Vegan Celebrations and Lucky Black Cats

I have the great luck to be able to celebrate my wedding anniversary between the yearly Veg Fest events in my area. This year on our 24th (but who's counting?), we attended the 4th annual Tampa Bay gathering located off the beautiful Hillsborough River. As usual there was delicious food, cool music and a full day of activities from petting friendly animals to watching videos and listening to informative speakers.

We got to see the popular film Vegucated. We also enjoyed Dr. Milton R. Mills give an interesting presentation about keeping our bodies (specifically our colons) healthy through eating plants. He addressed the serious topic of food choices in a humorous, easy to digest way.  And Jane Velez-Mitchell was just a ball of energy and enthusiasm in her talk to motivate the audience to get active in helping animals. 

The week after we went to the 8th annual Central Florida Veg Fest and as the announcement says it's an extremely family and pet friendly setting. We thoroughly enjoyed the talks presented by body builder, vegan-athlete-extraordinaire Robert Cheeke. And abolitionist speaker, educator and activist Elizabeth DeCoux gave a riveting and compelling talk on why justice to our fellow Earthlings is long overdue.

In both events there were great exhibits and lots of fun to be had. Along with the memories of sharing a special time with other compassionate people, we came home with a goodie bag filled with coupons, brochures, buttons, stickers and samples: 

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Here's a happy me standing in front of the Take Your Blinders Off video truck operated by the amazing activist and animal vet Randall Cannon. His inexhaustible dedication is truly admirable.

The video Why Vegan from the EVOLVE campaign is one of my favorites for it's solid message of compassion and it's closing question asking "why aren't you vegan"? And I too would like to know - If you're not vegan - Why not?

So that was our very perfect two week anniversary celebration... 

Here at home the time of black kitties is relevant again in my life. We're thrilled that this little guy made his way to us. We've named him Oz and he was found of all places, by a fruit and vegetable stand at a local market. When I first saw him, I picked him up and held him out to everyone around asking "Casa? Casa?" 

For sure he had no takers and no home. As it turned out we learned his mother had tragically been run over and his only surviving sibling was rescued just that day. 

Sweet little purring orphan - He truly was meant to be a member of our family. 

For those who may not know... Black cats don't fare well this time of year. So lucky for us all, for so many reasons... He couldn't have come into our lives at a better time! 

To Happy Anniversaries, Happy Kindness Festivals and Happy Halloweens... May our dreams of love, peace and hope all come true.