DAY 2: ANGELS REST
“The more I saw, the more I was overcome with compassion for all the animals still out there who need help.”
I parked across the road, and we walked through the large, beautifully sculpted and painted iron gate. The first thing I noticed was the sound. Angels Rest is situated in a bit of a canyon, and there's always a breeze rolling through. The breeze hits the dozens and dozens of wind chime trees, and the resulting sound is a powerful calming agent. The first time I heard it close up, I caught myself taking a deep breath. It was intense, it moved my conscious mind to a whole other place. Hearing the chimes all around me made me feel like I was safe, and that this was a place where I could relax.
We walked among the graves, admiring the beautiful statues people had placed there, and all the shiny, polished stones on nearly every grave. It's a tradition at Best Friends that when a beloved pet or any of the animals at Best Friends dies, they hold a burial ceremony, and all the people who knew the animal can place shiny polished stones on the grave to symbolize their connection to the animal.
Decorative headstones and statues are everywhere
There are thousands upon thousands of shiny polished stones on the graves at Angels Rest. So many beloved companions, so many animals who lived and died at Best Friends because they had once been abused, or lost, or damaged and needed help. The more I saw, the more I was overcome with compassion for all the animals still out there who need help. How many of them have died alone, scared, with no one to help them? How many have been beaten and abused their entire lives?
Best Friends doesn't do anything small. When they commit to an animal, they commit for the animal's entire life. No matter how long it takes, no matter how much work it is, no matter what hurdles they have to overcome, they do it. And if a home cannot be found, then the animal is taken care of until it passes over the rainbow bridge. And every animal that dies at Best Friends gets the same dignified burial ceremony, no matter its issues or problems, even if it was unfriendly to humans. And why?
Graves interspersed with wind chime trees
Because animals are innocent. They don't deserve to be mistreated. And for the ones who have suffered their whole lives with injuries, either physical or mental, Angels Rest is the perfect place for them to cross the bridge so they can finally be free of pain and suffering. They say that when an animal from Best Friends dies, they kick up a trail as they run over the bridge to the other side, and that in turn causes the wind to rush into the canyon and blow against all the chimes in Angels Rest. After spending just a few minutes there, I believe it. It's a very special place, and words don't do it justice.
After we spent some time in Angels Rest, we decided to leave. We stopped at the welcome center to buy a few things on the way out; I bought a shirt and a jacket as well as the first two seasons of Dogtown on DVD, An bought chocolate and a catnip toy. We were tired, but we didn't want to leave. I was starting to feel some of the repercussions from so much physical activity that weekend but I was sure I could have kept doing it.
