YIKES!

Honey and I had this amazing experience two days ago while out walking in the forest here in Holland.

We were on a dirt road and suddenly heard a heap of noise coming from the woods on our left... (Honey was behind me, off leash and sniffing around). Suddenly a huge wild pig leapt out of the woods on the run about 20-30 feet ahead of us, cutting across the dirt road into the woods on the other side. He was being chased by 2 Bernese mountain dogs and the pig was even bigger than those dogs!
I yelled at the dogs and somewhere had the sense to yell the Dutch command to "leave" or "stop" (in Dutch it is the word "AF!"). I must have sounded like the BOSS because those two big Bernese mt. dogs stopped in their tracks and came back to the road just as their master caught up with them.

I turned to see where Honey was, and he was right behind me, watching the entire episode with great interest! (Whew!) I'm sure he was also taken aback by my forceful command. The pig disappeared into the forest, the dogs all got leashed and everyone lived happily ever after.

Honey was kept on leash until we got to the heather fields where he chased rabbits and put his earthdog training to good use in the rabbit warrens.

That was as close as I've ever been to a wild pig in the forest here. I've seen them several times and Honey actually took off after a smaller one once, but wild pigs are better at crashing through the low brush than my short-legged boy who has to go "boundy-boundy" over the brush - glad for that little fact, too.

Yikes!

Mountain Tops and Valleys

Just a few days ago I was on this mountain top in Norway... enjoying the view and the cool breeze way up there, close to the sky. My vacation was refreshing in body, soul and spirit. I totally enjoyed being with my friends, Hilde, Mildrid and Marcia... tucked away in a mountain cabin with a view across the valley and to the snowy mountains. I think we took pictures of the sunset each evening.
One night when I had to go to the outhouse at around 2 a.m. Honey (my trusty bodyguard) burst into a barrage of barking.... the source: a moose in the field next to the cabin about 30 meters away. The moose was not afraid of the light white noisy animal and lumbered off in her own time towards the forest. And Honey and I dreamt of moose as we drifted off back to sleep.

Arrived back to Holland early yesterday morning after an 8 hour drive from the ferry crossing to Denmark. Slowly getting back into pace with the busy world of YWAM and the Dutch village I live in. Checking my emails I see photos my brother, Randy, sent of my mom and I'm a bit shocked to see her... she is in the hospital again (4th time in 4 weeks) and fighting bacterial infections. Rough road for her... a valley.
Praying... please pray too.