When we took mom to the Palazzo Ristorante Italiano in Aiea we happened to look out at the small area next to the parking lot.
There was a whole colony of feral chickens. I'm surprised that I haven't seen them as roadkill. It reminded me of the mother hen I've seen walking around the Walmart parking lot with her little family of about 5 chicks. I've seen them every so often, but the other day I saw that they were almost full grown and still keeping together as a family.
I wondered if they felt comfort and love being together. It made me think of them as something other than the package of thighs and breasts I see in the freezer case.
This Christmas, I tried to stay away from meat when I cooked dinner. I made a spinach quiche and corn chowder. Oops! I did stick bacon in there, but only a teeny bit.
I did break down and make chicken and beef teriyaki sticks for the family party. I don't think I can ever be a vegan, but I think I can try to be a respectful meat eater. I've never forgotten Kahlil Gibran's poem about eating and drinking.
There was a whole colony of feral chickens. I'm surprised that I haven't seen them as roadkill. It reminded me of the mother hen I've seen walking around the Walmart parking lot with her little family of about 5 chicks. I've seen them every so often, but the other day I saw that they were almost full grown and still keeping together as a family.
I wondered if they felt comfort and love being together. It made me think of them as something other than the package of thighs and breasts I see in the freezer case.
This Christmas, I tried to stay away from meat when I cooked dinner. I made a spinach quiche and corn chowder. Oops! I did stick bacon in there, but only a teeny bit.
I did break down and make chicken and beef teriyaki sticks for the family party. I don't think I can ever be a vegan, but I think I can try to be a respectful meat eater. I've never forgotten Kahlil Gibran's poem about eating and drinking.
On Eating and DrinkingWould that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be sustained by the light.
Kahlil Gibran
But since you must kill to eat, and rob the newly born of its mother's milk to quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship.
And let your board stand an altar on which the pure and the innocent of forest and plain are sacrificed for that which is purer and still more innocent in man.
When you kill a beast say to him in your heart,
"By the same power that slays you, I too am slain; and I too shall be consumed.
For the law that delivered you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand.
Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven."
And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart,
"Your seeds shall live in my body,
And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart,
And your fragrance shall be my breath,
And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons."
And in the autumn, when you gather the grapes of your vineyards for the winepress, say in your heart,
"I too am a vineyard, and my fruit shall be gathered for the winepress,
And like new wine I shall be kept in eternal vessels."
And in winter, when you draw the wine, let there be in your heart a song for each cup;
And let there be in the song a remembrance for the autumn days, and for the vineyard, and for the winepress.
I have that book, The Prophet by Gibran, sitting on a bookshelf amongst my sacred books. It's such a beautiful poem, and now I'm thinking I should pull it out and read it again. Thank you, dear Kay, for the reminder. :-)
ReplyDeleteI think you would love my sister Sylvia's vegan restaurant. It is called Greens and Vines, and is located on the corner of Ward and Kapiolani.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many roosters on Kauai. They run where they want, but some resorts manage to keep them to a minimum. At one outdoor restaurant, a small-mesh fence was on the perimeter under the bushes to keep them out from under tables. One rooster was running back and forth along that fence, hoping for any feedings. Seems Hawaii should commercialize egg-gathering, maybe. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that beautiful poem, I might save that. Such respect for our environment.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I could be vegetarian but they say it's a good thing at least for some days.
wow, never heard that poem before. i have a grandson who when he prays at meals thanks God for the animal whose meat they are consuming...sweet!
ReplyDeleteJust lovely. Thank you. G and I are mostly vegitarians with a dash of beef and vegan. A little out of balance, but ok.
ReplyDeleteI'm one everyday
ReplyDeleteyou have quite brought me to tears! Thank you, Kay. I'm married to a vegan - and it's more than food, it's a moral thing. I admire him.....
ReplyDeleteAloha from Honolulu,
Comfort Spiral
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I was a vegetarian for over thirty years, but then had to start eating meat and fish again for health reasons. We only ever buy organically and ethically raised meat and sustainably fished fish, but we still eat vegetarian quite regularly, though I don't use dairy products. That's a wonderful poem.
ReplyDeleteYou make me want to find my copy of The Prophet. It has been too long. I too get those vegetarian urges when ever I look into the actual eyes of a food creature. It lasts quite a while but then I back slide. Maybe some day.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm on the other end of this spectrum. I was a farm girl. I helped raise chickens and cattle and pigs and sheep. We raised them for meat and eggs and milk. I planted, harvested and preserved crops. It was all hard work. Respect for the land and the plants and the animals was part of the process. You can't have what you don't take care of. Now it's someone else's job to raise my food, or most of it. I have no qualms about eating meat.
ReplyDeleteBalance in all things.
As with DJan, I am taking THE PROPHET off the shelf and giving it another read through.
ReplyDeleteThis is from The Prophet? How is it that I don't remember this part?
ReplyDeleteThanks Kay.