In regards to eating meat

[Plenum]

do you need a permit to keep chooks?

or does it all depend upon the local council/region?

[Shemaya]

We have six hens and they produce about five eggs/day. We use a movable pen, 3' high, 4' wide, 8' long that my children and I made out of 2" x 2" lumber and wrapped with chicken wire. There is a roof on one end for them to get out of the cold and hinged lids on either end, one for getting eggs and the other for feed and water.

They have a space about 20' x 60' that we rotate them through. They move every day so they can always be on fresh dirt/grass/hay -- they love to scratch for worms and bugs.

We feed them scratch (mixed grains) and a laying ration from the farmers' coop.

We haven't had any trouble with over-wintering, but we did lose some on a brutally hot day last summer. We're in Virginia. Where are you?

We're in PA. Thanks so much, βαθμιαίος,. Great to get the kids involved. My husband hasn't been keen on this idea, I've been talking about it for a couple of years now, but when we spoke last night he agreed to help me with building a coop. I think changes just take time to sink in. It'll give him a chance to teach my son how to use power tools!


So are you saying you have a permanent space 20' x 60' and you move the coop within that space, or do you move the whole area to a different place in your yard?

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Here's a decent breed list that gives you a good idea of what the chickens will lay. The numbers are average...they peak in the springtime and fall under in the wintertime (and most usually stop completely for a month or two while they moult). Some other things you want to consider when choosing breeds is how friendly or flighty they are (some breeds will run away from you no matter what, some will become so friendly you can pick them up), and also whether they are "sitters" or not. Sitters will turn "broody" every once and a while and sit on a nest trying to hatch the eggs. It can be a tough instinct to break and they'll lay a lot less eggs as they do this.

For spacing, inside of a coop a good rule of thumb is 2sq ft/chicken, with a foot of perching space for each chicken. For outside the coop, for a small flock, about 4 sq ft/ a chicken leaves them psychologically satisfied and keeps them from getting neurotic as long as the foraging area stays fresh. A system like βαθμιαίος's using a movable coop which has enough room for the chickens to forage and contains the chickens is great for a backyard where the chickens might tend to wander to grumpy neighbors or get somewhere they aren't supposed to be...though as long as they have plenty of grass to forage in, they're tend not to roam. Be aware that they will find favorite spots in a yard to hang out and scratch them to death. Other systems might have a stationary coop and a larger area for the chickens to roam around in. They poop a lot at night so you'd have to make sure to keep a stationary coop clean (but the manure is the best manure fertilizer there is!)

As for feeding, organic chicken feed is hard to find in most places, and a bit pricey. A local agriculture or garden supply store should have regular feed, and there's livestock feed stores pretty much everywhere. I would recommend looking for "non-medicated" feed. If it's a major brand and doesn't say non-medicated, it most likely has antibiotics and/or arsenic.

Winter shouldn't be a problem; when selecting your breeds any description should tell of any issues with cold or hot weather.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/ has some great info on coops and stuff and should help you get started. Good luck!

Great links, thanks Austin! Do they also eat kitchen scraps, or just certain things from the kitchen? Stale bread?

We have store, Davis Feed Mill, nearby. I think I can get all the supplies I need there, and the chicks. I want to be sure I just get hens...my husband reaffirmed that he does not welcome a rooster. And neither would my neighbors.

Can throw the manure in the garden, so that is a definite bonus!

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~ breeds best for eggs, how many to get 2 doz eggs per week

My dad raised Bantum chickens. They were small and the eggs were small and either green or blue. No Easter dying necessary! He always had at least a dozen or so chickens at any given time, but that included a few roosters. I remember gathering at least several eggs per day and we didn't have to buy eggs.

Thanks Monica, would love to have pretty and colorful eggs, Austin's link listed the breeds and egg color, and how many eggs per week. I would like human-friendly chickens though, because I have young nieces and nephews.

[βαθμιαίος]

do you need a permit to keep chooks?

or does it all depend upon the local council/region?

We don't because we're in a rural area. I think places with Homeowners' Agreements (newer subdivisions) would probably not allow them, and they're often not allowed in urban areas.

We're in PA. Thanks so much, βαθμιαίος,. Great to get the kids involved. My husband hasn't been keen on this idea, I've been talking about it for a couple of years now, but when we spoke last night he agreed to help me with building a coop. I think changes just take time to sink in. It'll give him a chance to teach my son how to use power tools!


