Vegan Unraveled

I learned to fish on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River. In my fishing kit I had rods, lures, floats, lead weights, hooks, and a short heavy stick or log. We lived just a short walk away but sometimes I’d venture into areas that were a long ways away.

In my tackle box was a lure called the red devil. It was red and white with swirly lines and three barbed hooks attached. As you pulled it through the water it would swivel and become noticeable to the fish. Barbed hooks have a reverse hook on it so if you “hook” a fish the fish can’t shake free from the hook. Its intention is to make it almost impossible to shake free without causing lots of damage to the fish.

When we were kids, around 11 years old, I went fishing with my brother and we were fishing quite a long walk from home. We arrived at the banks and we started to set up and get ready to fish. We were apart and I was not aware where my brother was. But I started to fish.

There was lots of long tall grass along those shores, taller than both of us. As I cast my rod back I caught some of that grass and I gave it a yank; then I heard a scream. I had hooked my brother in his right ear. Two of the three hooks were imbedded. One in his ear lobe and the second in his neck behind his ear.

I tried to calm him down as I took a look at the damage I had just caused. I was going to try and pull out the hooks but I couldn’t because the hooks are barbed. They are designed to cause more damage on the way out.

I have to say that my brother is pretty tough as we had about an hour walk home all the while he had a red devil ear ring hanging in his right ear. He was quite a sight with blood dripping down the side of his neck and a matching red lure hanging from his ear.

My memory is a little dark on this one but I do remember when we got home a pair of pliers and a trip to the doctor’s office resolved the issue.

Barbed hooks are now banned in lots of areas in Canada. Not because of the damage you can cause to siblings – ha. More so they are considered inhumane as they are difficult to remove.

The reason I bring this story forward is because I just read the book Vegan for Life by Jack Norris and Virginia Messina. I bought it because it’s written by two dieticians and I want to make sure I eat healthy as I follow this path. I ended up here because of yoga. It’s a long continuing journey that has brought me to places and discoveries that you’d think are not connected. There’s been a lot of connections on this journey – lots.

It’s a bit scary changing to a diet where there is so much noise about not enough protein, B12 requirements, calcium, etc. etc. But the book begins with one of the authors talking about a fishing trip he took with his granddad and dad. As they caught fish they would throw them in an empty cooler and the fish would thrash about as they slowly suffocated to death. He thought we would not treat humans the same way and his dad and granddad were confused by his concern.

I don’t know why but even as a kid I intuitively knew that when I caught a fish I would whack it as hard as I could on the head with the intent of stopping suffering (heavy log).

But I’ve learned a lot while I read that book and I’ve become more aware about how heavy I tread on this earth. I choose to move to a vegan diet because of health reasons but I’m becoming aware there are many other reasons for this choice. I’m happy about this choice and I’m finding I’m learning more and more about who I am. It’s been a long slow education but it’s never too late and it’s never ever over.

Be safe
Ahimsa