DOGS Corner

In ten days it will all be over. In five days we’d be left wondering what most of the pressure was for. In less than two weeks from now, 2025 with all the hopes, fears, aspirations, goals and targets will start becoming more of a memory. A new start will be before us. 

Before then though the frenzy of the season embraces just about everyone. There’s not a lot we get to truly celebrate in these parts so Christmas is one we all look forward to.

I can understand the wild purchases, the huge expenditures and in extreme cases indebtedness, some can go into just to really have fun. We can get carried away with preparations for celebration and totally forget the reason behind it.

I like being very meticulous in whatever I do so I had started making my own Christmas plans since September. You won’t believe I had paid a poultry farmer for 10 Christmas chickens since that month. Having 10 well fed 16 week chickens would definitely meet our meat requirements as a family for the period. Sure a couple or so would be given as gifts but we’d still have more than enough left. 

Or so I figured. I didn’t figure that the poultry farmer had an ass for a husband.

After paying for the chickens, the plan was that I would pick them up at 8 weeks. I really wasn’t checking up on the poultry farmer. Why would I? She was a pharmacist, with a thriving pharmacy in a prominent area and I more or less pass by the pharmacy every day and she made it a habit to sit outside. 

We’d exchange greetings when we could. She had stocked 500 birds and I felt whatever happened, I’d definitely have the birds I paid for. At the 8th week, I went to see the birds and how well they’ve grown. I found their growth so impressive that I offered to pay her more money to keep feeding them for me.

 After a little dallying, she agreed but told me she’d only keep raising them till the second week of December. Fair enough I thought. Little did I know disaster was in the corner.

It turns out while madam poultry farmer was looking forward to making bumper sales this Christmas and I was looking forward to eating multiple huge laps of chicken and all manner of assorted chicken meat, her husband had other plans.

 One day while madam was in the pharmacy, the man arranged with some buyers and sold off all the birds without her knowledge. It didn’t help days later that reports came that he had swindled a number of people of huge sums of money they gave him for produce business. Making it worse, he ran away from home and hasn’t been seen since. 

The news hit me like a gut punch. Where was I going to get chickens of that size and price again?

I was refunded the money I paid but my mood remained down for quite a while. I have been swearing for that man since. It was later in the week the realization dawned on me. While the way I planned to celebrate the season may have changed, the reason for the celebration hasn’t. In my flawed thoughts, I had made the celebration about something and not someone. Chicken or no chicken, there will still be Christmas. And Christmas chicken doesn’t taste different! So what was I downcast about?

I’ll focus on what truly and really matters this season and always. Connections. Deepening and re-establishing them with people who I truly care about and people who truly care about me as well. That is the true spirit of Christmas indeed.

I get catfish wey I don keep for over 5 years now. Who I go dash catfish of over 12kg dis period wey no go appreciate am? Thunder go still fire dat woman husband anywhere wey him dey sha.