Part 2
Wild Horses & Bunny Rabbits

What's this got to do with my transition 

to becoming a vegetarian? 

Let's now step back a few more years in my personal history...

At age 15, I was invited to visit my friend Lori's family friends in Northern Nevada. 

This was my first big venture from home & I really had no idea of what to expect. The trip began with Lori's older sister picking us up & driving us to our destination via her VW Bus - and not to forget a quick stop at her upstairs apartment in the Haight Ashbury District of San Francisco. She was a true flower child, as were many others during those late 1960's days. The air was filled with peace, love & hippie beads! 

During our travels, she would snack on fresh strawberries, carrot sticks, celery & dried fruits & nuts. I closely watched her & began to associate her natural beauty with the foods she was eating. Her 8-track tape player blared the sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Donovan, the Beatles, the Mamas & The Papas & Jefferson Airplane the whole way there.

On our way we also stopped for a stretch in a public park & Lori's sister stopped in a wooded area when nature called.

I can tell you that when we arrived at this ranch in Northern Nevada, I was totally unprepared for the poverty I witnessed. The screen door hung kind of crooked & creaked. Inside annoying flies bit you at their will. I'm either remembering dirt floors in some of the rooms or either really old carpets & wood flooring that didn't properly line up. If a couch could tell its story, I am sure it would include tales of all of the children growing up.

Inside the small sitting room, the furnishings were very basic, with an old piano lining one wall, and a picture of Jesus Christ on the opposite side. There was no bathroom, only an outhouse about 25-30 yards away. To reach the outhouse, you were bombarded with flying locusts with each step, & I'm not talking a few, I'm talking about swarms, hundreds that you'd have to fight through.

The parents & children were all gentile & easy to love - we bonded quickly. And talk about hard working - the males in the family literally woke up before dawn & began their work with the animals and the farming. The mother worked all day long to prepare the dinner meal from the food that they had harvested on their land.

One night the older boys invited us to go rabbit hunting with them. I thought nothing much of this - although I figured it would be exciting. Sure enough after dark we headed out in their truck with flashlights. I had never-ever witnessed stars in the night sky as bright as these before. The older boys would search the bushes with their strong flashlights. When the boys caught a rabbit's eyes in the glare, the light would hypnotize these bunnies & they couldn't move. The boys took aim & fired.

Somehow I convinced the boys to let me "help" them by holding the flashlight for them. The rabbits would freeze every time I caught a glimpse of their eyes, The boys took aim &... I shut off the flashlight.

I did this several times until the boys got a clue of what I was up to & I was returned to the house. 

The next night as usual we (about 9 of us) sat reverently at the supper table while the father offered a prayer of thanks for the bounty of food before us.

The meal was always simple - but tonight, it was different. I didn't recognize the type of stew that was being served so I made inquiry to the mother. She replied "It's rabbit stew!" My stomach began to heave. What was I to do? I didn't want to try even one bite of Hippity or Hoppity, but Lori continued to pressure me & explained that it would be rude not to accept their meal. 

I was told to try at least one bite, but I couldn't keep my mind off those darling rabbits I'd seen the night before in the bush.  

This was a long time ago, but I remember not being able to swallow even one bite of rabbit stew - I think it went into my napkin & I was eventually excused from the table.

That night I do remember sobbing to Heavenly Father, for I did not understand the necessity to kill such a beautiful living creature like the Jack Rabbit. This experience planted more seeds of thought for me, which would sprout much later.

Before I leave this section, I do want to include my great appreciation for this 3-week trip & for this family who humbly shared themselves & all they had with me. My horizons were definitely broadened, & the experiences I had helped to build my character.

During my stay, I was given a beautiful white stallion to personally ride & take care of. That horse was so tall that it had been trained to lower himself for you to more easily mount, although, I'll admit, I usually climbed on from a nearby fence. We always rode bareback, & if you burst into fits of laughter as most teenage girls do - the horse actually stopped (without command) so that instead of falling off his back, I was able to gently slide off to avoid hurting myself. I remember galloping through fields of alfalfa with my friend just for the pure enjoyment - what freedom!

I remember watching a mama cow give birth to her calf & giggled as it suckled my finger only moments after standing up on all 4's. 

And never to forget the vivid memories of the special day when we went jeeping on the back-roads of the nearby mountains. All of a sudden we were caught in the midst of a huge hail-storm & were soaked within seconds. The road was so bumpy, that I turned my head to steady myself & witnessed dozens of wild-horses running through a meadow glen in the rain, lightning & thunder - what a magnificent sight to see!    

