Counting Sheep

The weather shows no sign of cooling off yet. Even up in the mountains it is still dry and hot.

I’ll have to get back in blogging mode. If not, this blog will die a slow death.

It’s the Eid right now, Eid el-Adha, the biggest muslim feast in Lebanon. It’s big, because the druze community celebrate this one as well (unlike Eid el-Fitr, which takes place after the Ramadan, and which is only celebrated by the muslims.)

During this Feast of the Sacrifice, muslims celebrate the fact that Abraham (Ibrahim) was willing to sacrifice his son Ismael for God. It’s a little tricky, this story, because apparently God did not think he was going to go through with it, but when Abraham actually went along with it, he thought that maybe this was taking it a bit too far, and quickly replaced the child for a goat.

What can be learned from this story is unclear to me, but the tradition is that during this feast you (if you are a muslim, that is) should slaughter a goat. Or a sheep.

And so around this time of year, you will find that sheep vendors have set up shop around town or along main highways, so you can pick up your sheep. A Dutch newspaper even had a photo story on how these animals get transported.

Not everyone does this, of course, because in the old days, when freezers and fridges did not exist, this could cause serious issues. What do you do with all that meat? A solution was found; you only get to keep a third. One third is supposed to be given to friends and family, and the last third should be given to the poor. I am not sure how rigid people adhere to these rules these days, but that’s the tradition.

One of the neighbors in the village actually bought a sheep. He must have a really big freezer, because he did not buy one, he bought three! And these sheep were tied up last Thursday, at the door of his house, awaiting their impending faith. They bleated through much of the night, but when you are in a village in the mountains, you expect to hear nature.

What can I say? They chase loose sheep.

But somehow, during the night, and not liking what was in store for them, two of them managed to escape. Sheep are not known for their great intelligence, they do not wander off, so it was not a problem. The sheep sort of ambled around, and were grazing near my house.

We were not aware of this, however, and so when hubbie let out the dogs very early that morning, it was a field day for them. Loose sheep in the paddock! They chase sheep for a living.

And off they went.

By the time we could get our dogs back in line, the two sheep were nowhere to be seen. They had scattered in two different directions; one uphill into the forest, the other one downhill into the valley. The dogs barked a little at the one still attached, but as it was not running, there was no fun in it, and they came back.

When the neighbor came out, he looked at his one remaining sheep. WTF?

Neighbors were quick to help out that our dogs had chased the other two away. “Where are my two sheep?” he phoned.

Where are your sheep? Well, one is on top of the mountain, and the other one is in the valley. I had to laugh at this. Seriously? Ever tried to catch a loose sheep?

When we got back from the dog walk, the janitor was telling with great gusto how the neighbor had been running all the over the hills and forests trying to get his sheep back. Sheep may be stupid, but they don’t like to get caught. I have never heard this janitor crack so much as a smile, and so I was much amused when he grinned “Hahahaha, he’s still running after the other one.”

Not much happening otherwise. We will descend down to Beirut next week, as schools are about to starts. Summer is over.