A Boar Made Me Smile
A couple of evenings ago, Peanut and I were walking down the lane on our usual evening wander. We hadn’t gone far before I noticed something ambling towards us.
At first, I thought it was a dog and instinctively I reached down to gather little Peanut. Unfortunately, meetings with wandering dogs in the wilds of Portugal aren’t always pleasant encounters. Especially when you’re accompanied by a piglet-sized dog who, I sometimes think, gets mistaken for a rabbit by the larger varieties of dog!
But no, it wasn’t a dog.
It was a little ambling javali - a wild boar.
From it’s size I could see that is was young and as it ambled down the path, it’s whole presence was one of gaiety. It seemed to bounce and jiggle along, completely unconcerned as if it was on it’s way to meet a friend. Until that is, it saw us. I think it was more surprised to see us than we were to see it!
It quickly scarpered off into the bushes. We continued on with me keeping a wary eye out for it’s mama or any aunties. My experience with boar is that they always run off but in these moments I always keep Peanut on her lead …. just in case. But as we continued on, the caution left and a quiet smile appeared.
That little boar genuinely seemed happy.
Maybe this is my human interpretation but as I mentioned in my letter last week regarding the river, I don’t care about the facts. In my wild imagination, this boar WAS happy and to see a creature out in the wild, doing it’s thing with such ease and presence, lightened my spirits enormously.
The evening’s entertainment didn’t stop there.
A little later, my eye caught the the glimpse of something moving in the distance and it was a fox with its magnificent tail striding across the field. It also seemed to be ambling along, taking an evening stroll now that the day's fierce heat had softened into cooler air which brought with it an easiness, in contrast to the heat of the afternoon.
Moments like these show me how lucky I am.
In a few weeks time, I will be taking a break from this wild, off grid life but evenings like this make me deeply grateful that I am able to share this landscape with all its quiet inhabitants.
