Close Encounter of the Pigs…

Its a peculiar thing, living in the hills with loads of wild boar stuttering about, an illusive creature to many, with the exception of the tremendous amount of damage they do to the landscape… I had such an incident this morning, early walk before the heat with my furry friends and then…. a massive scuffle of black beasts running down the mountain, at least 10 I’d say, no idea how many babies and adults, just that my four legged monsters decided to give chase, always a concern for any pet owner, as many succomd to often fatal injuries especially if give chase while they have their young… one of my neighbours dogs (a massive dog) gave chase and the boar turned and gave chase back and he got harpooned in the bollox, his jewels where the size of a rugby ball for weeks, odd seeing a dog walk with such discomfort…. needless to say, my faithful pooches returned when called, like the wonderful creatures they are, most likely because of my fear stricken shouting of warning and also the evident ‘come here, NOW’.

It reminds me of a story last year, I’d been to a party, and decided to go by bike, as I planned on having a few… so, while straddling my bike for the 10km ride home, I had a slight tingle of anxiety…. Bugger, what about the pigs, anyhow, I got about 90% home, and by this point I was far too preoccupied with my delightful ride home, off with the fairies…. to even consider that faint sense of fear, and then, while taking a wide berth on what I call ‘slippery corner’ my lights pointed out a female grazing right in front of me with at least 4 babies….. she gave chase, I got home unscathed but I have to admit, I got home at 2am, but I couldn’t calm my heart down until at least 5am to get into my bed. It made me realise several things that evening….. all the stories I had heard of altercations with pigs where from 3rd or even 4th hand stories and here it was, one of my famous wild boar moments, where I could actually smell and feel her breath against my ankles while I rode like a demon to escape her…. anyhow, 1 in a million chance eh… so now I should ride with less ‘pig-xiety’ well, no, I am ever more cautious now, well until at least the fairies re-present themselves I guess 😉

Another pondered musing I had earlier today is… why on Earth do people plant peach trees instead of the ever superior nectarine, I mean, what’s the point?? By my reckoning peach vs nectarine trees are only a quid or so difference and the fact you don’t need to navigate that fluffy skin is well worth the extra dengue in my opinion….

Then there is cherry season in full blown glory and I wish, OH HOW I WISH, I wish that plums tasted like cherries, such a beautiful yet compact fruit, the season being so short and all preservation methods prevail leaving such a lot of waste, I just wish they could be the size of a Victoria plum… don’t you?

Final pondering which has eluded me for years is the faithful date, I love eating dates and basil nuts at the same time, especially as an evening snack (3 dates a day are said to enhance your memory and cognitive skills), so, it really pisses me off when I reach blindly into my evening snack bowl for a basil nut only to end up slamming my gnashers onto a fucking date stone… I wish dates had basil nuts as stones, the perfect combo all wrapped up in a neat little package.

That ends todays musings as I have to be honest I have much more pressing issues at hand and hope to make an announcement in the coming days.

Love and light from the windy and yet favourably temperate hillside.

Sat Nam