So are you saying you have a permanent space 20' x 60' and you move the coop within that space, or do you move the whole area to a different place in your yard?

Yes, a permanent space. It used to be our side garden, but we never kept it up very well. We used to move the chickens around in the lawn, but they really dig it up, so we decided to solve two problems at once and convert the side garden to a chicken yard.

We've also tried keeping the coop stationary and letting them out during the day into a fenced yard. That works well, too, especially if you can move the coop away from the manure every few months. I find it's a lot easier to move the coop away from the manure than to clean the manure!

The reason we switched to daily rotation is that when the chickens had their yard they liked to roost in a tree in the yard and we couldn't stop a raccoon from getting them.

I have never been tempted to let them roam wherever they want because our garden is not fenced and they can really do some damage there.

[Monica]

Did you know that fast 'food' doesn't spoil? It will sit there for years and never rot. The bugs and microbes know better than to eat it! (I guess they're smarter than humans in that respect!)

Try it yourself!

I first discovered this 30 years ago, when a Cheeto fell behind a desk at work where the cleaning people didn't reach. A year later, that Cheeto still looked exactly the same! We used to make jokes about the 'petrified Cheeto.'

I never could bring myself to eat Cheetos after that, even though I really like them.

[Bring4th_Austin]

Great links, thanks Austin! Do they also eat kitchen scraps, or just certain things from the kitchen? Stale bread?

I would only feed them bread occasionally, it has the potential to affect their digestion. I've also heard stories of it affecting egg production, but that doesn't make much sense.

You can feed them almost any sort of fresh veggie or fruit from the kitchen or garden except for potatoes and avocados...these can be dangerous for them. Onions will affect the flavor of eggs.

Generally, if they have plenty of food and room to forage, they'll stay away from stuff that is bad for them.

We have store, Davis Feed Mill, nearby. I think I can get all the supplies I need there, and the chicks. I want to be sure I just get hens...my husband reaffirmed that he does not welcome a rooster. And neither would my neighbors.

We have a rooster that starts going off around 4am...sometimes 3:30am...I'm sure he wouldn't make it in the city!

Can throw the manure in the garden, so that is a definite bonus!

[Monica]

What is compassion? Compassion is an inherent potential within us all. It is not simply a sense of caring and kindness toward the being before us. It isn’t merely a warm-hearted feeling of empathy for the suffering of others…it is the determined and practical resolve to do whatever is possible to relieve their suffering; the sustained urge to eliminate suffering.
For this reason, compassion is often referred to as the highest form of love. It flows out of the truth of our interconnectedness with others. Not confined merely to the realm of feeling, compassion rouses us to action, in much the same way we are instinctively roused to action to defend our own lives, well-being, and interests....The natural development of compassion in children is unfortunately short-circuited by forcing them to participate in meat-based meals. The subtext of these meals is one of systematically excluding certain animals from the sphere of our compassion and moral concern. In our daily food rituals, beings are systematically reduced to things, and these rituals instill in all of us the mentality of exclusion and reductionism that is the antithesis of compassion. I believe this is the hidden root of disease, the underlying disaster churning at the core of our culture that causes so much of the physical, social, psychological, and environmental illness that we see proliferating around us.
Compassion brings healing. Whenever we wake up from this acculturated consensus trance that sees beings merely as things to be used, we become more alive, more aware, and more filled with what the ancients called Sophia: the wisdom of knowing the interconnectedness that underlies the apparent outward separateness. This is a wisdom that is actually lived, not merely intellectualized. There is a pithy and illuminating proverb: “To know, and not to do, is not to know.”
As Sophia awakens in us, bringing wisdom, compassion, and healing; and we are relentlessly confronted with our acculturated food habits—eating more living, plant-based foods and less of the inherently cruel animal-based foods—we experience healing, both physically and on the deeper causal levels of our being. Our bodies function better and begin to cleanse and purify, our mind is clearer, our emotions are more positive, our relationships become more harmonious, our buying patterns are more ecologically responsible...
We might find people saying to us, “Hey, you can eat how you like, but don’t tell me what to eat!” We realize how ironic this is. The only reason anyone in our culture eats animal-based foods is because they’ve been told to do so since birth by every institution in our culture: family, media, religion, government, education, and business. It’s never a freely-arrived-at choice: we’ve all been, and continue to be, inundated with messages that eating animal-derived foods is a natural, normal, and essential characteristic of human behavior.
I don’t remember my parents telling me that I could freely choose whether to eat the first little blobs of meat they presented to me…or explaining that they were the flesh of pigs and turkeys who had been confined their entire lives and killed in terror and pain. I don’t remember my schoolteachers helping me to understand that fish are highly intelligent, social creatures with the same pain receptors we have. I don’t remember my minister pontificating about the suffering of dairy cows, whose babies are serially stolen from them so we can steal their milk, or the TV informing me of the nightmarish conditions endured by chickens at egg-production facilities. I was never given a choice and was forced into complicity, completely oblivious to the repercussions of my actions. Without knowing the truth, how could I ever practice compassion?
The exquisite beauty and potential of our brief adventure on this Earth are that we can grow, evolve, and awaken to greater capacities of love and wisdom. We can become a force for spreading freedom, peace, and healing. With any inner healing, there will be outer healing, and with healing comes change. With any meaningful change, there will be risk. We may find ourselves alone, losing cherished relationships because we no longer eat the same way and no longer respond unquestioningly to pervasive social conditioning.
...As we bring our lives into alignment with the truth we have discovered, and the compassion that has grown in our heart, we realize that the rewards are worth infinitely more than what we risked. At a deep level, our self-esteem returns, and we realize how participating in the violence pervading our culture’s meals had reduced our awareness and sense of self-worth...

