THE WRIGGLE

I am writing this with Poo Piglet Whose Name is Jude on my lap and he is such a wriggle!

Today two of Molly’s Eight will be sold to a friend to be grown on his developing homestead. Two fat gilts. And we are not short of fat little piggies to choose from – these pigs are doing exceptionally well. Which is good as they will all be growing through the winter.

They follow the same track to their toilet every morning. I have long been fascinated by the tracks we make. If allowed the time. If we cease to rush. When we are in a hurry we cut corners and sometimes even leave our pathway.

But when we are following our routine. As though the routine is leading us. We also follow pathways. Like the cows. There is a comfort in thinking like a cow – when travelling from barn to field they always walk this path. Plodding along – hooves follow head. Maybe it is their thinking time.

Like us people when we drive ( or walk) our worn pathways to work every morning. There is a certain comfort in it.

That disabling of choices for a few minutes. Just following the path.

Shortly I will get out a metal bowl – use it to scoop up some cat food- carry my bowl out the door, across the verandah, down the steps and along the path to the shed, to the cats feeding table. After I empty my bowl into their bowls I will use this metal bowl to scoop out duck feed, empty that into the old wheelbarrow wheel that is the ducks bowl, then scoop some dry pig food up and carry that to the barn and feed Molly’s Eight. Then using the now again empty bowl I will hunt for and collect the duck eggs and carry them back past the shed, past the eating ducks, past the cleaning cats, up the garden path, up the steps across the verandah and back into the kitchen to clean the duck eggs and refrigerate them.

My first pathway of the day.

Then I get the inside bucket filled with soaking feed and sprouts from the kitchen floor and opening the door go back across the verandah and down the steps. I follow my path back out to the big pigs( does the path lead me like my routine does?) and so on and so forth – following my thinking paths. My songlines. On track

Did you ever read that book called Songlines – I think it was written by someone Chatwin. I will look it up for you and put it in our library page. He discusses the songlines the aboriginal peoples of Australia used to navigate the desert when they went ‘walkabout’. It made a great impression on me when I was young. Stand by.

Bruce Chatwin. I might buy it again – it is pretty cheap second hand, my old copy will be in one of my early libraries in another country. I look forward to reading it again and adding it to my American collection.

Time for me to begin my housework hour (forced labor) before I take to my pathways.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Celi