The Original "Vegan"

Donald Watson (2 September 1910 – 16 November 2005) was founder of the Vegan Society and inventor of the word vegan.

Watson was born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, into a non-vegetarian family.  His journey to veganism began when he was very young, at the farm of his Uncle George. 

There, he says:“I was surrounded by interesting animals. They all “gave” something: the farm horse pulled the plough, the lighter horse pulled the trap, the cows “gave” milk, the hens “gave” eggs and the cockerel was a useful “alarm clock” – I didn't realize at that time that he had another function too. The sheep “gave” wool. I could never understand what the pigs “gave”, but they seemed such friendly creatures – always glad to see me.”

He realized what purpose the pigs served when he saw one slaughtered, and his life was changed.  At the age of 14, he became a vegetarian as a New Year’s resolution, and in the 1940s, after learning about milk production, he became a vegan.

The term “vegan” was coined in England by Donald Watson, his motivation was to be ethical to sentient animals:

“We can see quite plainly that our present civilization is built on the exploitation of animals, just as past civilizations were built on the exploitation of slaves, and we believe the spiritual destiny of man is such that in time he will view with abhorrence the idea that men once fed on the products of animals’ bodies.”

In 1944 he and some friends founded the Vegan Society. Someone in the group would have come up with a word to describe their diets, he believes, but he suggested “vegan,” using the first three and last two letters of “vegetarian.” It was “the beginning and end of vegetarian,” and it stuck.

At the age of 95, Watson died in his home in northern England.

"Donald Watson." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 3 December 2012. Web. 27 December 2012 < http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Donald_Watson&oldid=526203852> 

Original link from Invercargill Vegan Society, New Zealand.
http://www.invsoc.org.nz/

My Vegetarian Story is catching on. 

If you are a vegan or vegetarian, I'd love to read your conversion story. The most interesting ones will be posted at MyVegetarianStory.blogspot.com.

Please limit your personal stories to 1-3 pages. 

Also, a copyrighted book is in the works of the same name. If your story is chosen for the book & the book sales fly, then yes, you will receive a portion of the pie.

Please understand I am a natural editor, so your work may be edited, mostly grammar or spelling - & only if necessary.

I will accept only G-rated stories - as this will be a site for youth too. 

Please email me at myvegetarianstory@gmail.com.  

Part 1
My Conversion Story... to vegetarianism

I understand that all vegetarians have a conversion story - but all are unique and I thought, you'd might enjoy reading mine.

Here's my Reader's Digest version:

How thrilled I was to hear these words - "You're Hired!" At 15 1/2 years of age I ventured into the commercial world of small business to locate my 1st part-time job. After visiting several shops, I was hired on the spot at a local Fish 'n' Chips shop in Southern California.

Leftovers at the end of the night was a bonus. Bringing home a bag of battered cod & French fries (chips) was more typical than unusual. And how I loved dousing the food with English malt vinegar!

Never really acquiring the necessary skill to slicing the cod in the particular required wedge shape, I earned my wages from cutting & frying the potatoes & serving our customers. I worked this job for about two years - until graduation from high school at the age of 17 1/2. During this two-year period, I saved about half of the money I had earned.

In both middle school & high school my favorite activities were to listen to local rock bands - we had our share of talent. So choosing to take a 3-week holiday in Great Britain was fitting. This was my 2nd get-away from family, & I began this adventure with one of my best friends.

This was definitely an adventure for us: from arriving the first night in London with a bad case of jet lag, to figuring out how to use those red-box telephones, to having to adjust our hearing in order to understand the local vernacular were only the tip-of-the-iceberg.  We visited the hillsides of England, met, had tea with & went rowing with members of the Incredible String Band on their loch in Scotland, stayed at a hostel in Ireland, which was a castle & much, much more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOyiDIUhbAE
"Painting Box" by the Incredible String Band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W3STP9M_YI
"Jigs" played by the Incredible String Band

Almost every night on the way to a music club, Shari & I would find a small fish & chip's shop, usually located right next to a tube (underground subway) station - they were plentiful. We were satisfied.

During the day I would usually grab a small bagful of trail mix, which was conveniently offered right at the tube stations. They had huge wooden barrels of individual raw or roasted nuts, Brazil, cashews & almonds, & other barrels were filled with  mixtures of raisins, currents, dates, figs & nuts.

