The Magic of Kale (Favorite People cont’d)

Dr. Shearer, DO, physician/rabbit
Dr. Shearer is a pretty new addition to my real life friends list, but he’s made quite an impact. First off, a little background – Dr. Shearer was born in a small town on the English countryside to prominent sheep farmers (hence, the name “Shearer”). When he was 11, he got hopelessly lost in the woods searching for his favorite baby lamb, Hanes. He tried and tried to find his way back to the farm. Exhausted and confounded, he sat on a patch of grass, head sunk between his knees, and started crying. Then he heard a very soft voice ask “Why you crying, mate?” He turned to look at the source of the voice (vource?) and saw a brown rabbit with white socks staring at him intently, head tilted to one side, one ear peeled up as if scanning for the sound of leaves falling. Dr. Shearer, looking perplexed, asked “Deed you just tok?”

The rabbit tilted his head the other way, seemingly with the recognition that he was being spoken to. The rabbit paused, sat up and sniffed the air, “You daft, boy? Rabbits con’t tok!” Dr. Shearer started. “Dun be afraid. What’s wrong, boy?” Dr. Shearer sniffed, used his sleeve to wipe his nose, “Auh came lookeeng for wee little Hanes. Now aum lost and dunno the way home and auh still haven’t found Hanes, ‘as a white baby lamb with a bonnet come your way?” The rabbit didn’t say anything for a minute, probably contemplating the situation. Dr. Shearer tried to read the rabbit’s face, but being human, had no experience with the nuances of hare expressions and body language. Finally, the rabbit replied “Hanes ees eet? Hanes my way? No sorry, mate.”

“Well, eef you ‘ave Hanes your way, will you send eem back to duh Shearer farm? Aum starving, I’m gonna find my way home.” The rabbit padded out in front of Dr. Shearer, “don’t go on an empty stomach, mate; take some kale with you.” The rabbit ran to a patch of kale. Dr. Shearer winced. “Oh, dun be like ‘at, try some. Kale from dees woods is magic’ly delicious.” The rabbit handed Dr. Shearer a wad. Dr. Shearer took a bite and started floating. “Eet’s the most ‘elicious thing auve evah tast’d, tha’ ees. Me mum’s kale ees soggy and bi’uh. auh theenk auh will stay ‘eere for a tick and ‘ave moor.” The rabbit nodded. Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into years. Dr. Shearer so loved that kale and all the other rabbit food that he forgot about home. After living with the rabbits for 25 years, Dr. Shearer decided it was time spread the wonders of kale and a plant based diet. So he went to medical school (he was valedictorian of his warren, he got lots of scholarships). Soon thereafter, he came to work at the Good Shepherd Community Clinic, where he met Jarrett Wilson and quickly became one of Jarrett’s favorite rab…err, people.

I got a little carried away there. The rabbit story is, believe it or don’t, a complete farce. Moreover, it was a superfluously lengthy way to tell you that he advocates for a plant based diet and has changed my perspective on nutrition. On top of that, he’s a very intelligent, well-spoken guy. Here is a picture of us –

Like Emily, the occupational therapist, Dr.Shearer occupies space in my head and tells me what to eat. For being the rabbit inside my head, Dr. Shearer is one of my favorite people.