Keira-anne.com

I had a dream a few nights ago.

Photo: gcraig3si on Flickr

I was alone by myself in a tiny villa, not far from the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was the middle of the night and everything outside was blacker than ink. Desperately wanting to take pictures of the summit against a blanket of stars, I ventured outside and started snapping.

Out of the night a tiger came up behind me. Instead of attacking, he nuzzled my hand much like a domestic cat. The tiger just wanted affection. What was more apparent to me than any other element to my dream was the sense of peace that prevailed.

Photo: Markies on Flickr

Photo: Dennis Leidelmeijer on Flickr

As a child, my family never, ever went on distant vacations so I had never been bitten by the “travel bug.” Aside from New York City, no place around the globe has ever drawn me. That is, however, until now.

I must go.

Photo: Randy OHC on Flickr

Photo: Dennis Leidelmeijer on Flickr

I’ve been researching, calculating a budget and even consulting with those that have been or have lived there. 2011 will be the soonest this venture will happen. While I would like to spend time in Kenya and Tanzania to see Mt. Kilimanjaro, I’m also drawn to South Africa, namely the area around Durban.

Photo: Randy OHC on Flickr

Photo: Dennis Leidelmeijer on Flickr

Simply watching a scenic program on PBS or the National Geographic channel cannot replace the experience. I have no doubt that to go and to come face-to-face with such majesty will be something to last a lifetime.

Photo: Dallas75 on Flickr

Photo: Randy OHC on Flickr

If you’ve been or are planning on going, any thoughts and insight would definitely stoke my fire. However, spare me the basic facts on the intense political climate in many areas – to ignore such a factor would be ignorance on my part and I haven’t overlooked it.

Right now, I’m still dreaming…

Photo: Randy OHC on Flickr

(And yes, I realize tigers do not exist in the wild in Africa; I presume it was just a symbolic element to the dream I had.)

Today is a very special day.

My lovable, sweet-as-pie, kind-as-candy and darling friend Ashley is celebrating her birthday.

Friends for nearly a decade, there aren’t a lot of adventures we haven’t been on. We’ve ridden roller coasters, drank wine stashed in thermoses in the park, soaked in the Banff hot springs in matching bikinis, eaten most likely litres of Island Farms ice cream, talked under the stars, clung to each other during horror films and consumed our combined weight in Cupcakes. Ashley has even been a motherly hand to hold at the dentist’s office when I got an abscess on vacation.

What I love most about my “sister” – besides our uncanny knack to dress alike without even planning on it – is her unconditional love. No matter how different our viewpoints or opinions or thoughts are, she’s always there to love and respect me. Ashley is one of the few people I can be my true self with because she does not judge.

Vicious beatings, crude instruments for prodding, verbal degradation, humiliation, chains and cuffs and megalomaniacal antagonists. While all of these sound like key elements from your humble narrator’s favourite Rob Zombie flick, they’re a part of everyday life for elephants in the Ringling Bros. Circus.

Last week PETA released the “fruits” of months of intense undercover investigation behind the largest and oldest traveling circus in the United States. Disturbing video footage screams loud and clear the heinous accounts of blatant animal abuse perpetrated against these gentle giants.

Former Jackass and circus entertainer, Steve-O, recently teamed up with PETA in this video to speak out against these crimes. If you can get past his silly laughter, he does make some good points.

A formal complaint has now been filed with the United States Department of Agriculture and all evidence collected has been submitted. It’s my hope that the beatings will stop and the elephants (and other animals) will instead be sent to sanctuaries to enjoy the rest of their lives in peace. If you’d like to lend your voice to the cause, please click here to easily send an e-mail to the USDA’s Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas J. Vilsack.

The other day, as I spooned myself a bowlful of yogurt with lunch, I decided to check out the ingredient list out of curiosity. I always like to know how much sugar I’m consuming. To my surprise, I discovered that my beloved Island Farms yogurt contains gelatin. After a quick e-mail to them, followed by a prompt and pleasant reply, I was happy to learn that a new line of 2% Pro-Plus yogurt was being introduced to the Island Farms family – and it’s gelatin-free! And not only that, Island Farms confirmed to me that all their ice cream is also gelatin-free. Phewf!

However, my discovery prompted me to do some further research into animal by-products in food. Imagine my upset over learning not only what rennet is, but also that it’s used in many, many cheeses to coagulate the milk.

What is rennet? A complex of enzymes derived from the inner stomach of baby calves and is therefore a by-product of the cattle slaughter industry.

