One man and his hog

THERE had been a shower earlier in the evening but the sky cleared before sunset and I decided to take the dog for a walk along the lane. The trees were still dripping so I put on a hat and we set off.

It was a still evening and every 100 metres or so we walked through a thick cloud of heavy, sweet perfume. The wild honeysuckle was in full bloom. Birds that had gone to roost early clattered out of the hedges — blackbirds and, noisiest of all, wood pigeons. Sheep and lambs were also being quite vocal but, apart from that, it was very peaceful.

The dog walks faster than I do and he was some way ahead when he suddenly went into a full alert stance and started barking excitedly. He looked back at me every few seconds, obviously anxious I would get a move on because he had something to show me.