I was just reminded of a memory after hearing someone's hilarious story of kicking the ice off of the grill of a car that he later realized was not his, when he saw the actual owners of the car looking at him like "Hey man, WTH?" My story is about my best friend and I as we were driving through the desert in Southern California on our way back from our first trip to Las Vegas. We were 20, too young to drink or gamble, but we did have a blast while I was home on leave from my USAF tour in Germany. Headed in the same direction we were, I was awestruck by the beauty of the monarch butterfly migration as they passed through the area in what seemed like a fantasy. What a stunningly wondrous sight of millions and millions of orange and black butterflies peacefully fluttering by as they silently headed south for the winter escorting us on our journey. At some point we had to pull over and fuel up the car. As we walked toward the station to pay for the fuel and buy cold drinks, I saw a truck parked in front of the building. As I focused on the front of the truck in passing, all the wonder, the joy and the peaceful serenity I had felt seeing all those beings, suddenly turned to horror for there were dozens of now deformed monarchs smashed with crushed bodies, broken wings, antennae, missing legs and wreathing in agony as they were literally being cooked alive on the grill of that truck. My tears and my response were immediate as I began to euthanize the suffering butterflies with my shoe. From the perspective of the people inside of the gas station, including the truck's owner, they saw a girl crying and hysterically kicking the front of the vehicle. I imagine they thought I was crazy (perhaps some reading this story do, too) or that the owner of the truck had done something intentionally to upset me. Ultimately, the owner of the truck did come out and he asked me, "What is wrong?" I told him the butterflies were suffering, and that they needed to be put out of their misery! I remember how touched he was, and his words as he solemnly said; "You have a very kind heart." To this day, I still brake for butterflies, bees, birds and those I see flying or crossing the road. I've pulled over to relocate them safely in the fields after seeing a spider or praying mantis clinging to my windshield while speeding down the freeway. I do feel sad for those beings that didn't make it as I clean what is left of them off of my car. One day, all of Earth's cities will be like Mazdar, where animals and insects are a lot less likely to be killed by our method of transportation. I haven't yet spoken with those who are behind the building of Mazdar about being a vegan city, but you can bet I will. Have you heard of Mazdar? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyghLnbp20U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV5g5h5AyCc There are also forces greater than transportation destroying butterflies; loss of milkweed (a primary food that has been eradicated for inefficient GMO livestock feed production), the production of GMO grains and Monsanto's chemicals/pesticides are destroying the Monarch's ability to thrive and has resulted severe decline. http://www.nationofchange.org/new­report­shows­monsanto­major­culprit­record­decline­monarch­butterflies­1391179118 Love life, live vegan!