Eid From a Dog's Eye View

I must share with you the extraordinary Eid had by one of our family members and so without further introduction I give the keyboard to our beloved Wafadar, the family dog.



Guest Post by Wafadar:

Hi, Blogistan. Wafadar here. I wonder if this will go into the record books as the first blog by a family dog? Thanks Momma for giving me a chance to share my scummy Eid with your blogger friends.

As Momma wrote, the day started out gray, cold and wet. I could hear a few goats bleating in the playing field across the ditch. The sound was very irritating because as you must know, I am the guardian of the family and I have to protect my family from all possible attacks. Boys, birds, men on bikes, nothing enters the protected perimeters without being challenged by me.

I remember when we lived in the house across from the village and goats would jump the fence and eat Momma's rose bushes. She would let me into the yard and I would show those goats who was boss. Arf, arf, I gotta laugh just thinking about it. Those goats would be so scared of me they would clear that fence in one amazing bounce and high tail it back to the village. But this was the first time I had heard and seen goats since we moved away from the village.

Soon, with the sounds and smells of animals and blood filling the air, I knew something special was happening. "Of course, its Eid ul Adha!" I remembered. By afternoon a most amazing development began. Boys (who are quite yummy tasting even in their natural state) smelling of blood and carrying bags of meat or animal hides began to pass the house. I couldn't see them from the back veranda where I live, but I could hear them and smell them plain as anything. I really wanted to get loose and investigate this amazing phenomenon, but, no such luck.

By late afternoon the drizzle turned into rain. The sounds of animals died out, the rain began to wash away the yummy blood smells, the tasty smelling boys stopped walking past. I settled into my kennel for a nice long snooze. Hey, you don't expect me to be on duty 24/7 do you? I gotta sleep sometime, and since I'm on duty at night, the afternoon is my time off.

After naptime, I was awakened by the smells of cooking chicken. "What, chicken on Eid! What's wrong with these people?" I thought. I couldn't smell any yummy goaty or beefy smells at all. What a let down. "Chicken bones again tonight," I thought with dread. Later, I heard the sounds of strangers in the house, but I could tell they were friends, people I'd heard and smelled before, so it was okay. About 7 pm, Momma brought me a plate of cooked chicken bones and told me "Eid Mubarak"...no excitement there. "Big deal. Don't these people know it's Eid?" The company left early and Momma, and Owl left in the moving kennel for a few hours. I could hear Abez typing, "Blog surfing again," I correctly guessed. The family returned, settled into watching the Talking Box, and forgot to release me for my evening perimeter check of the neighborhood till midnight. It was raining and to be honest, I really didn't want to leave my nice warm kennel, but it took forever to get my humans trained, so I try to not disrupt their schedules. When Momma called me, I stretched and yawned and lazed my way out the gate, thinking this would be a quick trip. Boy, was this dog ever wrong!

Once I was around the corner I picked up the smell of offal and blood. It was coming from so many places I hardly knew where to go first. Cow innards, goat guts, sheep entrails... the world was a veritable smorgasbord. Other dogs were feasting and I was so excited I even forget to sniff everyone. We gorged, moved on to another location and gorged again. None of us minded the cold rain falling. The food and company was so amazing I didn't even feel cold and wet. This went on for 3 hours, till I dragged myself home. I was sooo stuffed, I couldn't even bark. I just body-slammed the gate and stood there waiting to be let in. My humans are at my beck and call. I heard the clackitty clack of the computer keyboard, so I knew Abez or Owl both being nocturnal would be up soon to open the gate. Abez let me in, escorted me to the back veranda and foolishly gave me a bag of raw chicken. "Ha, as if I would want chicken after the offal orgy I had just experienced!" I did take one piece as a nightcap to chew on in my kennel, but the rest lay untouched in the bag for the next 24 hours.

Well, I can't say I didn't pay the price for my night of doggy debauchery. I awoke the next morning with a hacking cough, but I was one happy doggy still feeling all meaty inside. I can hardly wait to replay the event tonight. Eid al Adha Zindabad!