Dried and cleaned stomachs of young calves are sliced into small pieces and then put into saltwater or whey, together with some vinegar or wine to lower the pH of the solution. After some time (overnight or several days), the solution is filtered. The crude rennet that remains in the filtered solution can then be used to coagulate milk. About 1 gram of this solution can normally coagulate 2000 to 4000 grams of milk. Today this method is used only by traditional cheese-makers in central Europe: Switzerland, Jura, France, Romania, and Alp-Sennereien in Austria.

Most hard cheeses, such as cheddar and Monterey Jack, list rennet as a key ingredient. Though thankfully, most varieties of mozzarella, brie (including Little Qualicum Cheeseworks’ brie), goat cheese, cream cheese, cottage cheese, etc. is made without rennet. And further, many cheeses are now offered with a vegetarian-based coagulate. Read your labels, kids.

Lucky for me, all this means is being much more conscious about my grocery shopping selections instead of foregoing cheese altogether.

This article was originally featured on Miss604.com as a guest post during Blogathon 2009 on Saturday, July 25.

There are few Canadian artists as iconic as Emily Carr. Known around the world for her eerily beautiful expressionist paintings that depict the Canadian West Coast, Emily Carr has become a pressing influence on today’s artists and how we view Canadian art today. Her striking pieces infused with bold colour are so uniquely her own, it’s easy to spot a Carr when you see one.

Photo: Victoria Lodging

What few people may know about Ms. Carr is that she was actually born on Vancouver Island in 1871, the daughter of English parents and the youngest in her family with eight older siblings. You can still visit the home in which Emily Carr was born, located at 207 Government Street in Victoria (behind the Parliament building). Shunning tradition, Ms. Carr’s passion was her art and her writing, and it was those two mediums that she designed her whole life around.

Though partially self-taught and partially encouraged by her father, Emily Carr also devoted a great deal of time to her artistic education. Initially she attended art school in San Francisco, California, but a desire to further her creativity led her to study in Paris and London as well before permanently settling in Canada.

Photo: Virtual Museum

With the mention of Ms. Carr’s name, most people will associate her with her vast collection of paintings representing British Columbia landscapes as well as First Nations villages and the abundant forests that call BC home. An animal lover, Emily Carr was no stranger to Vancouver Island’s west coast, making frequent trips to Ucluelet – many of her earliest sketches and paintings are of this area. Though her homebase was always Victoria, Ms. Carr also spent a great deal of time in the Queen Charlotte Islands and on Moresby Island. Her last trip up north was in the summer of 1928.

Photo: Wholesale Oil Painting

Following a stroke in 1939, Emily Carr’s ability to paint was deeply affected, and it was then that her writing became her prominent creative outlet. Ms. Carr’s first book was published in 1941. Her writing was widely well received and she was to receive an honourary doctorate from the University of British Columbia. Sadly Emily Carr passed away in the spring of 1945 shortly prior to this award.

In her death, Emily Carr and her incredible work are celebrated and admired. In a time when convention was everything, Ms. Carr carved her own path in life and held on to her independence. She is seen by some as one of the very first pioneers of the women’s liberation movement. As such, Emily Carr has had several Canadian schools and libraries named in her honour, as well as Vancouver’s famous Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design on Granville Island. Today, her work is undoubtedly held in high esteem with most pieces selling for six figures. More recently, an unnamed buyer purchased one of her paintings for a record-shattering $2.16 million!

To view more of Emily Carr’s stunning paintings online, please visit Emily Carr At Home and At Work. If you’d like to see Emily Carr’s work with your own eyes, consider a trip to the Vancouver Art Gallery which regularly houses a large number from her collection.

I adore lazy Sundays, and Jordy was kind enough to let me sleep until 9:30 this morning. Most of today we’ve spent in front of the TV, escaping the heat. The weekend’s highlight was definitely making the trip yesterday to Gastown to visit Rebecca, Duane and others as they blogged for 24 hours straight to raise money for their respective charities. Congratulations to all of you tireless bloggers and a huge thanks to all that donated!

It seems that Jordy became the unofficial mascot – at least for the afternoon – and had his photo snapped a number of times…

Photo: TylerIngram on Flickr

Photo: Miss604 on Flickr

Photo: tris on Flickr

John Biehler and Duane both took some great shots that aren’t yet uploaded, but I’ll definitely post them as soon as I can!

In the meantime, my mom has been babysitting Sienna since last night and enjoying “Oma Time,” so she spent some time in the backyard with the cutest little girl in the world. Charley has taken an undeniable liking to Sienna, and I have no doubt the two will grow up to be peas in a pod.

