A Hot Cop, Pirates, and a Goat named The Pope. PT.1

Farm Sanctuary Hoedown Recap. Part 1 of probably 3.

August 1-3, 2008, Watkins Glen, New York.

Day 1: I flew into Syracuse specifically because my pal Liz hipped me to the fact that there was a new vegan restaurant there. I was excited. As you can imagine. 

I had taken the overnight flight, which I do not like because it takes me all but a half hour of any long flight to fall asleep. I tuned in Twine, Aphex Twin, and Kode 9 on the iPod and still couldn't drift off into a nice sleepy spot.

But so what, I was going to the Farm Sanctuary mothership! I can sleep when I'm dead. Or at least when I get into my cabin on the farm.

In Syracuse I took photos of Karl from Earth Crisisisis childhood home and spent a good hour in the Syracuse Early/Mid 90's Hardcore Museum, which was a real treat. I wasn't a huge fan of that seen but the displays and self guided tour really took me back...

I kid.

I got to Strong Hearts Cafe and was so spaced out I didn't really think about what I was ordering and just kinda got excited and realized my breakfast was French toast, a cherry ice cream milkshake, and coffee. Uh huh. The milkshakes were awesome and made with Temptation Soy Ice Cream and the one I got was named after the SHAC 7. How could I not order it?!

I hit the road in my rental whip and headed for the farm. Upstate New York is really pretty and there are some nice seeming small town out there. There also seemed to be a lot of animal farms which bummed me out.

I got to the farm and was met by Liz who showed me around and introduced me to a bunch of the animals.

It is very easy, when you deal with human animals all day everyday, to let the non-humans we are all working to help slip from your mind. Sometimes I pause and realize I haven't thought about a non-human animal in a while. Even a lot of my more compassionate thoughts tend towards the humans involved in our movement. I think this is simply because I deal with the humans most and can discuss the struggle we all face with humans. Or I'm reading books or blogs or emails from humans and am thinking about the work they are doing. 

Walking around the farm and seeing a critter ever time you turn around is a very powerful experience. Having Liz tell me the stories of where everyone came from and how they all got to this wonderful place was such a great reminder of what we're all doing. You look at them living their lives as naturally as possible, sometimes noticing you, sometimes not caring one bit that you're there and you feel ready for the work ahead. It's nice when they come over and want to say hi and get pets or some attention, but for me it's just as amazing to watch them living an un-coerced life, doing whatever they want, free from torment, or intervention.

Hearing the stories about the conditions from which these animals were relieved also reinvigorates me to work on their behalf. It's impossible to not get angry and filled with rage towards the abusers of these animals. And while my first thought is always "let's go knock their blocks off," I calm down and quickly get back to what I think is a better, more far reaching tactic which is to work to turn people away from their "products" and change people's attitudes so abuse will one day be considered unacceptable and these abusers will be forced to change their ways.