Tanks

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Kama

A wombat is a cross between a bulldozer and a tank. There’s even a group of young wombats here named for WW2 tanks: Sherman, Panzer, Lincoln, Abraham, Barron, and Cruiser.

Wombats use their heads like battering rams and their butts like lethal weapons, crushing the skulls of their predators against the wall of their burrows (that would be called a “bum buck”). You don’t want to mess with a fully-grown wild wombat. They’re all muscle, sturdy and squat. They’re also faster than they look. They don’t suffer fools gladly.

Nor does Donna, the founder of Sleepy Burrows. She is also super-sturdy (though much more shapely than a wombat). Good thing, because there’s a dark underbelly of caring for these furry little tanks. She regularly witnesses profoundly horrible treatment of these creatures and steps in to make things right.

She’s made of steel, but has a heart of red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

Three Signs

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Kama

On the road to Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary I saw this sign:

Upon arrival at the main gate of the sanctuary, this sign:

And soon after, the sure sign of a contented wombat—a milk-drunk grin:

Liminal

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Kama

In anthropology 101 I loved learning about liminal spaces. Liminal means in-between-ness. Times, places, and events can all be liminal. The beach is a liminal place because it’s neither land nor water (so you’re allowed to walk around in your underwear, essentially). Mardi Gras and Carnaval are liminal times; normal rules of society are suspended. April Fools Day, Halloween, Disneyland, all are liminal.

Airports are totally liminal. I feel like the whole experience of travel is liminal. You’re somewhere, but from somewhere else. You’re constantly on some sort of threshold between what was and what will be. Don’t even get me started on the International Date Line, which still confounds me.

It was a long flight. I’m still upside-down. (Although I did get two airplane seats to myself—travelers’ jackpot!)

But here’s something that made me feel right-side up just a few minutes ago—surprise notes hidden in my luggage from Luke and Janine’s girls.

By the way, Lily’s “LYMI” stands for “love you, mean it.” Nina says she hopes I see lots of animals. Me too. From the sun-dappled porch at my inn I’m hearing a kookaburra, and the innkeeper told me that tonight I’d likely see possums (the ones here are a bit more beloved than the ones in the U.S.).

Tomorrow morning I’m off to Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary, where I left a piece of my heart last year. Until the sun sets tonight, I’m going to try to stand steady at the threshold between time zones, between awake and asleep.

Hello and Goodbye, for Now

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Kama

It was a long winter. As trees blossom and bloom in Brooklyn today, I’m reminded that the last time I posted here was before the leaves turned color. So… where have I been?

In the midst of a crisis of relevance, I suppose. I admit I was getting a bit tired of the sound of my own voice.

The title of this blog also became problematic, because a significant part of the “dilemma” disappeared on January 2nd, when I stopped eating meat, even when it’s well-sourced. (I still eat fish, though rarely.) And I’m still eating eggs and dairy, so it’s not like the dilemma is actually gone. Those animals suffer in the factory farming system as much as those who are slaughtered for their flesh. My personal ethics are not consistent with my current behavior, but I’m still working on it.

The truly good news is that the Animal Welfare Committee at the co-op is finally a reality, so I’ll be able to work to help share what I’ve learned with 15,000 members.

Recently someone told me a funny joke:

Q. How can you tell when someone’s a vegetarian?
A. Because they tell you so every five minutes.

That’s why I’ve been hesitant to continue detailing my dietary practices here.

In other news, Michael “went vegan” in October. He has opted out of the animal product system entirely. It’s intense. But he found an amazing cookbook, Isa Chandra Moskowitz‘s Veganomicon, which is the best cookbook I’ve ever used. I’m also using Mark Bittman‘s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, which is almost 1000 pages and feels Biblical. I feel like I’m cooking at a whole new level. I love the food in both, and don’t feel I’m missing anything by eating mostly vegan at home (eating out is another story). Michael is thrilled by my new culinary chops.

And yet… I cannot stop eating cheese. I’m no longer drinking milk, only soy milk. And it’s usually easy enough to avoid eggs. But the cheese… oh, the cheese.

So… soon this blog will be archived within a more all-encompassing blog, kamaeinhorn.com. I’ll let you know when it’s up and running.

Thank you to everyone who read, commented, rallied, and even argued. Thank you to all my friends and family for not going all glassy-eyed when I needed to share the information I was metabolizing. You make bloggin’ fun.