Looking through the TinShed – A nail hole in the sky.

It is 7 am and I am standing in a derelict shed facing the “Jung Recreation Reserve” ‘s even derelicter tennis courts . Magpies and assorted birds are greeting the day with gusto. So am I, tapping my gumboots on the concrete floor to warm up my toes, just like I used to do on expeditions, early starts, going up mountains… 

It is Tracking Day at the Horsham Dog Club. Which is why we are at Jung, fifteen minutes out of Horsham. Tracking is a dog version of hide and seek, with humans setting the rules, for both Seeker and Seeked..  My neighbour Sam asked me to be the one he goes sniffing – looking for.

Sam, I mean Inspector Sam, is an impressive and totally gorgeous looking animal.A black and tan German Shepherd I’ve known since he was a puppy yay big. Puppy he ain’t no more that’s for sure. Except when it comes to chasing rabbits and finding people: out comes the puppy yap yap.    I m in love with him. I m proud of him. I am his Auntie B. Glen, his papa, is also my neighbour. The Best Neighbour in the World. That can be another story.

There is something special about waiting to be found. It is a time to just be there, time to revel in the bubbles of allowing well being and fun and here and now. Somehow, the yap yapping brings  me back to Lura, Solu, Nepal.

I am looking at a gorgeous puppy, black and light tan, cuddly as. Jacky is Lakpa’s new guard dog. My friend Lakpa Tamang has a wife, five daughters and one son. He is a subsistence farmer and a mountain guide. Jacky comes from Junbesi, and the few hours walk from there to Lura is the furthest he has, and ever will, walk. 

He is tied in the dogbox. Lakpa’s last dog was killed by a jackal. That’s why the goats are inside. That’s why there are no chickens running around. Wild dogs are yelled out of sight by the women in the fields every day it seems. I ve never seen one. I don’t doubt their appetite.

It would be so good to grow chicken and eggs. Plenty big market, with the male appetites of the Military camp in nearby Salleri…

Sudden scent of wattle in the wind, Sam riding with the wind and I am back.

It really makes me happy that you read my words. I welcome any comments, stories or photos you want to share with us in relation to what I write. And if you want a more direct, fun involvement, join the Friendily! Or come on a trek! Or become a producer for the Beyond the Smile Documentary! Go and explore the pages of this story…   🙂