day by vegan chefs like, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Kim Garr who runs C'est La Vegan Bakeshop, raw food chef and owner of Leaf Organics, Rod Rotondi and more.  I was in charge of the goats for the day, who I was more than happy to be with since they are good friends of mine.  I did get to listen in on Colleen's discussion on love, compassion and veganism.  It was a talk that could have easily been given at a Cafe Gratitude workshop.  Everything she said resounded so much with what I believe in.  It was funny, honest and moving.

Later, Kim Garr made a rhubarb cake for her demonstration that hands down was the best cake (vegan or non) I have ever had.  In addition to the the amazing (free!) food I got to sample, I got to spend some time with my animal friends.  They are the real reason why we all gather there.  I remember when I first started going there, I had never been around farm animals and used to only carefully pet them.  Now I literally throw my entire weight onto them to give them hugs and kisses.  They love it.

Animal Acres is a place thick with love.  It is palpable.  You can feel it and breathe it when you're there.  Love is radiating from every corner and from all the beings there, human and animal.  It was an exhausting day, but as always, well worth the effort.

Today, Sunday, my best friend and I signed up to join the volunteer team for the brand new CA office of Sea Shepherd.  We arrived at their new office in Venice to a lite vegan (yes!)  breakfast welcomed by the lovely Grace who coordinated the whole event.  We watched a great video on the history of Sea Shepherd and it's Captain, Paul Watson.  Then Kurt Lieber gave us a run-down of what our duties as volunteers would be and the upcoming events.  We also got to meet Luke Tipple who is a marine biologist and runs the organization, Shark Free Marina.  He told us what his organization does and how easy it is to get involved.  After talking with everyone, we were beyond excited about all the wonderful work and fun we're going to have being involved with BOTH organizations.  From there is was off to whale watch.  Which was fun until the motion sickness set in and we missed the whales.  Blue whales even, the largest animal to ever live on the planet.  Oops.  Good thing our work with Sea Shepherd will all take place on land.

When I finally got home today, exhausted, I took my dog to the park.  While running around in the grass, around trees and down hills I was overcome with gratitude.  And not in a simple way where I was grateful for my recent experiences but on a much grander scale.  I was thankful for all of experience and existence itself.  For my existence, the Universe and everything that is beyond it.  It washed over me and after I came back inside, that feeling stayed with me.  Even though I am thankful for the little things, I am also grateful for those things that are bigger than me.  Those that are beyond what we can see with our senses, those things that we can only feel.

And so, I've emerged from this weekend a new, upgraded version of myself.  I keep being guided to amazing places, people and experiences that I'm convinced are molding me into the person I am meant to be.  Just like Frank in the movie.  He began transforming into his truest self.  The day he walked into the cafe, Ryland asked him, "What is one thing you want to do before you die?"  Frank replies, "I want to fall in love one more time, but no one will love me looking the way I do."  After the screening during the Q & A, Frank addressed this question, simply saying that the person he fell in love with, was himself. 

Cafe Gratitude will be opening up their 1st LA restaurant at the end of this year (yes!) and held their 1st Kindred Spirits Workshop in the area this past weekend.  The workshop explores "accessing the most authentic self: unconditional love."  As much as I wanted to attend this workshop, I feel like I experienced my own version of it this weekend.  Surrounded by kindred spirits, practicing and being unconditional love. 

♥∞, 

~B