"cast me gently into the morning, for the night has been unkind"
~Sarah McLachlan~

I became vegetarian on New Years Day so this is the first Thanksgiving I did not have turkey.

I suppose my decision to convert was based upon two things. First, I've had a greater guilt than ever for animals, as I love them so very much and feel I am just lying to myself by continuing to eat them when they are all like friends to me.

Secondly, I have seperated myself further than ever before from the corporate climate, and many major meat manufacturers like Tyson are swallowed under the corporate undertode and have done things I've found to be unethical. I feel I'm kind of a hypocrite if I have all these strong feelings yet I continue to kowtow to them.

Once you make the leap, it's really a lot easier than you think! Vegetarian feasts aren't all about tofu and lentils, by the way. There's a universe of delicious, hearty, delectable gourmet food that doesn't include meat, including the essentials; cranberries, yams, warm toasted rolls, and as alternatives to stuffing and the turkey, musaka or curried eggplant or even a sweet potato bisque does the trick!

Some may see I'm only restricting my personal freedom by closing myself off from meat products, but I rather think of it as the opposite. It's just like someone who watches TV all the time, someone who doesn't realize that there's a whole other world out there to wander and explore in! I feel having the willpower to break away from meat for about a year now, I have found the time and freedom to discover so many rarer, delicate, overlooked treasures to feast upon, and boy, are there so many!



Please know I have no grudge against those who do eat meat. After all, I used to eat it too! It's just a moral conscience issue with me personally, because I'm pretty much the All-American Alternative as it is, and I feel it is right in my conscience to pursue the alternative lifestyle beyond the corporate climate, with the exception of this Internet service and Portland General Electric.

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Happy Loved Ones Togetherness Day! (I prefer to call that day this than Thanksgiving for heritage and cultural  reasons!)

Love,
Noah Eaton

"You'll find something that's enough to keep you
But if the bright lights don't receive you
You should turn yourself around and come back home" MB20