I was out to set a personal record. This month I would be visiting Orland three times. That means three therapeutic visits with my best friends...and six long drives. On my third long drive of the month, my mind pondered the decision this week from out "Not-So-Supreme Court". As a former military man who made significant sacrifices in the name of protecting the citizens of this country and their way of life, I feel that I am within my rights to say that this decision, under the guise of protecting free-speech, represents a complete bastardization of the concept. At some point, I believe that our laws need to do their job, which is to set the basic guidelines by which our society will run smoothly. As it is today, I feel that our laws are being used to facilitate things and behavior that are driving our society into the ground and threatening the majority while enabling a radical fringe. There will always be some really scary people out there and the sooner we acknowledge that the better. The fact that we as a country, and make no mistake, this is what the court's ruling means, would tolerate the most disgusting examples of animal cruelty in film should terrify us. There are already copious studies linking cruelty to animals to future cruelty to human beings. Is it not obvious that these videos facilitate a lunatic and psychotic element within our population? My stomach turns at the notion of videos of dog fighting or animals being crushed for someone's "sexual pleasure". The revulsion of this notion is only trumped by the thought of the connoisseurs of said material. These loathsome individuals should fear eradication. They should view themselves for what they are, a black, oozing, smelly mass in our American body. Instead, the government's sanction normalizes their sickness. Albert Schweitzer famously said, "A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as that of his fellow men, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help." We continue to witness the fall of American ethics and the loss of what makes (I refrained from the term "made" out of hope that we haven't fallen over the cliff) this country special. It is always a sad day when it feels like the lunatics are running the asylum, and we are living in the asylum.
After a "wonderful" drive up, I arrived at the hotel in near record time. The traffic had been smooth and I had sailed up the highway. Thankfully, there had been no encounters with livestock trucks to further ruin my mood. At the hotel, there was a couple in the lobby who had just been forced from their home by the police. Apparently there was some form of gas leak in Northern Orland which was threatening to blow things up, or something like that. Luckily, I had arrived before more refugees showed up or I may have found myself sleeping in my truck. The couple in the lobby was lamenting the fact that they were driven away and not allowed to bring their dog. I can't imagine being in that situation, not because of a fear of being in their current shoes, but because I would never leave my Heidi. Those police officers would have to put a bullet in me to prevent me from saving her. That's what you do for family.
When I got up to the desk, I showed my Farm Sanctuary card in order to receive my discount. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the young lady at the desk recognized me from my previous visits. I will never know the feeling of being a regular at a bar, but I would much rather be a regular in this context. We talked briefly about my many trips and why it is worth it for me to make the long drives as often as I can. I encouraged her to check out the Farm someday and I hope she chooses to do so. With visions of being consumed in a massive gas explosion, I drifted off to sleep with the sounds of the Discovery Channel in the background. Actually, that would be revisionist history so let me try that again. I tossed and turned to the sounds of "Family Guy" until sleep overtook me.
When morning came, it was a beautiful one. The sky was taking on the hues of sunrise and I hoped to beat it out to the Farm to view it as it crested the hill above the barns. Getting off on Exit 619, I made as much haste as the speed limit would allow. All was going well until I pulled up behind a semi-truck. It bore the marking of Harris Cattle and had the side vents and rear loading door that I had come to dread. As I passed it, I saw it was empty for now, but there turned out to be two more of them in front of me. The trucks continued in front of me for far too long, a reminder of the dirty business that goes on so close to my beloved Sanctuary. At first I couldn't wait for them to turn off, but as I thought about that, it was like wishing for a death sentence. Every time I drive to the farm, I bid hellos and good days to the cows that I pass and this caravan of trucks was coming for some of them. These death wagons along with their angel of death drivers were going to cause terrible things to happen. The further they continued, the more I thought about them. I thought of the crowded conditions, the palpable fear, the bumps, the falling, the crushing pressure, the heat, the smell, the noise, the life clock counting down, and the worse things to come for these poor animals. I pictured their neighbors down the road and what I would be willing to do if these trucks tried to load up my friends. What if Whitaker, Phoenix, Cupid, Hank, Norman, Lester, El Nino, Joanie, or Fritz were loaded in? What if they still had room for Ramona, Penny, Indigo, Bonnie, Waylon, Amelinda, Boe, Ady, or Olive? What if after all those death warrants, they tried to load Melvin and Blossom? What if they came for Coco? I could feel my blood pressure and pulse rising even at the thought. I love these animals and I believe that I would fight for them, putting my own life on the line for theirs. I believe I would be willing to go to any extent to preserve their right to life and the pursuit of happiness. I pride myself on this, but it only makes me feel worse in the current situation. If I would put it all on the line for "my animals", does the fact that I am not confronting these trucks today mean that I am actually a coward? Does it mean that I only care about animals that I have met? Does it mean that I talk the talk, but don't walk the walk? As the trucks make a slow fateful left in front of me, I do not have answers to these questions. I know they will continue to linger and eat at me until I can satisfactorily answer myself. Why do the bad actions of others cause so little pain to them and so much to others?