We ventured to Petticoat Lane & Portobello Road every week. Those streets were filled with music, entertainment & Jamaican whole-food bakeries.  The bakeries offered the most delicious dishes of sweet potatoes & special bean wraps. The owner & staff were lively & friendly - I enjoyed the atmosphere there. Also, I ventured to health-food stores. I noticed very healthy - attractive young folks who worked there. They had a special glow about them.

For one of our last nights in London, Shari & I decided we wanted to go out & have a meat meal. We ventured into a restaurant that offered steak.  We both took one bite & oh my gosh - what was this??? Truly this wasn't meat. We never asked, but left our uneaten meal & the restaurant early that night.

When I returned back to the mainland, more specific, to my parent's house, I realized that I didn't have to eat like my parents any longer. I began to visit health-food stores, read natural food books and tried new foods. I began eating granola with organic milk, fresh fruit & cottage cheese, bean burritos, and meatless tacos. I was changing. My parents did not mind, they seemed to understand me.

After almost 2 years of college, I decided that I wasn't quite ready for college life at this California State College - life was too strange. Folks were smoking weed on the quad & my French professor, who wore an 8-inch handlebar mustache was having an affair with this sweet-young-thing in the classroom. I decided it was time again to take flight.

My boyfriend Steve ran Cheap Tickets for college students to Europe, so I bought myself a ticket on Friday & was off to Amsterdam the following Monday morning.

Since these are supposed to be my vegetarian memoirs, I'll try to stick to the subject & have to share my other adventures at another time.  So, to make a long story shorter, more meals of trail mix, fish & chips, more visits to health-food stores & shops, more affiliations with vegetarians & back-pack travelers, which I was one.

During my 2nd trip to Europe, I worked in London at Covent Garden Market, where flowers are received & shipped all over the world. Many a lunch was a fried egg sandwich from a local diner.  

Life on the island of Crete was easy living, especially while camping on the beach. I learned to create a simple breakfast by cooking oatmeal over a Sterno.  For variety, I would add raisins, peanuts &/or sometimes apple. Cleaning the pot was always fun as wet sand was my scrubber & I'd rinse it clean in the water gauging the coming & goings of each wave. 

I would enjoy the freshly baked loaves from the Greek bakeries. In the marketplace, you were offered freshly-squeezed orange juice & hummus wraps; at restaurants, you were offered Mediterranean dishes of rice & vegetables rolled in grape leaves.

Living near the ocean with the temps sometimes exceeding 100 degrees, your life & diet became simplified.

Vai on Crete - my favorite hang-out.
When I was there in 1972 & '73, it was pretty much deserted, so please imagine an empty beach.
I learned decades later that Paul, Jesus' disciple used this port on his missionary travels.
Picture taken by: Naamsvermelding vereist   

Eventually, I returned to the states to earn more money to fund my 3rd trip. A year later, I traveled again to London & Crete, but also to Switzerland, Germany, thru Yugoslavia, Turkey & Bulgaria to reach the Promised Land. There I lived on a Kibbutz - my job was to trim grapefruit trees.

Generally speaking as a backpacker & one who visited many youth hostels, we feasted on simple foods, usually raw foods, plus of course, bread & local cheese was a staple. Eating simply translated financially into longer stays in Europe.

I do remember one young German couple, also travelers. The young woman had a natural beauty - I watched her eat yogurt & an apple for breakfast. At night she would prepare a meal of rice & beans for herself & her mate.

Another traveler taught me the most delicious & simple stir-fry: saute shredded zuchinni & onions in butter - topped with Parmesan cheese - delicious.     

Youth Hostel on Crete
When I stayed here, the hostel was only one building.

On the last night of this trip, I was in Germany (as I was flying out the next day from the Frankfurt Airport)), my friend took me to his favorite knockwurst restaurant. By the time I arrived back to his place, I was hurling my dinner back to Mother Earth. I vaguely remember reading a novel, which vividly described food preparation for non-vegetarians. My visuals were strong & intense, & I could not keep my dinner down no matter how hard I tried.

The next day I was coming down an escalator in the Frankfort Airport. I looked at my ticket & it read November 14th. Hmmm I thought, this date seems familiar & then the light went on - it was my birthday!!! I was turning 21 years old. I thought to myself - I should make this day momentous & declared - "On this day forward, I pledge to be a vegetarian." That was approximately 38 years ago.   

***More to come...