Lot's of Shoveling

Today I shoveled the pens. A lot of shoveling.

And I played with a piglet.

Video of Izzy - The Miniature Horse for Adoption

I saw this on Twitter today. This horse, Izzy, is the miniature horse that Caleb saw on Sunday and is up for adoption. Super cute!

Caleb's Mitzah Project: Catskill Animal Sanctuary

Our son, Caleb, is turning 13 in February and his bar mitzah is in October. As part of his b'nai mitzvah he is volunteering at the Catskill Animal Sanctuary in Saugerties, New York, where abused farm animals have come since 2001 for shelter, a better life (or a chance at life) and the potential to be adopted. Caleb loves animals, wants to be a veterinarian, and is a vegetarian so this choice of volunteerism aligns with his areas of interest and beliefs. Plus the animal sanctuary can really use his help, especially in this cold weather (see below). This blog was started to show Caleb's friends and family what he is doing at the CAS.

Here is a very interesting Huffington Post piece written by Kathy Stevens, the CAS founder. It's called "Getting By With a Little Help From Our Animal Friends."

The First Day at Catskill Animal Sanctuary

I am volunteering at the Catskill Animal Sanctuary as part of my bar mitzah project. Today was very very cold. I wore ski pants and big boots to keep warm.

The first thing I did today was shovel hay into a goat pen.

We drove around in a 4 x 4 truck to get from place to place. We fed goats, pigs, horses. The horses were mildly simple to feed. One of them we fed with a bucket but the others we put the food on the ground. The bucket fed horse was a miniature horse (Izzy).

The goats were very fun. We had to very quietly pass the food onto another person who shakes the food, and then you can sneak the food into the goats.

We saw a piglet, which was very small and very cute. They just got it.