Love Lagomorph Style

How I envy my beloved Cinnamon and Benjamin...

Nuts About Squirrels

Coming home from work one cold overcast afternoon, I heard the soft mournful barking of a squirrel high in a tree. As I approached my condo, I looked up and could see one solitary squirrel tucked into the crook of a barren leafless tree. There were no other creatures about, just him, and his cry struck a chord with me. I felt the loneliness, the solitariness in that sound, as if I had made it myself. Where I live now, squirrels thrive; with all the trees around, one can only imagine the plethora of nuts they find and bury and thrive on. When I walk around my condo neighborhood, I feel their companionship, listening to the soft sounds of the rustling leaves as they scatter about seeking out food. Some days I feel they are the only friends I have, in addition to the rabbits I share my home with. One thing is certain--Nature is a constant friend, always there, can always be depended on. We are all a part of the natural world--that, if nothing else, is consolation for one as myself who lives a solitary life these days.

I used to feed the squirrels when I lived with my husband. We had a deck and a birdfeeder, which inevitably meant squirrel invaders. Initially--so many years ago now--I had fought a long, losing war in an effort to defeat these gray,bushy tailed rodents from stealing food meant for birds, trying everything from cayenne pepper to moth balls. In the end, I never could keep them from eating my crocus bulbs or finding a new way into the newest bird feeder we had purchased for the deck. Anyway, what was wrong with feeding the squirrels too? They belong to this earth as much as human beings and robins do. If they could only learn to share, leave something for the birds, instead of consuming everything in sight. Our feathered friends need to live just as they do. When you think about it, there might be a lesson in that for human beings too.

Product Review: Amande

I have never been a yogurt person. Even when I consumed dairy products, yogurt was one of those foods like cottage cheese I felt I SHOULD eat but yet could never like it enough to sustain the habit. If I had the money back from all the cups of yogurt, soy or otherwise, that I had purchased with the best of intentions only to toss them in the trash ten days after the expiration date, I could retire comfortably.

Things may change now with this new product on the market, Amande, flavored yogurts made from cultured almond milk (and yes all those live cultures so beneficial for us that is found in dairy and soy yogurts are all here too.) Thus far I have sampled the cherry and blueberry flavors, both fruity and sweet and not at all cloying, like I find most yogurts to be. In fact, I felt like I was eating a dessert, rather than a "you-really-should-eat-this-for-breakfast-because-it-is-good for-you" food. Other flavors available: coconut, strawberry, peach, raspberry, and plain. They are also gluten-free and rather than sugar, Amande uses fruit juices to sweeten their yogurts. Amande products can be found at Whole Foods. (Visit their website http://amandeyogurt.com/--they have a store finder link to help you to the closest supermarket that carries their line.) Ask your local grocer to order this wonderful yogurt, especially if you are concerned about eating too much soy.

Grow old with me

This week my beloved Ruby, who lives with my STBX husband, will be 10 years old. She is officially an elderbun but you wouldn't know it, looking at her. She has slowed down, yes, and in fact, she is in the very early stages of spondylosis (i.e. arthritis). She is on Adequan injections now but she still gets around okay and acts the diva when she can, from what I have been told. I miss her presence so much but I will see her soon, when I bunnysit her, Cocoa, and the other two rabbits hubby and I had been living with when we were a whole family.

I am so grateful for Ruby. She is the one who started it all for me, taught me so much about rabbits. Her presence showed me the way to a vegan lifestyle, something I am sure never would have happened if this beautiful white, red-eyed bunny hadn't come into my life. I love her so so so much. Happy birthday, my Diva. You mean the world to me, even if we can't be together anymore.