from http://crazysexylife.com/2010/compassion...o-healing/

[norral]

actually what we are doing to animals is genocide when u look at it. except we arent extincting them but we are harvesting them. and again i am not a vegan but i am honest with myself and that is how i honestly see it. if we were actually to look at what is done to animals we would have to examine what we do in every part of our lives. dropping 5000 lb bombs on people , destroying their infrastructure, is totally compassionless. and then we could look at how we treat each other. i mean do we care how people survive on the minimum wage. do we care about the absolute crap conditions that some people live in . i do think monica that all of these things are tied together is a way and that when the wrapper comes off and we honestly start to question what the hell we are doing we will have an avalanche of change that cannot be stopped. once the damn of cold heartedness is broken an ocean of love is going to flow into this world . just my feelings,

norral

[3DMonkey]

[Diana]

Great post Monica.

he natural development of compassion in children is unfortunately short-circuited by forcing them to participate in meat-based meals. The subtext of these meals is one of systematically excluding certain animals from the sphere of our compassion and moral concern. In our daily food rituals, beings are systematically reduced to things, and these rituals instill in all of us the mentality of exclusion and reductionism that is the antithesis of compassion.

This is so true, in my opinion, and evident in my own life. Children must adapt to circumstances to survive.

Humans have evolved to develop larger and more complex brains; we are capable of deep feelings and advanced intellects way beyond those of survival. This puts instinctive animal behavior (eating whatever instinct, or advertising, or society tell us to eat) in direct opposition with higher functioning. Higher functioning is what enables us to fulfill our 3D directive: choice.

[Monica]

actually what we are doing to animals is genocide

Yes it really is.

when u look at it. except we arent extincting them but we are harvesting them.

It's even worse, because they are being artificially managed with hormones etc. so that they are forced to multiply at obscene numbers, just to be tortured and killed.

If these animals had been left in the wild, natural predators would have kept their populations down to normal size. But with factory farming, we have a disproportionately huge population of these animals, in abnormal environments, with unnatural diets, to the point that their excretory gases are affecting the planet's atmosphere.

It's forcing these beings to reproduce rapidly, only to have their children taken away, and then they are forced to watch others of their kind be killed, while they smell the stench of fear and hear the cries. And it never ends.

It's worse than genocide, which would just kill them off and be done with it.

and again i am not a vegan but i am honest with myself and that is how i honestly see it.

