The Last 3 Weeks Couldn’t Have Been Crazier!

Wow is all I can say.  As many of you might know Evelina broke her arm before Christmas ice skating and had to have surgery to repair the broker bones.  She finally got her pins removed and cast off just before Valentine’s Day and we thought we were in the clear.  Life could get back to normal.  Nope.

Near the end of February she began experiencing pain in her back which resulted in an emergency room visit to discover she was passing another kidney stone.  We’ve been through this situation several times in the last few years.  The urologist decided to send her home and keep an eye on the movement of the stone.

After a week we had to go back to the ER and this time she was admitted for 2 days, surgery was performed and they were still not able to remove the stone.  At 8 mm this stone was one of the largest the doctor has ever seen and it was lodged in the ureter so deeply that he was not able to remove it.

Last week they were able to remove the stone successfully and Evelina is now recovering nicely.  Just when we thought things were turning the corner I found out yesterday I have bronchitis which is producing a wicked nasty cough.  Medicine, medicine, medicine.

We are sick and tired of being sick and tired!

Danny

A Quick Update If You Are Interested…

I know it has been a minute since I last posted something other than a reblog or a question.  The truth is I haven’t had much interest in writing anything and I’m not sure why.  Every time I’ve opened up a new draft I have deleted it after a few seconds and then moved on to something else.

Today Evelina and I are going to Tanger Outlet to do a little shopping.  The strange thing is it was my idea and I’m actually looking forward to walking around and looking at stuff.  I’d like to find a new belt, a couple of packs of new white t-shirts and maybe a new shirt.  Plus they have a little food court there where we might be able to find a good lunch.

Other than that not much new going on in our lives.  Oh, we are building a new house which is incredibly exciting and stressful all at the same time.

I am not traveling as much with the job, but it looks like that will end in the next couple months and then I’ll be out on the road.  I was a little upset about getting grounded, but I’m realizing that everything seems to work out for a reason and I believe my body and mind needed the break.

That’s all for now.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Danny

This Is Why I Stopped Eating Meat

When meat-eaters read this title I suspect they immediately roll their eyes and presume a Vegan or vegetarian, leftist, tree hugger is at it again.  But I don’t see myself as any of those things.  I see myself as a middle-ground thinker who finally came to a realization.

When I began scrutinizing my eating a few years ago I had the thought to eliminate animal protein from my diet, but I didn’t know how to do so.  I continued to eat meat for a couple of years, but the entire time I had the idea of quitting locked in the back of my mind.  I came to the conclusion that animals have souls or spirits however you want to view it.  And if I were going to be truthful I didn’t feel it right to slaughter these animals as a product, which is how they are treated by the companies who are killing them.  My thought was that if I were going to eat an animal then I owed it to them to kill them myself.

Many self-sustainers kill their own meat and hold the same opinion.  I believe any person who consumes meat should be required to go to the slaughter house and watch the process.  They should be required to partake in each aspect versus just going to the store and picking up a package of ground beef.  You should have to watch the hog standing in the pin trembling with fear as its time draws to a close.

In my heart I just can’t participate in how these animals are treated and I don’t think it is responsible to allow myself to continue with such a casual attitude.

I look into the eyes of our little dog Bentley and I know he has a soul.  He displays an entire array of emotions from happiness to sadness, he feels pain and excitement.  But most notably he shows a level of love that permeates my soul and he has a personality that is like no one else I’ve met.  He has a right to live just as much as I have a right to live.  And then I think there are some societies that would eat him and this thought is beyond my comprehension.  From that realization I simply extended it to my experiences looking into the eyes of other animals and seeing them display many of the same characteristics along with demonstrating their own individual personality.  The individual personality factor drove me to the conclusion that if I were going to eat meat then I owed it to these animals to take their life myself.  And if I were not willing to do so then I would not eat them.

I will admit that it bothers me when I see all of the meat at the grocery store.  Not because I think it is wrong to eat animals, but that it is irresponsible for humans to eat animals that they are not willing to kill for themselves.  I think the Native Americans had it right when they practiced thanking the animal for their sacrifice and showing some respect to the land and the animals.

In the end treating animals like a product is morally and ethically wrong.  And in my mind there is no way around this moral dilemma.  I either kill the animal myself or I don’t eat meat.

Danny