How did you spend your weekend?

With soaring temperatures, the idea of snow seems entirely foreign on the cusp of August. However, amongst busy days of mountain biking, beer festivals and sun-kissed views from the top, the crew at Mount Washington Alpine Resort have already put on their thinking toques to gear up for the 2009/2010 ski and snowboard season.

Photo: Mount Washington Alpine Resort

Season passes went on sale last week and if you purchase yours before Friday, July 31, 2009 – one week from today – you’ll be entered into a contest with some not-so-chintzy prizes. The winner of the initial draw at the end of July will have the entire cost of their pass purchase reimbursed (who doesn’t like to ride for free?) with subsequent draws at the end of August and on September 15.

The winner of the August draw will be treated to a weekend getaway at Middle Beach Lodge in Tofino (where my mom and I will be staying). A golf package from Crown Isle Resort, the Pacific Mist Hydropath at the Kingfisher Spa, and Mount Washington gift cards make up the third and final prize draw in September.

The resort has re-vamped season passes for the 2009/2010 season and is now offered a tiered system of Gold, Silver and Bronze. The Bronze pass is a traditional mid-week pass that includes mid-week nordic skiing, mid-week night skiing and weekend skiing in April. Silver passholders will be entitled to the traditional any day, anytime pass. Gold girls and boys (and men and women) will enjoy the added benefits of food and beverage discounts, retail discounts, and free hot waxes in addition to mile-high lift access during the summer in 2010.

For more information on season passes and how you can get your hot little mitts on one, visit the resort’s website or call the mountain toll-free at 1-888-231-1499.

Two weeks from today, I’ll be waking up to this…

Photo: Magnus. on Flickr

Months ago my mom and I decided that, instead of heading to Hornby Island this summer, we’d head to Tofino. Believe it or not, despite the fact that she’s lived on Vancouver Island since the mid-1960s, my mom has never been. Ucluelet, yes; Tofino, no. We booked one of the gorgeous beachfront suites at Middle Beach Lodge and will spend three days dining, exploring, sunbathing, drinking Island wine, surfing (well, I will), wandering and snapping photos. And no, I do not plan on bringing my MacBookPro. Pictures will come after.

I look forward to my summer holidays every single year, and they’ll start at 3:00 p.m. on July 31. As usual, I’ll be heading home to Vancouver Island to spend time relaxing out of the city. However, unlike last summer, this one will be filled with family and I am beyond excited to spend time with my incredibly adorable niece.

Not only that, but I have so much else to look forward to such as the annual Filberg Festival, BBQing, running on the beach with Jordy and Charley, dragging my mom to Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, sleeping in, short jean shorts every single day, gathering tasty goods at the Coombs Old Country Market, tanning my legs (finally!), Nautical Days at the Comox Marina and whatever other fun surprises pop up along the way.

Now that July is running out and our summers are half over, what are you looking forward to doing in August?

This past Sunday was our third anniversary. Jordy and I have spent the last three months together, though it actually feels more like three years. I was forewarned of his potential issues, but my little Mango Monkey (he gets that nickname based on the way he smells after a bath) has done nothing short of constantly amaze me with his resiliency and ability to adapt.

The best part of it all is seeing his true personality start to shine now that he’s become truly comfortable with his “mommy”. Jordy loves to wake me up just moments before my alarm with a few kisses and some burrowing under my pillow. He truly loves to cuddle. Surprisingly, he does well with kids and is even gentle with sweet Sienna-bear. Jordy can’t get enough peanut butter and knows the Jif jar when I bring it out of the cupboard without a word. The little guy plays somethin’ fierce with his squeaky toys and shows no shame in farting around me – a lot.

Few people know this about him, but sadly, his first owner had him de-barked as a very young puppy. The sounds he made when he first came into my home were nothing above a whimper, but now he really tries to communicate with his voice and he’s built up quite a sound for himself. It’s my hope that he’ll learn to truly bark once again.

And lastly, if you’ve met Jordy, you know he’s an introverted dog. He’s not afraid of other dogs, but initially he never, ever interacted with them. We’ve been visiting dog parks several times a week and even found one that tends to be frequented by other pomeranians. Very cautiously he’s beginning to leave my side to go and interact, and I have no doubt he’ll be running and rolling on the grass with the rest of them in no time!

I can’t even begin to tell you how much joy he brings into my life on a daily basis and how lucky I feel to have found him. Check out Jordy’s set on Flickr for more pictures snapped last night at the park.