I'm glad to hear that you see it!

if we were actually to look at what is done to animals we would have to examine what we do in every part of our lives. dropping 5000 lb bombs on people , destroying their infrastructure, is totally compassionless. and then we could look at how we treat each other. i mean do we care how people survive on the minimum wage. do we care about the absolute crap conditions that some people live in . i do think monica that all of these things are tied together is a way and that when the wrapper comes off and we honestly start to question what the hell we are doing we will have an avalanche of change that cannot be stopped. once the damn of cold heartedness is broken an ocean of love is going to flow into this world . just my feelings,

I hope you're right, norral. I used to think that too, but after this thread, I am now despairing that it will ever happen. This thread has shown me that even spiritually oriented people still don't see it. So how can others see it?

[norral]

i think some kind of split is coming on this earth. we are going to be divided according to what we are passionate about i believe. right now we are all rubbing shoulders with one another but many times only because we have no choice. i think we will enter into a system where there is a lot more personal soverignity and we will only assoiciate with those we want to associate with. how this exactly happens i dont know. but it the only thing that makes any logical sense to me. so those who are interested in perpetual war will have a planet where perpetual war exists. and those interested in harmony and sharing will have a place where they can develop unimpeded . that is my deepest sensing that i am getting about the future

[Monica]

i think some kind of split is coming on this earth. we are going to be divided according to what we are passionate about i believe. right now we are all rubbing shoulders with one another but many times only because we have no choice. i think we will enter into a system where there is a lot more personal soverignity and we will only assoiciate with those we want to associate with. how this exactly happens i dont know. but it the only thing that makes any logical sense to me. so those who are interested in perpetual war will have a planet where perpetual war exists. and those interested in harmony and sharing will have a place where they can develop unimpeded . that is my deepest sensing that i am getting about the future

I think so too, norral. Alternate timelines maybe?

[Monica]

The Native Americans have been mentioned a few times on this thread.

Firstly, they weren't exactly perfect. They still fought amongst themselves. So I don't think they should be considered role models for 4D harvestability.

But, at their best, they did have a strong spirituality which is admirable. And they didn't have synthetic fabrics like nylon to build their teepees out of, so they had no choice but to kill animals for survival.

Their situation was different from ours, so I don't think we can use their choices to justify ours.

Native American 10 Commandments:

The earth is our mother, care for her
Honor all your relations
Open your heart and soul to the Great Spirit
All life is sacred; treat all beings with respect
Take from the Earth what is needed and nothing more
Do what needs to be done for the good of all
Give constant thanks to the Great Spirit for each new day
Speak the truth; but only of the good in others
Follow the rhythms of nature; rise and retire with the sun
Enjoy life's journey, but leave no tracks.

The line in bold reminds me of Ra's words: "animal products to the extent necessary."

[Oldern]

"Firstly, they weren't exactly perfect. They still fought amongst themselves. So I don't think they should be considered role models for 4D harvestability."

Not gonna go into that route, sorry. I am a 3d being, I have no right to decide who is (not a) "role model" for that. But if I need to cast a vote, they would be amongst the first.

EDIT: Also, just for a quick edit, no "civilization" is good or bad, individuals resonate differently, the question is just a difference between what is the basis for raising a new child into that society. And in that regards, they were VERY wise - in our society, the children has very few opportunities to learn what respect for self and for others, respect for the Earth and respect for being is. They need to learn it the hard way. Which is not a bad thing, but just "is".

[Monica]

Not gonna go into that route, sorry.

Well you kinda did...

I am a 3d being, I have no right to decide who is (not a) "role model" for that.

I agree! Which is precisely why I don't think "the Native Americans ate meat and they were spiritual" should be used as an argument to justify or validate meat eating.

And in that regards, they were VERY wise

They did have a lot of beauty in their spirituality.

[norral]

in response monica yes a time line where are u will be with people who u are comfortable with where it will be easy to get a consensus. then u could say u are home truly home. there will be a natural harmony between u and the people u are with. and there will be no proxies as people use proxies nowadays to achieve their goals.

[3DMonkey]

I hope you're right, norral. I used to think that too, but after this thread, I am now despairing that it will ever happen. This thread has shown me that even spiritually oriented people still don't see it. So how can others see it?

I think this is the reason for all you may find contrary in this thread. We can't change people. We aren't allowed to. It's free will. Besides that, evolution doesn't happen from a want. It happens from a need. Our collective simply hasn't reached the need to change ways right now. We all impact the future in our own unique way. A critical mass may be coming, but it isn't here, so we shouldn't pretend it is here. This 3D thing has its way of operating. 4D is a world of a different color.

