It's the Year of The Pig, or boar, in the Chinese calendar. This small bell is from Japan, delivered in person this year by Iain and his wife who where here on July 4th. Back in May Canada Post put out a stamp, as is their custom, to commemorate the turning of the Chinese year. Too bad I wasn't in Canada this year to pick up the souvenir sheet, as is my custom, to send to an elderly woman in Scotland who loves these stamps.
From the photograph and in several of the links you can see some tell tale tusks indicating the pig can also be a wild pig, known as a Wild Boar. Wild boar have a particular significance coming from the long walk I took with Tom and the Chief Priest of the temple where I was staying last week. We had walked through deep woodland for what seemed like hours and very possibly we were lost. I'd noticed that the ground was churned up somewhat to the side of the path and I'd tried to make sense of it. The chilling news? Wild Boar activity. Thankfully we were close to the end of the walk. Apparently Wild Boar can be found in British woodlands. I'll be happy not to meet them.