“When a man wantonly destroys one of the works of man we call him a vandal. When he destroys one of the works of God we call him a sportsman.” – Joseph Wood Krutch, Literary Naturalist, 1893-1970

Some people seem somewhat shocked initially. Others are in disbelief and others still feel it necessary to dish out mild jabs in good fun. While at the same time, some people have simply exclaimed “finally! I was wondering how long it would take you…”

While I previously went through a two-year period of vegetarianism when I last lived on Vancouver Island, I had long been a big fan of meat. I loved eating it, cooking with it, creating new recipes with it, smelling it as it baked or broiled or barbecued. April 12, 2009 was the last time I ate meat.

A little over three months without meat seems like a short time for most and, while some may doubt the genuine intent behind my decision to cut meat entirely from my diet, that time is irrelevant. I’m still new to this “vegetarian thing” and know that there’s still a lot to learn. I’m constantly educating myself, researching the lifestyle I’ve undertaken and finding new recipes and ways at which to keep myself healthy without eating meat. My choice didn’t come about because I decided it suddenly tasted “gross”. In fact, my diet still includes eggs and dairy products from humanely-obtained local sources.

With so many questions being bounced around between my family, my friends and even my blog readers, I’ve felt the time is right to deliver my vegetarian’s manifesto, if you will. I can’t necessarily pinpoint the “how” but I can definitely articulate and expand on the “why”.

It’s no secret that I’ve long been a lover of animals. This includes everything from cats to dogs to chickens to birds to whales and every other living, breathing creature under the sun. To me, they have always been beautiful, abundant and gentle beings, each possessing somewhat of an innocence that we humans dropped along the way at some point. What was missing in my own life in this regard was a connection.

There was no particular incident that spurred on my decision to shed animals from my diet, my make-up bag or my closet. I know that I can honestly say that, although it may have been an idea floating in the furthest reaches of my subconscious, I truly did wake up one day and realized my perception had changed entirely.

It was Easter Sunday and my mom was out of town, so my aunt and I were left to our own devices for dinner. Rather than cooking a large turkey for the two of us, I found a recipe for Cornish game hens and planned for that instead. Easter Sunday was also the day I decided I was done. I carefully prepared the meal, as well as the vegetables to go along with it, and then sat at the dinner table with my aunt that evening. “Today is the last day I’m going to eat meat,” I told her without batting an eyelash. It was simply that matter-of-fact.

What caused that connection or that proverbial light bulb to illuminate is beyond me, but perhaps it was simply an inevitable culmination of my personal beliefs. If I love animals as much as I purport to, then why do I have no problem at all throwing parts of their carcasses on a grill or in a pan and proceed to devour them?

This is where the problem lies: animals are living, humourous, loving, emotional, intelligent beings that eat, breathe, sleep, feel, think and move. Food, on the other hand, is completely inanimate. A hot dog just sits on your plate without movement or sound. The only thing meat will do if you leave it long enough is decay. But making the connection between the living and the non-living isn’t easy. What joins the two usually involves a sharp blade, inhumane treatment and much pain.

It isn’t my endeavour to shock each of you through facts or unbelievably disturbing details of how the animals make it from the farm to the plate. Many of you have seen the PETA videos while others still may have witnessed it first-hand.

It’s my belief, as a woman and an individual human being, that we are all here on the planet by the design of something greater than all of us. Animals have personalities and feel, experience and understand many of the same quotients and emotions we humans do. If you have met Jordy, you know what I’m talking about! We are all species and none of us can say that one is greater than the other. Animals feel physical pain, experience the emotion of fear and feel the natural urge to flee when threatened just as you or I do.

Something as simple as a backyard BBQ with family is deemed more valuable than the life of the pig whose ribs are being devoured. Dispute that if you will, but actions always speak volumes above words. Last month, an Oklahoma woman and her friend were charged with killing and skinning a seven-week-old puppy with the intent to make a belt [source]. While the community was outraged, I couldn’t help but wonder how this was deemed to be a “despicable” case of animal cruelty, yet if the belt had been made of a cow, it would be okay. Something doesn’t add up.

I’ve heard a million arguments made to justify the consumption of meat. While some will say that the production of meat is actually good for the environment and the economy, others still will tell tales of the astronomical impact it has on the global environment. The point can also be attempted that eating vegetables is also killing living things, but it is scientific fact that plants do not possess both the central nervous system and brain required to feel and register pain [source]. But instead of respecting these beings, we assume we own them by locking them up in zoos, keeping them confined to large tanks at city aquariums and corralling them until they’re ripe for slaughter.

