Is it irony? My wife used to tell how, when she was younger in Cambodia, these lads would come and propose to her. In the old ways of Cambodian culture, apparently, this was no small matter, certainly not like asking a girl out on a date in Western society. There was politics involved, and much money would change hands as the man’s family would pay a substantial amount of money to the girl’s family to seal the deal. There was no period of ‘trying her out’ as a girlfriend, you’d propose and marry and that was it.
Anyway, the point of the story was that, no matter how eligible the boy, no matter how much money was on offer for her, she would send them away. According to her, and if you’d known her you wouldn’t doubt that she was capable of it, she would spurn their declarations of love, her favourite rejoinder to a desperate beau was, ‘if you want someone to love, get a dog’. In my experience, she was definitely nasty enough.
This is not a digression. I married her without having to pay, except with my freedom, later I fell in love with another lady who subsequently rejected me, my wife died, and now I have a dog.
Although I am still in love with the other lady, despite her abandonment of me, my dog is really nice too. His name is Nelson, he is a Rhodesian Ridgeback, the most beautiful ginger coloured beast you’ve ever seen, and I love him.
Nelson the dog
Big Nelson
Nelson was born on the 1st of April 2022, I consider him to be a fair trade for my late wife. So far he has not belittled me or started an argument, we go for walks in the woods on a regular basis and he is a delightful companion. My children love him, possibly even more than I do, and he adores them back.
Another great thing about this dog is that it took a trip to the Lake District to get him. One thing I really like doing is a road trip, the Lakes is one of my favourite parts of this country, having visited many times as a child with my father. A place of majesty and beauty, a fitting place for a dog like Nelson to hail from.
Little Nelson
Nelson at ten weeks
He is now seven months old and weighs 32kg already, he has enormous teeth and is the most gentle creature.
to see a world in a grain of sand ... 