[Monica]

I think this is the reason for all you may find contrary in this thread. We can't change people. We aren't allowed to. It's free will. Besides that, evolution doesn't happen from a want. It happens from a need. Our collective simply hasn't reached the need to change ways right now. We all impact the future in our own unique way. A critical mass may be coming, but it isn't here, so we shouldn't pretend it is here. This 3D thing has its way of operating. 4D is a world of a different color.

This is where our opinions differ. I don't see 4D as something that happens 'to' us but something we attract, based on our vibrations.

[Monica]

One of my favorite quotes, by Aldous Huxley:

Personification in politics is an error which we make because it is to our advantage as egotists to be able to feel violently proud of our country and of ourselves as belonging to it, and to believe that all the misfortunes due to our own mistakes are really the work of the Foreigner. It is easier to feel violently toward a person than toward an abstraction; hence our habit of making political personifications. In some cases military personifications are merely special instances of political personifications. A particular collectivity, the army or the warring nation, is given the name and, along with the name, the attributes of a single person, in order that we may be able to love or hate it more intensely than we could do if we thought of it as what it really is: a number of diverse individuals. In other cases personification is used for the purpose of concealing the fundamental absurdity and monstrosity of war. What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder one another in cold blood. By personifying opposing armies or countries, we are able to think of war as a conflict between individuals. The same result is obtained by writing about war as though it were carried on exclusively by the generals in command and not by the private soldiers in their armies. (“Rennenkampf had pressed back von Schubert.”) The implication in both cases is that war is indistinguishable from a bout of fisticuffs in a bar room. Whereas in reality it is profoundly different. A scrap between two individuals is forgivable; mass murder, deliberately organized, is a monstrous iniquity. We still choose war as an instrument of policy; and to comprehend the full wickedness and absurdity of war would therefore be inconvenient. For, once we understood, we should have to make some effort to get rid of the abominable thing.

Complete quote: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2011/07/...ty-of-war/

[Shemaya]

I think this is the reason for all you may find contrary in this thread. We can't change people. We aren't allowed to. It's free will. Besides that, evolution doesn't happen from a want. It happens from a need. Our collective simply hasn't reached the need to change ways right now. We all impact the future in our own unique way. A critical mass may be coming, but it isn't here, so we shouldn't pretend it is here. This 3D thing has its way of operating. 4D is a world of a different color.

This is where our opinions differ. I don't see 4D as something that happens 'to' us but something we attract, based on our vibrations.

From what I understand, 4d will come in it's right time to planet Earth, like the striking of a clock at midnight. Are you talking about Ra's teaching on Harvest and Q' uo's description of the steps of light? Do you believe you have attracted 4d to yourself because of your higher vibration?

One of my favorite quotes, by Aldous Huxley:


Personification in politics is an error which we make because it is to our advantage as egotists to be able to feel violently proud of our country and of ourselves as belonging to it, and to believe that all the misfortunes due to our own mistakes are really the work of the Foreigner. It is easier to feel violently toward a person than toward an abstraction; hence our habit of making political personifications. In some cases military personifications are merely special instances of political personifications. A particular collectivity, the army or the warring nation, is given the name and, along with the name, the attributes of a single person, in order that we may be able to love or hate it more intensely than we could do if we thought of it as what it really is: a number of diverse individuals. In other cases personification is used for the purpose of concealing the fundamental absurdity and monstrosity of war. What is absurd and monstrous about war is that men who have no personal quarrel should be trained to murder one another in cold blood. By personifying opposing armies or countries, we are able to think of war as a conflict between individuals. The same result is obtained by writing about war as though it were carried on exclusively by the generals in command and not by the private soldiers in their armies. (“Rennenkampf had pressed back von Schubert.”) The implication in both cases is that war is indistinguishable from a bout of fisticuffs in a bar room. Whereas in reality it is profoundly different. A scrap between two individuals is forgivable; mass murder, deliberately organized, is a monstrous iniquity. We still choose war as an instrument of policy; and to comprehend the full wickedness and absurdity of war would therefore be inconvenient. For, once we understood, we should have to make some effort to get rid of the abominable thing.

Complete quote: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2011/07/...ty-of-war/


[/quote]
Are you saying eating meat is akin to mass murder and war ? Is a farmer who has humanely raised his livestock for food guilty of murder and war against animals?

