Richard visiting at the sanctuary

After the fire department had arrived and extinguished the inferno, which had basically consumed the entire attic space, collapsing the ceiling inside, leaving the building completely unusable, I could only hope to return to sleep. As Judy, Nathan, and I sat in the house at the kitchen table, still in awe about the recent events, we came to the conclusion that perhaps I was not supposed to return to sleep . . . perhaps I had been awaken for a reason.

With it being so early, mind still dazed and wholly incapable of productive work, I chose to watch a new DVD Judy had acquired. The video was called "Earthlings," narrated by Joaquin Phoenix. Basically it is a collection and overview of all the different areas of animal cruelty imposed by man, with all the gruesome footage to prove it. I had seen videos like this before and honestly only chose to watch it because I felt obligated to spend my new fortune of time in some manner not deemed "wasted."

The video was saddening to watch, but there was something which had never quite clicked before. Perhaps my slightly shocked and extremely tired mind had become, at that moment, more susceptible to the larger picture, or perhaps I would have been changed if I had watched at a later hour. I am only certain of the impact I felt at 3:30 in the morning of my 21st. It was man's use of technology to inflict pain and death upon animals. With all of man's genius, and his capability to exercise the utmost respectable and human existence on this earth, he had chosen to invest his time and energy into a giant death machine which animals were born into, suffered within, and died without ever knowing anything outside. Man no longer even had to touch the animals -look them in the eyes -hear their screams -he only had to push a button and his deed was done. And not only was all this being done in spite of massively detrimental effects to the health of humankind, natural ecosystems, and resources, but huge profits were turned over to these people whose practices, to me, resembled Nazi concentration camps.

I wondered, would I pay the Nazis for products I knew to bring my early demise so that they can further themselves? Would I want myself or my children to be born into such a machine? I think not; I know not. And because of a seemingly unfortunate event, I feel as if my eyes have been opened forever. Hopefully a fire doesn't have to wake you up to a better way to exist on this planet.