I turned off the radio for the rest of the drive. Call it an extended moment of silence, for what it's worth. I got to the gates at 6:30 and passed through the lower one before closing it behind me. The upper gate was locked. I had never seen this before, but then again, I had never gotten here this early before. I stepped up to the gate to brace myself so that I could film the sunrise. It was a wonderful scene with the golden orb crawling up the hill before taking flight above it. The sounds of the finches chattering and the chickens and turkeys made it perfect. I hope that my camera catches these sounds and not just wind noise like it normally does. You would think that they could make a camera that could ignore the frequency of wind noise. I can personally think of very few instances where this would be something I would have wanted as an accompaniment to a video. After shooting the video, I watched the pasture. The sight of distant cows slowly moving about looked to me like distant furry ships adrift on a sea of wavering grass. Their slow movements were at first hard to perceive, but as I allowed my gaze to linger, I could see them lumbering forward, most likely in search of a greener clump of grass. There is so much peace to be witnessed here and I was glad that the gate was locked because it forced me to take it in, whereas I may have missed it otherwise.
At about 6:50, two cars pulled up to the front gate. I got back into my truck in order to avoid looking suspicious in case the people in the cars were new staff members. I knew that two people had recently signed on as caretakers, and I didn't want to spook them. It turned out that it was Fred and Mike, so I quickly found myself following them up to the Main Office. As I parked, my eyes were drawn to the pasture where Elton and Geraldine were. I didn't see Coco there. While there was a remote chance that this was bad news, I knew that it was much more likely to be great news. Mike quickly confirmed my suspicion by informing me that Coco and Melvin had both been introduced to the goat herd on the previous Thursday. Even as Mike explained how they still needed to fit in a bit, I couldn't help smiling because I was so excited for them. I couldn't wait to see them.
Mike introduced me to Bliss, a dog that he was fostering, who bounded out of his car. She was about the same size as Heidi, although she has a bit more weight on her frame. She was sweet and it was nice to see another dog on the farm now that Wendall had gone with Jamie. I explained to Mike that I was eager to get started and didn't feel like waiting for the official start of the volunteer day.
While I waited for Mike to figure out the day's schedule, I opened Blossom's door to let her out into the yard. She was now out of isolation (So no more "convict" suit for me), but she was still pretty rambunctious. She explored around the yard and proceeded to dig her nose into about any dirt she could find, turning over weeds, grass, and wild flowers with common gusto. She was a little piggie in her element, and you could tell she relished it.
Mike and I headed up to the Rescue Barn as he regaled me with the events of Coco and Melvin's integration. When we arrived at the barn, we chatted about Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, where Mike had previously worked. I could tell that he was still very fond of the place, but things had changed for him when he was there. It was no longer the benevolent place providing an opportunity to make a difference for animals, but he saw it for the "business" that it had to be. Although it was a non-profit, there was still a need to run it in such a way as to ensure return on donations and to ensure efficiency. This means more and more structure as an organization grows and Mike had been saddled with a bad manager and it had made it impossible to continue to see only the purity of the animal care experience. Having Bliss in his life seemed like a return of sorts to his roots and I could tell he was particularly fond of her.
As is often the case when you are talking, the work seemed to get done pretty quickly, and before I knew it, we had fully strawed (Probably not a real word as Microsoft Word is trying to advise me) the barn. Since Mike was off to spread the soiled straw, I headed down for other tasks since it was still early. On the way to the Main Office, I passed Leanne and she recommended that I work with Bethany in the smaller barns. I met Bethany at the Turkey Girl Barn and promptly made myself useful by cleaning the "porch". The porch is where the turkey girls hang out when they are locked out of the barn for cleaning. Bethany is afraid of them so I raked out there and laid down fresh straw. For whatever reason, the turkey ladies didn't peck at me as I had been warned they would. They did crowd me, but even when I picked up straw in front of them, I did so unscathed. I don't know if it was the fact that I appeared unappetizing to them or the fact that I wasn't afraid of them that made the difference. For a moment I pondered that maybe they were full, but then Indran brought over their feed troughs and I knew that wasn't it. I guess I will just consider myself "special". Since I don't know how to recognize Amelinda, I proceeded to pet every turkey girl in order to make sure I petted my turkey girl.
My "special" feeling continued when the other volunteers arrived and I joined up with them at the Main Office. Being introduced as a "Regular" and having my own assignment on the schedule was pretty cool. I appreciated the "special" touch since I have such a longing to really be part of the team. The volunteer work party was pretty busy during the morning. We cleaned the Main Office from top to bottom (My "special" assignment was bath room duty) and then scrubbed down the duck landing and pool. I even got to pet Penny for the first time ever although she reciprocated by gently gnawing on my arm with her bill. What a character!
