A Final Farewell

So in all my years of raising and showing livestock and rabbits, I rarely got attached to them. I cried over my first few animals which is kind of expected in junior livestock, but It was a rare occasion where I ended up crying when I sold my animals. There were a few exceptions Oliver, my first real "show steer", he was soft and had a lot of hair, but it wasn't his looks that made him different than all the others it was his demeanor. I had some pretty crazy steers, ones that needed to be shown will nose bugs, ones that kicked at you when you went into their pens, but Oliver wasn't like that he was like a giant teddy bear. I could walk up to him and pet him and comb him. When we we're at long shows I used to lay down in the shaving near his head and it would seem as though he was trying to hug me with his head. When I would show him he knew exactly where to place his legs so that I wouldn't have to move them but a little. He was the only steer that I won with. He won Reserve Supreme Champion at our county fair (second place out of all the steers.) I didn't cry when I put Oliver on the truck because I knew that was what he was raised for the whole time but a few days later the day that he was harvested I woke and just knew that it was the day and cried and was upset for days. One of my best friends had just left me forever, I guess somewhere between the countless hours I spent with him he stopped becoming a market project and became a pet. I will never forget him because he was the only steer that meant anything to me.

Now I'm sure Oliver's story seems pointless as it was in the past but I promise I will get to the point in the end.

I started raising rabbits because I had a teacher who saw an opportunity to get me to try something new. When I did and went to my first show after only a few weeks of practicing and beat everyone I was competing with who had been practicing for months, my teacher realized that showing rabbits came naturally to me. I bought a rabbit and unfortunately within a week she got out and my dog got to her. I got a pair of rabbits and the dog unfortunately got to another one, well we had a third rabbit and she unfortunately broke her spine. That's when we stopped naming the does Juliet (it's bad luck I swear don't name a pair of animals Romeo and Juliet). I got another rabbit and then we ended up with a bunch of rabbits people had bought as projects and then neglected. During my freshman year my teacher ended up leaving our school for personal reasons but I managed to stay in touch with her for sometime after wards. She gave me a  satin Doe and her daughter a doe that was only a month or two old. I ended up with a lot of rabbits but the Doe's daughter I think i originally named her Cutie Pie.( I wasn't really clever with names of rabbits) Satins are unbelievably soft and silky and come in many different colors. Actually most Satins shown in Santa Clara County junior livestock (4-H & FFA) originally came from my satins. I also somehow increased the amounts of rabbits shown in FFA in SCC. Anyway CP was my baby she would cuddle up under my chin at shows, she did really well show wise, and she was the perfect showmanship rabbit. Well she was the only rabbit I grew attached to. I made a decision I would never sell her. When I went to college I sold almost all my tack, and all my rabbits with the exception of CP, Muffin (californian I originally inherited), and Romeo (the first buck I got). I had kept Muffin and Romeo in the case that I wanted to show a meat pen in the future I would have rabbits. Romeo passed at some point while I was away at college, leaving just Muffin and CP. In my years at school my rabbits simply didn't get the care and loving as when I was home. Well, I went down to feed the animals at the barn yesterday (it was in the high 80s, thats hot for rabbits) and I see CP barely moving and I though heat exhaustion (common cause of death in rabbits over the summer) and misted her with cool water and wrapped her ears in wet cotton (I couldn't find a towel) I finished feeding and when she still didn't look better I took her into the house to cool her off. I realized that it wasn't heat exhaustion and that she has lost a lot of weight and wasn't eating and drinking. I put her on some towels and in a 4 hour period she hadn't pooped or peed. I knew she was coming to the end. I spent about an hour last night holding her and talking to her and pretty much saying my good-byes I made sure she was comfortable and left her. When I went to check on her this morning she had passed on as I had expected. While I never really planned on showing her again anyway and I hadn't really spent anytime with her in the recent times I've been back. I regret not spending more time with her recently and I now will never be able to just hold my soft silky friend and pet her and tell her amount what ever was upsetting me. She was the best comforter, I could cry and pet her and she would just listen.

I guess the point of this was just simply you may think that an animal is just there for one purpose and they nose their way into your heart. I guess also pet's are like members of your family sometimes and it can hurt to lose them. There are a lot of people who buy animals as a gift for someone only to neglect them later an animal is a big commitment and think before you buy. There's many animals who are in shelters that were neglected and now need a loving home, and remember to also support your local animal shelter. The Humane Society of the United States asks for a lot of donations but your local animal shelter rarely sees a penny of that money. Treat your pets with the respect they deserve.

So maybe it's not insomnia...

I always thought I had insomnia because I can't fall asleep at night from time to time, but I thought about it some more and realized that the reason I stay up is because I like it not because I'm not tired. There's something about being up all night and going to sleep as the sun is rising. So it's not a matter of insomnia it's a matter of me not fitting into society's perception of normal sleep patterns. I'm perfectly content staying up until the sun rises and sleep until noon. I guess it's a good thing I plan on working the night shift, since my brain already functions like this. Plus I have the hardest time waking up early in the morning no matter what time I go to sleep.

Raining in June

Yeah, you read the title right. It says June, as in the month where summer starts. The month you spend a ton of time outdoors putting on sunscreen and sitting by the pool or go to a waterpark. The one with the barbecues and picnics. Not here in Northern California, right now its the one with the rain and jackets and blankets and hot tea. I tried to get a picture of it raining but unfortunately I wasn't able to catch on but I did manage to capture some of the overcast skies.

This is our 200+ year old oak tree. Notice the lack of clear skies expected in June.

This is the view of the hills from our backyard. 

This is the view from the Front yard. Notice the huge dark rain cloud looming over.

While there's some benefits to rain such as we're no longer in a draught and the fact that I love rain in general. There's also a huge downside. I also love summer and the heat and all the summer related things. Plus all the rain is ruining the hay crops which causing it to be more expensive to own livestock. Hopefully there's a increase in heat soon or I will not know how to handle Arizona in august. 

Oh I probably should include these are not good examples of my photography as these we're taken off my iPhone and is no where near as good of quality as my camera.

Ramblings about Music and Faith.

It always amazes me when I see celebrities talk about their faith as if they we're just talking to someone in their small group. It's not too often you see this happen these days, especially when media is filled with sex, drugs, alcohol, cussing, and everything in between. I guess that might be why I listen to country more than pop, rap, or hip hop. Yeah country music talks about drinking, and there's some songs that if you read between the lines you can figure out what their leading to if you know what I mean. But country music goes where other genres don't. It talks about God, dying, love, small towns, dreams, and even talks about that boy that betrayed you. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it shows a form of raw emotion that most other genres fail to include.

    The other day I was watching recent American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery's home visit and he just flat out said "I had a God moment." It amazed me as those are words I see coming out my own mouth along with many of my christian friends. He then went on to explain and I felt like I was in small group with him not watching him on youtube. Seeing celebrities express their faith and love for God, makes me want to support them more and actually pay to listen to their music even if it isn't  "christian" music. When their are celebrities who aren't afraid to share their faith to millions even if it can hurt their career, why should I be afraid to share the gospel to my non-christian friends.

    After realizing that I feel more likely to financially support artists who share their faith, i decided I shouldn't limit it to music and that i should be more aware of companies that are christian and buy more from them, or companies in general that have good values, or give to a good cause.

I saw this video after I originally posted this post, But this is what I'm talking about Celebrities not afraid too talk about faith.