A and I have a tradition (are traditions made in three years?) of spending the Saturday before Thanksgiving at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary for their annual event, Thanksgiving with the Turkeys. There is something really wonderful about spending a day with a couple hundred people who come together to celebrate the wonder of animals and to eat amazing vegan food together.
Simon is a particularly cuddly chicken who prefers laps to the ground. I held him last year, and this year I noticed that he was purring (in a chicken sort of way) while I was holding him.
Yes, folks, it was cold today. Yesterday I bought long underwear just to make sure I'd be okay. I didn't want to miss this just because it was going to be cold.
He fell asleep in A's arms:
You can't see that his eyes are closed in this picture, but they are. He was purring for her, too.
and here he is in all of his regal beauty:
He's a lap chicken! What can I say? Chickens are really wonderful when you get to know them. As are all animals.
Ah... but here come the guests of honor:
They are all rescue turkeys. Three of them were rescued by the Humane Society when they were found outside a restaurant being fattened up for dinner. Fortunately for the turkeys, as we were told today, it's illegal to have live poultry in the city of Washington, D.C. They now live free of fear of being someone's idea of thankfulness, lying dead and cooked on someone's table.
Here they are, having their own feast:
After everyone watched them eat for awhile, we enjoyed an amazing vegan potluck. Afterwards, the pumpkins that were placed by each table became dessert for the pigs.
We decided to begin sponsoring one of the pigs. Pigs are amazing. I don't know how people eat them.
A great day.