All of that is besides my point. The irony is that humans take such pride in being a group of beings so incredibly evolved as a species that our lives are seemingly worth more than those of animals. Yet, we rely on the idea that eating meat is our primitive right.

The truth about us humans is that yes – we are evolved; so much so that we no are longer required to consume meat to ensure a balanced diet and live a healthy and wholesome lifestyle. While at one point in time, eating meat and testing on animals may have been essential, it’s no longer necessary. Technology has moved us past that, and the choice to eat an animal is no longer premised on a need but instead on desire.

Very recently, I was discussing the beauty and gentle nature of cows with someone close to me. “I love cows too but I could never look one in the eyes – I’d just feel too guilty!” was what they told me. That, right there, is precisely the reason for my choice. I can no longer look at what is literally staring me in the face and deny it any longer.

I have made a decision and declaration to live a vegetarian lifestyle. I now make every single effort possible to use products that have not been tested on animals. No longer will items purchased for my wardrobe be made of leather products. By making these choices I am not claiming to be perfect, just as I do not attempt to describe those that eat meat as imperfect.

However, no matter what kind of argument anyone attempts to make against my choice, there can be no argument against compassion. There can be no argument against equality or love. I believe that every living being, whether toes, heels or hooves, has the exact same right to live a normal, happy and healthy life.

In 2007, Academy Award winner (and bonafide babe) Joaquin Phoenix passionately contributed to a film called Earthlings. It is as incredible as it is intense. In it, he points out the direct correlation between all of the Earth’s species and their individual values. While containing compiled videos that are not isolated events, but instead the norm, Earthlings is perhaps the most violent and graphic film you will ever see. Except it’s real.

Earthlings can be viewed online in its entirety here.

Comments and contributions to the discussion are both welcome and encouraged. In doing so, pleasure ensure that you’ve read this article in its entirety before doing so. All opinions are to be respected, and comments of a belligerent or abusive nature will be deleted after the IP address is flagged.

While there is close to 600 species of wildlife in Canada that are currently endangered, the single most endangered of them all can be found only on Vancouver Island. Appropriately named, the Vancouver Island marmot’s (Marmota vancouverensis) population has dwindled from over 300 in the mid-80s to only about 25 remaining in the wilds of the Island’s mountain range as of 2001. While logging has certainly created an impact, cougars, wolves and eagles are the primary culprits to the demise of the Vancouver Island marmot’s numbers

Photo: mattdil on Flickr (used with permission)

While there are more than a dozen varieties of the marmot all over the world, the Vancouver Island marmot is truly unique. They are easily distinguishable by their chocolate brown-coloured fur with white patches and are the only species of marmot found on the Island. Because the Vancouver Island marmot whistles when it’s in danger, the species are also known as “whistle pigs”.

Photo: mattdil on Flickr
(used with permission)

The mountain ranges that run along Vancouver Island’s spine provide an environment full of sub-alpine meadows. Since the Vancouver Island marmot lives in neither forests nor on mountaintops, meadows provide enough space to burrow for protection, as well as forage for the more than 50 different kinds of plants and wild flowers that this vegan species is known to eat.

Adult marmots tip the scales somewhere around 12 pounds, so while larger than squirrels, they’re smaller than your average house cat. However, much like squirrels, the Vancouver Island marmot’s covered with thick hair and a fluffy tail, making them appear much larger than they really are. Like many animals of Canada’s wild, the Vancouver Island marmot hibernates for almost two-thirds of the year, emerging in late April or early May to reproduce. Most litters are born during the month of July, producing three or four new pups.

Photo: mattdil on Flickr (used with permission)

Despite its critically endangered status, a number of initiatives have been taken to preserve the current population while encouraging it to swell back up to the numbers seen over 30 years ago. While some Vancouver Island marmots have been bred in conservation centres across Canada to be released back into the wild, more is being done directly on Vancouver Island to further this plan.

The BC government appointed The Recovery Team, a group of scientists and wildlife managers from government, industry and non-governmental organizations, to develop and implement an intensive program. In 1998, the Tony Barrett Mount Washington Marmot Recovery Centre was established to reach the goal of 400-600 marmots in the wild. Today the population is on its way, having been brought back up to over 100.

Photo: newmajen on Flickr

For more information on the Vancouver Island Marmot – and to find out how you can help support The Recovery Team – visit Marmots online. And remember, when encountering a Vancouver Island marmot in the wild (which isn’t unheard of during the summer months), you’re in their home and not the other way around. Keep quiet, keep your distance and respect their habitat. Don’t forget to take your garbage with you.