Swimming with Dolphins

I think I posted several things on social media about how people don't take care of the environment, or how they don't do enough meatless Mondays or Thursdays or save meat for one meal a week, and make it last. Like a baked chicken on Sunday, leftovers casserole on Monday, sandwiches on Tuesday, and salad Wesnesday.

 Can a family of four make one chicken go for four days? I'm pretty sure that it can be done. 

Then there is the trash thing. Once not too long ago I was turned away at the recycling center because I hadn't cleaned out my milk cartons. The guy didn't even consider helping me to get out my water bottles and boxes. I was so mad I threw away what I proudly and dedicatingly hoarded for two whole weeks!

I've been a pretty good recycler for years now. Never was I asked to clean things until now. I'm doing it, but begrudgingly. And I'm only sort of doing it, too.

Maybe it will be 9 years I've been recycling. I lived in a small town then that had a place to drop off near my house where I could go and separate things easily into three different dumpsters. Mostly plastic, but I realized that of all the people on the street where I lived, our trash was always very low. I was proud of that.

And I am glad that we eat less meat now. I have known people who are avid vegetarians, and I even argued with them about the necessity of meat in our diets. But I have also seen things.

In college I took an art class that assigned Sue Coe to me for a project. I had a picture on my wall of hers for years that I loved, I think it's probably tucked away somewhere. She is an animal rights activist. Her work succeeded in opening my eyes to the mistreatment of animals in slaughter houses. It's taken me years to come around. Admittedly, it is somewhat forced. But I have grown to appreciate the attitude of protection some few kind souls have comitted themselves to, for animals.

I was laying in bed this morning remembering this trip I went on when I was a kid. I always had a really great time visiting my dad. I have amazing memories of the rural area outside Memphis where my brother and his friends took me on adventures through country, in cow pastures and on the backs of farms where the land owners didn't know we sat and talked.

One summer we took a trip to Florida. We visited my dad's friend who was renting a home on a Bayou. My brother and I, still young teenagers, were able to take a canoe from the house out into the gulf or ocean. And we learned how, as they'd gathered sand dollars and dried them, the animals skeletons were the shells. We painted them. 

The friend was dating an art dealer who sold prints of George Rodrigue, and I had gotten the idea from them I'd become an artist.  She was from Lousiana, where Rodrigue was from, and she came over and cooked us a wonderful cajun meal. I'd never eaten cajun before.

They had two boats, the little canoe, or row boat, and another motor boat. And this was what I had remembered this morning. The boat running out of gas in the harbor. The adults had to climb out and pull us to shore, swimming with a rope attached to the boat.

I remember that dolphins or porpoises came up to us, and I was sort of remiss about the beauty of their being there. I may have been spoiled, I thought, since you can see a dolphin or porpoise in the zoo.

And how gross is that? Isn't it so much lovelier to see them free? When we see a deer, in the city especially, do we not still become excited? But nothing for these giant fish that are smart and friendly? Incredible.

In the future, I hope we might let animals be free, and have more nature preserves. And composting seems inevitable, but for now is being put off to prove how incompetent our leaders are. I hope people can become kind about animals, even if it means admitting we are wrong. Being selfish isnt a crime, until it is. I think we're there.