[norral]

u know it would be interesting if we could all gather together somewhere and spend a few days together. we have these threads but obviously the ability to communicate on them is SO SO limited. this is most definitely not real life communication. i am kind of a touchy feely person. many times when i say hello to someone at work i kind of embrace them not really but i touch them. i dont care if they eat meat or dont eat meat. i find it satisfying to touch people but always of course in a non invasive way i dont overdo it . but that touch says something i cant say in words. i would like to touch the people in this thread lol. ha ha thats sounds funny. norral u are such a perv lol . norral is a freaking perv he wants to touch people . go touch yourself norral u aint touching me bro keep your hands off of me get away from me police help help ha ha just being a little playful here but u get what i mean touching is a big part of communication . and we arent able to do it here. i would risk to say if we were all together eating or not eating meat would not be an issue .

u know what im saying i find the people on this thread interesting regardless of what they eat. i am intrigued would be the way to put it intrigued by the energy of everybody here. and everyone has a strong personality which is good. its good to know who u are

norral

[3DMonkey]

I think this is the reason for all you may find contrary in this thread. We can't change people. We aren't allowed to. It's free will. Besides that, evolution doesn't happen from a want. It happens from a need. Our collective simply hasn't reached the need to change ways right now. We all impact the future in our own unique way. A critical mass may be coming, but it isn't here, so we shouldn't pretend it is here. This 3D thing has its way of operating. 4D is a world of a different color.

This is where our opinions differ. I don't see 4D as something that happens 'to' us but something we attract, based on our vibrations.

Eliminate the final sentence of my post so that we won't divert.

[Diana]

I think this is the reason for all you may find contrary in this thread. We can't change people. We aren't allowed to. It's free will. Besides that, evolution doesn't happen from a want. It happens from a need. Our collective simply hasn't reached the need to change ways right now. We all impact the future in our own unique way. A critical mass may be coming, but it isn't here, so we shouldn't pretend it is here. This 3D thing has its way of operating. 4D is a world of a different color.

This is where our opinions differ. I don't see 4D as something that happens 'to' us but something we attract, based on our vibrations.

From what I understand, 4d will come in it's right time to planet Earth, like the striking of a clock at midnight. Are you talking about Ra's teaching on Harvest and Q' uo's description of the steps of light? Do you believe you have attracted 4d to yourself because of your higher vibration?

2D animals who become pets have the opportunity to become self-aware, hence, they become available for 3D.

Humans who develop the requisite amount of STO or STS become available for 4D.

It is my understanding that graduation from one density to the next does not happen on its own. The individual entity, in its own time, from its own evolution, develops; not that 4D comes of its own time and pulls the entities with it. We can't just "be" and graduate; we make conscious choices. The 3D choices represent availability to 4D. Those who stay asleep would apparently stay in 3D, just as the 2D animals who do not become self-aware would stay in 2D.

Question to Shemaya: Why are you asking Monica the above bolded question? Is it a personal question or general? I think it needs clarification as we are trying to not be personal, especially in this thread.

[Monica]

Eliminate the final sentence of my post so that we won't divert.

It's not just the last sentence, but the overall gist of what you said, that differs from my opinion.

It's ok to have a different opinion.

[3DMonkey]

Eliminate the final sentence of my post so that we won't divert.

It's not just the last sentence, but the overall gist of what you said, that differs from my opinion.

It's ok to have a different opinion.

Then you completely misinterpreted what I said.

[Monica]

Then you completely misinterpreted what I said.

Haha, not the first time you or I have misunderstood the other!

[3DMonkey]

Then you completely misinterpreted what I said.

Haha, not the first time you or I have misunderstood the other!

Now, if we could erase the entire diversion after my post...

[BrownEye]

One of my previous links is a Native American woman explaining that the reason we cannot see the beings of other realms is a result of eating meat. I thought it interesting coming from that ethnic background.

[Monica]

One of my previous links is a Native American woman explaining that the reason we cannot see the beings of other realms is a result of eating meat. I thought it interesting coming from that ethnic background.

I must have missed that. If you remember where it is, can you direct me to your previous link, or repost?

That is interesting indeed. How, then, did they see other realms when they historically did eat meat? Or does she mean now, in our present circumstances?

[3DMonkey]

Surely, it's not the result of breathing oxygen.