Protesting the Circus.
Ah the circus. The lights. The sounds. The toys. The elephant rides! Wait. The elephant rides.
Last year an elephant named Jenny was filmed with 8 people on her back. She was so arthritic she could barely move. But that didn't earn her a day off. Jenny died last year, 2018, decades younger than her wild bretheren.
Another circus has had over 30 Tigers, the majority under three years old, die since 2000. That's more than 1 Tiger, each year.
So when we heard the circus was coming to our town, we made plans to be there. A local vegan group set up an event and the trio and I were on board. Even wrote it on my calendar. We made signs and bussed down there.
At noon on Saturday, we were the only ones to show up. The keyboard warriors stayed right where they were. It was a little nerve racking, hundreds of cars went passed us, stopping to read our signs.
A few people rolled their windows down to scream insults at us. Many simply flipped us the bird. But some were supportive. One woman was taking video of us, and when she rolled her window down I was ready for the worst. She told me she supported our firsr ammendment rights and moved on.
The next show wasn't for four more hours. So we kicked it in Canal Park. Visited the shops and found us some vegan food.
Of course we couldn't go to Canal Park without getting you a picture of what Duluth is famous for. The bridge.
And the Lady Superior, as seen from the bridge.
We went back to finish our day at the second protest, nobody showed up for that one, either.
But Sunday was different! I was messaged by a woman that would be there. We started our day with Rose and her friend Mary. Already we were off to a great start! Then we spotted them in the distance. Mandy, her husband and their daughter.
All carrying signs and ready to get down to business. Mandy is a local that wrote a great Op Ed about the circus.
And then Brittany camr with her gorgeous reservation dog rescue, Boomer.
All together we were 10 people and a dog working for the same cause.
It was a magical day, the way we all just came together.
Afterward we all went ro Pizza Luce' for Lunch, Rose treated everyone. I can't even begin to describe how magical it was to be seated at a table with ten people, and not one single dead animal was served. Every single person ate Vegan.
Do you know what that feels like? To be literally surrounded by people you don't have to explain yourself to? To be surrounded by people who care about animal welfare every bit as much as you do?
We all have each others contact information and plan on more activist action in the future.
Sometimes things are just meant to be.
I'm glad more people showed up the second day. I saw some blip on my social media and I still need to research it, because it said the circus was back - with animals - in Colorado, but I thought we had banned animal acts. Maybe I'm remembering wrong and we banned animal acts in only Denver, and not statewide.