We have had an exciting week. A special Picasso exhibit has come to St. Augustine, a collection of sketches and sculptures that reflect Picasso’s interest in bullfighting. Last Thursday, the day before the exhibit opened, the city invited industry workers (from the tourist industry) to a special preview.
I enjoy art, but I’m not able to appreciate it the way some people are, so I don’t usually make it a point to go to exhibits like this. But it’s not everyday that you get invited to a special viewing of Picasso so the hubby and I got dressed up for a night out. It was really nice seeing so many familiar faces and catch up with friends. But I have to admit that the art was wasted on me. I tend to consider bullfighting to be one of the most blatant and disgusting displays of animal cruelty, so I wasn’t highly impressed by his love of the sport. Despite my opinion regarding the exhibit, I am still proud that it has come to our city. This is the first time this exhibit has left Spain, and the first time it came to the United States it came to St. Augustine, I think that’s pretty cool.
On the home front I have been putting off the continuation of my de-cluttering project because I had finished with the kitchen. That’s a good except that it means that it is time to start in the living room and the first assignment in the living room was the dining room table. Over the last month or so the table has become an out of control clutter magnet, but when I got home from running errands on Saturday my hubby was straightening up the house. Inspired by his progress, I started chipping away at the table clutter. I put my little one’s daycare projects in his folder, sorted the mail, and through away a tun of stuff. Finally table can actually be seen. I still need to get the system back in place for keeping clutter away from the table, but this is a good start.
My little guy has been back on antibiotics for a few days and we’re hoping that they are having an effect on his ability to hear. It’s impossible to tell, however, since he is going through a faze at the moment where he doesn’t listen to us at all, even when he can hear us. He either completely ignores us, tells us no, or does the opposite of what we’re asking. My husband and I are at our wits end. There have been a lot more time outs in our house than there has ever been before, and we are on the look out for other ways to discipline him that will also teach him what to do and what not to do.
While I was at Publix waiting for his prescription to be filled I was ambling around trying to keep myself from buying anything other than the prescription I was there for. While perusing the meat section I discovered that Publix sells cage free chicken. I have been buying cage free eggs for a while now, in fact, my husband recently had a fit at the amount that we were paying for them. But the ethical treatment of animals is something I feel very strongly about. I can’t really afford to be an activist, so all I really have are my opinions, but the one little thing that I can do is support the farmers that don’t treat their animals horribly.
At one time I actually attempted to be a vegetarian because I was horrified by the treatment of the animals that live and die to sustain us. That didn’t work out very well and I have since come to terms with my place on the food chain. However, just because an animal is being raised to slaughter, doesn’t mean that their life that they do live should be miserable and torturous. If anything, they should be treated better simply because of where they will end up. The treatment of animals raised for their meet has come to light more and more in the news and through documentaries and I’m glad that it has. Hopefully it will spur on some changes. And I will do what I can to help along the way. When I saw cage free chicken I knew that my grocery store loyalty had changed for good. I usually buy my groceries from Winn Dixie. They have great sales and I like their fuel perks program, but they don’t sell cage free chicken, at least the one closest to me doesn’t. That is a deal breaker for me, I am officially a Publix customer. If that’s all I can do in the fight against animal cruelty, then that is what I will do.