Out of Balance

This morning while walking my dog Bobby, my neighbor at the end of our road drove by intensely eyeing the imprints on our dirt road. They belong to wild pigs which rustle around in early winter through the land of backwoods Florida and, much to many homeowners dismay, destroy their lawns by digging long trenches. My neighbor slowed down as he passed us and asked if I let Bobby chase the hogs. No need I said, the hogs have never touched our lawn. They do live in the numerous palmetto bushes we've left on the land and, I suspect, come out at night, trot down the road to my neighbor's lawns and go to work. I guess the hogs like the hospitality of not clearing our property and leaving them some semblance of a home. OK they do occasionally use our pond for bathing; once I saw a Mama and several of her piggy babies having a grand National Geographic splash and play. It's all good. We have an understanding I guess. They get to live in the palmetto; we get to keep our lawn.