Sept/Oct 2021

All Creatures

The Animals Who Share Our Lives

All Creatures2 min read
Editor’s Note
“MOM, LOOK!” my six-year-old daughter, Lena, shouted. I glanced up from the garden, where I was clearing dried flowers. “A worm!” She carefully walked my way and showed me the tiny green inchworm wiggling in her palm. “Pretty cool,” I said. “I have t
All Creatures1 min read
Unexpected Friends Merlin And Gigi
Gigi arrived at the Goats of Anarchy sanctuary in Hampton, New Jersey, a sick newborn lamb. Once she recovered, she began mothering the special-needs baby goats. Then Gigi came across Merlin, a three-year-old handicapped duck, out in the yard one day
All Creatures1 min read
Calendar
We love seeing how you commemorate your pets. Turn to page 12 to find out how to send us your memorial. Alison Teal grew up with a pod of dolphins in familiar Hawaiian waters. Now she’s trying to protect them every day (page 42). Is your dog or cat o
All Creatures2 min read
Going Beyond
When Alaina Holdread’s family adopted her potbellied pig, Daisy, they were told she would top out at 50 pounds. Two years later, she weighed 150 pounds. The Holdreads had space to keep an animal that large, but most owners of potbellied pigs do not.
All Creatures1 min read
I’ll Never Forget You
MY KIDS BEGGED ME for a dog for years. On an August day in 2007, I finally gave in and visited the animal shelter. Brandi, a four-month-old Labrador-shepherd mix, caught my attention. She was the only dog not barking. I took her home and she immediat
All Creatures1 min read
Peaceable Kingdom
Share a moment of connection you’ve had with one of God’s creatures (poems and prayers welcome). Send it to allcreatures @guideposts.org ■
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Why We Love…
IF YOU WALK too quickly by the Manchester Craft & Design Centre in England, you might miss a tiny window into a dream world. The art installation, commissioned by the Manchester City Council, was built into the side of the building to honor all the p
All Creatures4 min read
Welcome To Oscar’s Place
Media executive Ron King, who spent 20 years working for magazines like InStyle, Essence and Southern Living, didn’t expect to retire at 51. But the plight of donkeys captured his imagination and his heart. He read about the world’s donkey population
All Creatures2 min read
Their Mysterious Ways
FIVE MONTHS HAD PASSED since my husband, Eamon, died in the attacks on the World Trade Center. It was an especially cold winter here in Connecticut, and I found solace in talking with others who had lost loved ones on 9/11. We’d meet frequently to sh
All Creatures6 min read
Underwater Awakening
Dive a few feet underwater and you’re in another world. It’s quiet down there. You can hear yourself think. If you’re me, you stop thinking so much. You slow down. Look around. See the world maybe a little more the way God intended. I’m a restless gu
All Creatures1 min read
Creature Comforts
“I JUST WANT TO WARN YOU,” said the aide outside Wesley’s care facility. “Your husband is a little grumpy today.” “Really?” I said. “That’s not like him.” Wesley had maintained a positive attitude in the months since a stroke left him paralyzed and u
All Creatures2 min read
LEANNE LAURICELLA Goats of Anarchy, New Jersey
There was something missing from Leanne Lauricella’s career as a corporate event planner in New York City—a sense of purpose. That, and goats! “I was just going in and working a job. It was not fulfilling,” she says. Now Leanne is the founder and pre
All Creatures2 min read
Last Moments
OUR MULTICOLORED KITTY, known as Cuddles in her early years, had the run of the house. We moved to a new home, where we welcomed a rescue dog and three more felines. Cat—that’s what we were calling her by then—still had the run of the house and the o
All Creatures5 min read
Then Came Ron
Eight o’clock on a May morning, and Micah, my 17-year-old daughter, had already retreated to our bonus room upstairs. It had been her makeshift eleventh-grade classroom ever since schools had moved to remote learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.
All Creatures2 min read
Lifted Up
The 16-foot Zodiac rescue boat pounded over the waves, racing to two distressed whales about a half mile offshore from California’s Palos Verdes Peninsula. Peter Wallerstein and two other men had received a call about the California gray whale and he
All Creatures5 min read
Peacebunny ISLAND
The sun peeks over the treetops, casting a glow inside Caleb Smith’s tent at 6:30 in the morning. The Mississippi River gently laps against the houseboat moored on the sandy bank near the site where he and his friends like to camp out when the weathe
All Creatures3 min read
Is This for Real?
Alison Teal never rode in a stroller or squealed in a bucket swing on the playground. Born to an adventure-loving yogi mom and a National Geographic photographer dad, she was already exploring the world as an infant. She saw the view from atop a peak
All Creatures3 min readDiet & Nutrition
A Weighty Issue
A dozen years ago, our veterinarian informed me that our spaniel, Kelly, was at risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, all of which could shorten her life. Why? She was overweight. Since I wanted to shed a few pounds myself, the two
All Creatures1 min read
All Creatures
President and CEO John Temple Senior Managing Editor Amy Wong Lead Editor Megan Troise Creative Director Kayo Der Sarkissian Editorial Team Olivia Abel, Meg Belviso, Sabra Ciancanelli, Caroline Cilento, Sabrina Diaz, Susan Downs, Kimberly Elkins,
All Creatures2 min read
Just Lovely
ONE JANUARY THREE YEARS after my husband, Eric, and I married, we moved into our dream home. At last, a place big enough for our blended family! We had been squeezing our five kids into Eric’s three-bedroom house. I was beyond grateful to have enough
All Creatures1 min read
Color Me!
FUN FACTS: Donkeys communicate with each other by braying—a sound they can hear up to 60 miles away. Their memories are impressive too; these equines can recall positive and negative experiences from their past and can remember another donkey, person

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