While the rest of the team went to lunch, I decided to keep working. It is not that I am particularly anti-social, because I am not, but my visits to the sanctuary are a spiritual experience for me and I generally fast during them and don't want to miss any possible interaction time or helping time. I ran into Mike again and when I learned he was going to clean the Sheep and Goat Barn (So that's what the "S/G" stood for on my schedule), I volunteered to tag along.
I was delayed a bit due to Whitaker. As I walked to join Mike, I saw him in the pasture about fifty feet away. I figured I could try to call him over and see if he would oblige. He had done it before so it didn't seem like too crazy of an idea. Fate was smiling on me, along with the burning sun now high above, and Whitaker paid me a visit. As he got closer, it was easy to see that he was changing. To my eyes, he appeared less like a calf and more like a miniature cow. Maybe it was his "big-boy" collar that he was wearing, but I suspect that wasn't the sole reason. His body profile had taken on more cow-like features and I was glad to have some time with him before he grew up entirely. He was very sweet, although I didn't jump over the fence to join him today. We just hung out and chatted while I helped him to keep the flies out of his face. Talk about "special" guys, Whitaker has me beat soundly in that area.
Of course cleaning the Sheep and Goat Barn also provided the necessary positioning to be close to Coco and Melvin. I had been anxious to see them all day and when we were done, I had my chance before the other volunteers finished lunch. I saw Coco out in the distance and I went over to her. She cautiously eyed my approach, and I sat down a few feet away as had become my practice when visiting her to avoid chasing her around. I picked a handful of grass and, knowing the drill, she sauntered over. I told her how happy I was for her and rhetorically asked her whether she as happy about her new digs. We visited for several minutes before another goat took interest in our conversation, and effectively ended it with his presence.
With Coco walking away, I set out to find Melvin. I couldn't see him anywhere! I was sure that Mike had said that both Coco and Melvin had joined the herd. Scanning the goats and sheep, I remembered that all of the sheep had recently been shorn. I also recalled that Kerrie had mentioned that Melvin was to have some of his matted fur cut when the groomer came. Armed with this information, I was able to quickly find him near the barn in the shade. He was just sitting there, looking cool in more ways than one, and was more than happy to let me sit with him and resume my ear stroking of days past. Melvin has a perpetual goofy grin and I was very happy to see him. As I hung out with him, I had a surprise visit from Ady. He looked a lot thinner without all of his wool, but I could tell it was him. He had never approached me before, at least not without the prerequisite that I was handing out apple slices, but today he seemed to want to say hello and he pressed his face into my hand. It is these unexpected moments that make coming here so worthwhile. After making a brief appearance, he headed off with Colvin, but my feelings of being "special" were affirmed.
When I heard the rest of the volunteers approaching, I said my "See ya laters" and went to join them. The afternoon agenda consisted of more cleaning, this time focused on yard raking and cob-web dusting at the Rabbit Barn and the Sheep and Goat Barn. Cobweb dusting is difficult enough, but it is compounded when you try in earnest to avoid hurting any spiders. It is bad enough to be evicting them, no need to hurt them in the process. In the goat barn, I saw Rufus. He was looking pretty bad; clearly whatever was bothering him was not abating. They knew he had Johnne's disease, but now there was worry that he had kidney issues as well; maybe to the point of kidney failure. He was in the Predator-Proof stall and was surrounded by food that everyone was hoping he would eat. He chose to stand stationary instead, disinterested in the world around him. After we were done with our cleaning, I stayed with Rufus and said a prayer with him, first for his recovery and second for his comfort. As I pressed my hand to his side, in one of the areas where he must have been shaved for blood testing, I willed my energy to enter his body and help him to get better. I took a handful of his grapes and held them up to his mouth and he gently took some before declining future offers. While I hold faith that I will see Rufus again, if I don't, I will have had a "special" moment with him today. Before heading down to the Main Office for the last time of the day, I revisited each of my buddies to say goodbye...and double-checked each of the gates lest I inadvertently leave one open.
As I left Farm Sanctuary, I reflected on the "special" moments of the day. I have put these in quotation marks, not out of sarcasm, but rather to reflect on how many times that adjective entered my mind during this trip. I will do whatever I can to secure this feeling forever. It is very important to me that I reach "Patron" level in the Friends of Hilda Club. This club was created in the memory of the first rescue that Farm Sanctuary made; that of a downed sheep named Hilda. Patron level would ensure that I could visit my friends whenever I want to for the rest of my life, regardless of my job situation. While I have no reason to believe that my job is in jeopardy, you never can tell in today's economy. "Here today, gone tomorrow" is a concept for which I see reminders every day. In the theme of family planning, it is important to me that I be able to visit my family whenever I can. I can't imagine not being able to do this; not being able to receive my "farm therapy". I must confirm with the headquarters office just how this works. I know that I have made the required level of contributions, but I am not sure if I had to make them all at once or just during a single year. Needless to say, I am anxious to get an answer back. Assuming that I never have the opportunity to work at the sanctuary, I feel that my salvation depends on it.
