True story.
I mentioned last week I let my cleaning lady go, so I reorganized my kitchen and put things where I want them to go, based on the substance (sugars with sugar and baking things) not based on if it’s in a box or not. My ayi put boxes to the left and everything else to the right.
Cooking was a night mare finding what I needed.
I love having my house back, organized with my own particular chaotic retrieval systems, very Western, not Chinese at all.
Earlier that day I also noticed Tent Man and no one had left him any thing, and I had forgotten and didn’t have anything either. So I cleaned my cupboards combining six cereal boxes into 3.
It was my inability to reach my favorite box that led me to get the step stool out get to the cereal when I saw in a plain brown box, about one foot square, shoved behind a pipe. I had to tug on it a bit to get it out, and when I felt the weight of it, I thought, What the heck is this?
You tell me. I have not one clue. I’ll google it later, but for the next day or two I am just going to enjoy my karmic surprise. I immediately put him (and he is a him, he is a boar I believe) on the alter with Mahakala and the ladies, part of the circle around the bowl of bijou. Most pigs drink anything, so maybe Mahakala now has a built in drinking buddy. Who know what they get up to in the middle of the night when we’re all sleeping?
I don’t believe in pig fairies (tooth fairies - yes, pig fairies - no), but somehow this 2 kg soapstone artistic pig has become a member of the household.
After I put the pig away, I collected cookies, crackers and other edibles I wasn't eating and some fruit and tea and sugar and put it in a bag for Tent Man. S&F was a little late, he just woke up, so we were later getting to my stop and Tent Man was folding his tent up into his portable bags. I got brave and said, "Ni hao!" and gave him the bag. He gave me this enormous toothless grin and said "Xie xie."
Funny how strange pigs and toothless men can make your day.
***I have looked at a zillion pigs on Google and can't find anything even remotely resembling this pig. I did find this bowl:
It's very old, and my pig is obvisouly a reproduction. I took Kat's advice and looked up when the last "Year of the Pig" was: 2007. The year my building was built. I knew it had to belong to the original owner, Nicola, with her excellent English, who I rented it from (she has since sold it), but she must have put it there when she moved in and forgot it.
Just for fun I looked up what it means for the Year of the Pig (there are 60 years between animals in their zodiac):
Fire Pigs – Years 1947 and 2007
The fire in Fire Pigs comes through in everything they do. They’re gutsy risk-takers and once they put their minds to something, it’s all or nothing. That applies to work, romance and goals. Fire Pigs make excellent leaders and bosses.
As happens, I am a "Rooster" in the Chinese zodiac, so I looked up my year, too.
Fire Rooster – Years 1957 and 2017
Roosters in every sense, Fire Roosters spend much of their time perfecting their images. They’re terrific social organizers and excellent leaders. However they are overly blunt and this trait often hurts the feelings of others.
**gotta admit, some truth in that.
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:-) / r
One thing he assured me, he ignored the Siamese Cat aka FRed(tm) I had as 'muscle' sitting next to me, that when the few American's who have passports become Expats they try and create a 'Little USA' in whatever country they land.
Other 'species' said the Klingon, adapt and suck_up the beauty of the new land.
KapLa.............
I like the look of that boar and hope he brings you good luck. : )
I'd be curi'arse to know what your two favourite 'objects' are, one from America and one from China?
Dog not included of course.
"Yes FRed(tm) you psycho some people keep dogs as pets, other countries as pets who become bbq lunch. And no they don't taste like chicken. Spit or swallow, it's your choice when fine dining."
No, dog is not on my menu, and you don't see it as often as you used to. (But vegans think carnivors are all barbarians...) My two favorite objects, one is from America, my crystal from SD, and then I have a water color of a monk walking under a arch a student made for me and I have framed. If my house catches on fire, I will grab the dog, the crystal, but not so sure about the painting.
the carving on the back is lovely
I thought it was a teapot at first
The ridge on the top looks like a backward fish
rated with love
A favorite find of mine was an American flag, on it's own pole, tucked way under my stairs in a place I was renting. On a whim, I took it with when I moved.
Flying it in the courtyard of a house some years later, my step-son asked me if 8 times 6 was 48. After agreeing it was, I wanted to know why he was asking. It turned out he had been counting the stars on that flag, which only has 48 stars! I'm very sorry now we flew it outside, as it had been in mint condition until then. It's still lovely, just slightly faded.
Unlike most people, decluttering is my constant companion. In order not to waste money, before I buy anything I really love, I ask myself "is it also worth the price of sending it home." The pig falls into the grey zone. Kat gave me a wonderful soap stone Buddha from Angor Wat which I will keep forever, and it weighs as much as the pig, and I will pay whatever it's going to cost to ship the Buddha home some day. But right now, I'm thinking I have the money to keep and potentially send the pig back home when ever I do.
Swear to God been craving pork a lot, too! BBQ espec...