A girl in Vermont

It's been a while...Blaise and I are in Vermont, and I'm trying to get accustomed to this new life of leisure. It has been quite a transition: from being busy all the time, to not being busy at all; from working hard physically, to not getting a lot of exercise; from having this huge commitment/presence/meaning in my life that is quite suddenly gone, and after the initial joy of leaving that part of my life behind, I'm feeling its loss. Not to say I regret my decision--I have no regrets, but I miss being involved in something I care a lot about. And I miss Misty. I try to get involved in the camp life as much as I feel comfortable doing, but thus far, I feel pretty nervous around the kids. They are pretty foreign to me, and since I have an undefined role at camp, it makes it difficult to start our relationship somewhere. I think they see me as that random girl that is sometimes around. And yet, I must remember, it is only the fourth day, but one day feels like a week here.

But Vermont is beautiful, and I love working on my vet school applications. I never would have guessed I would enjoy studying for the GREs; I think the academic in me is resurfacing.

Have also been pouring through books, so I welcome any reading suggestions...I love everything.

Will try and post some pictures soon, Mom :)

shadow and tarra

Shadow, my neighbor's black cat, is a frequent visitor to our porch. For a Hohenwalder, my neighbor is pretty liberal and is always busy working with the high school color guard, or hosting a women's dinner party at her house, or getting together donations for hurricane victims. She cares about Shadow but does not have the funds to provide him with medical care. In the past couple of months, he has lost a drastic amount of weight and has been consistently losing fights with other stray cats around our apartments. He's covered in scratches and wounds. He's not healthy, and she asked me to take him to our local vet tomorrow. Of course I accepted; I want to help him, but if he has feline leukemia (which is likely) or another debilitating, uncurable disease, she wants me to make the decision about what to do for him, for example euthanasia. I care about him, but this should not be my decision. His own family should make that decision, and be there for him--I cannot.

So this got me thinking about people who decide to take care of animals. It angers me when people take in a pet and deny the responsibilty that that encompasses. They believe that providing them with food and water is enough. I understand that my neighbor cannot financially provide more than that for him, but it is unfair to Shadow and wrong to handover decisions regarding his life to another person. Especially when she does so without really asking me; she has a way of just laying these decisions on me assuming I will accept. It's unfair to both Shadow and me.
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But on a happier note, I am going to work at the new asian elephant barn today, where the girls have made it to the lakeland--a property including 2700 acres of land and a 25 acre lake. Happy happy girls. Here's Tarra:

not all who wander are lost

Today I am a woman of leisure. For the first time in over a year, I feel like I have the time/energy to do good things for myself. I'm savoring this Lydia time, time to be with myself and be thankful for this journey I have emerged from. I'm spending time with friends, sleeping in (sort of--my body is still on Sanctuary time), relishing in the idea that I have spent the last almost 2 years of my life completely devoted to something I believe in, but now it is time to bring a little more balance back to my life.

The Sanctuary will always be a part of me and my convictions about animal welfare, which are a huge part of who I am, but there are also other parts of me that have been neglected.

Here's to what's next.....

And here's to the man who helped me get here.....

let the wind blow our wandering hearts

I am a free woman. I have just been through a difficult time and have emerged from it stronger and happier than before. I am moving on.