All set for Christmas? For those of you who have Christmas planned with precision, well done! For the more haphazard among us, myself included, wish us luck braving the shops!
This week the office is looking forward to our Christmas get-together on Friday. It will be fantastic to have everyone under one roof as we’ve all been so busy over the past 12 months. For some of us this will be the first Advocates for Animals Christmas shindig- it’s mine, so it’s all very exciting! Like any other Christmas do, we’ll be reflecting on and celebrating our efforts in 2009. No doubt some of us will also be nursing sore heads afterwards!
Next week I’m homeward bound for the holidays. I cannot wait to see my family and friends, and most importantly (apologies Mum) our lovely dogs! We’re definitely OneKind family. There’s nothing like a sloppy kiss from your dog when you come home, and one of my favourite sounds in the world is the welcoming ‘week week’ of the guinea pigs when I return from work. The joy which my four-legged and feathered friends have brought to my life is priceless.
Our ten year old Jack Russell Judy is so excited every Christmas morning, when we unwrap her favourite treats from under the tree. She’s so enthusiastic, it’s hilarious. I reckon the excitement of Christmas must not be exclusive to us humans.
I recently watched an episode of the BBC’s Natural World series entitled ‘Bringing up Baby’. It centred on the bond between parents and their young. It’s fascinating to see how similar animal family dynamics can be to ours. Both the mother and father emperor penguin play an active role in rearing chicks. Some parents are reluctant to let their babies leave them; we see the adult penguin trying to keep her little one at her feet, while it wants to explore by itself for the first time.
Parents of any number of species feel unhappy about their children leaving the nest, excuse the pun! These young penguins then form what the narrator, the legendary Sir David Attenborough, called teenage gangs. Their parents have to come and find them at feeding time. I could just hear my Mum and Dad calling “Come in for your tea!” If ever a television programme evoked the spirit of OneKind, that animals have feelings, it was this one.
Our work for the year is not quite finished, as this long weekend we’ll be working at the Ethical Christmas Fair on Princes Street. If you are in Edinburgh between Thursday and Sunday (17th-20th) do come along and say hello! We’ll have a free prize draw at our stand and the atmosphere will be so much fun. On our home page we have another fantastic free draw to win a gorgeous pair of designer shoes, from the animal-friendly boutique Beyond Skin. We’ve really got into the spirit of festive giving!
So as this is my last blog of 2009, I’d like to wish you all a very happy holiday season, and best wishes for 2010!
