Last post I spoke about dear old Halil our local woodcutter delivering a donkey-load of illicit wood whilst the ‘suits’ from the Forestry Ministry were visiting. Halil was a real character, as was his last donkey. All the previous ‘donks’ had been sweet natured things that loved to have their ears scratched but this last one was a total animal! Given the slightest lapse of attention this sod would ‘fix’ whoever was within range.
Halil and the ‘donk’ wandered by one day and Halil had his arm in a sling – he took his shirt off to show the injuries that had been inflicted by the monster lurking in the skin of a gentle beast of burden. His arm, chest and back were black and blue! ‘What will you do’ I asked, ‘flog it for dog meat?’ – the beast eyed me balefully over the gate. He shrugged in that Turkish way, mumbled something or other and wandered on his way.
A few days later the pair walked by again and I noticed the ‘donk’ was hanging its head a bit – then I spotted the reason – Halil had fashioned a very effective muzzle out of an old saucepan by knocking a few holes in the bottom and tying it on like a feed-bag. The beast was beaten – not with a stick but by a bit of village woodman ingenuity. That monster may have sunk its teeth into Halil; but Halil was going to have the last laugh and his pound of flesh out of that ‘donk’!
Dear old Halil died a few years ago and I was fortunate enough to have taken a couple of poor quality but rare photos of him and his donkey. I wandered up to his house with copies of the photos for him and we sat outside on the wall and chatted a while. By then he knew he was dying and we cried together a bit and hugged – Okçular, and especially our corner of it was not going to be quite the same again.
We lost a good komşu (neighbour) and the village a character. We also lost our firewood supplier. Nowadays we get a phone call from the village muhtar (headman), we cough up some dosh and a tractor comes by and drops off a great trailer-load. It’s cheap and efficient service, but it ain’t Halil and his ‘donk’ – nothing will ever replace that pair of rogues!
Here’s a couple of photos of today’s delivery of cheap village firewood and a little, old village lady of my acquaintance cutting and sorting her supply – they lack the nostalgic charm of earlier days, but what the heck – a bit of sepia tinting and it could be a hundred years ago!
This reminds me of my wood-heat-only childhood in New England. I am no stranger to a stack of wood like that. Are you and J. heating with wood only by any chance? I loved hearing about Halil and his donkey
Liz Cameron recently posted..Ottomans in America: 99% of the Karagozis occupy my armchair with music demands
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Hi again Liz, hot water comes from a pressurised solar system backed up by electricity if needed (rarely); house is centrally heated from a state-of-the-art air to water heat exchanger (turns 1kwh of electricity into 5kwh of hot water – amazing); and two big open fires that burn logs for cozy comfort.
Glad you liked Halil – wonderful old raki-soked rogue.
Alan recently posted..Friends and Neighbours – The Sequel
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I felt sad about halil death, i cant see this good&kind people this days.
You are lucky to have some pictuers and memories from halil.
barak recently posted..Dog loss quotes
Hello Barak and welcome to Archers. You are right about being lucky to have a few pictures for the memories of Halil – we would disagree about there not being good and kind people any more – I think there are lots of them – but I do understand the sentiment you are expressing.
Alan recently posted..Friends and Neighbours
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‘quote’a bit of sepia tinting and it could be a hundred years ago!
such characters
Mmmh may have to photoshop out the chainsaw & extension lead lol
lovely piece, we have a few Halil’s in our village
that’s nothing compared with what will need to be PhotoShopped when the ‘little old village lady’ gets to see this post
Alan recently posted..The Second Coming?
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The “little old lady” looks like she has the determination to cut down a whole forest on her own. Would loved to have met your mate Hali, he sounds like a character
Natalie recently posted..Kalkan – Inspiration on My Solo Holiday
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Hi Natalie, you’d better believe it! And Halil really was an interesting guy with a very checkered past.
Alan recently posted..Called To Ordure
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Little old lady indeed. Are you in the dog house? You should be!
Jack Scott recently posted..Gentleman Jack
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Yeah! She spotted it – turns out J has a subscription just to keep an eye on what’s being written – she took it out after I mysteriously stopped asking her to proof-read each post. Devious or what?
Alan recently posted..Aezani – The Temple of Zeus and a ‘Lost World’
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