Mandy & her Goose!
Hello BKM neighbours and friends! There is an old English saying (erroneously attributed to a Chinese curse) that says “may we live in interesting times”. And boy, are we doing just that!
The last couple of weeks have been crazy for the property market. We have been inundated with buyers and we are surely approaching a situation I alluded to in our previous blog, wherein we experience a Seller market within a Buyer market. This is because sellers are fearful that they may not achieve the best price for their properties, and are therefore holding back on listing, and buyers are finding that the existing stock is being snapped up very quickly, so they are not encouraged to make low ball offers. A stock shortage is being experienced in many areas.
It’s a bizarre situation and one that I think will be with us for a while. It’s weird and wonderful and that’s why we love property! One thing that COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown has exposed (again), is the vast gap between the rich, the poor, the haves and the have-nots, and even our relationship with different species. After all, the virus itself is a result of cross-species abuse. In some cases, and particularly in our hood, amazing people showed just how loving and generous they are by giving back, looking after those that are less fortunate and general looking out for our neighbours. It has been beautiful to see and we truly are blessed to live in a community like ours.
This brings us to the adorable, true-life story of ‘Mandy and her goose.’ A story of abandonment, true love, forever friends, and it goes like this…
Around 7 years ago, while walking their beautiful black Alsation Sacha, Subeth and a friend came across a gosling that was unable to climb onto the pavement from the road. After helping the little gosling up, they realised that the rest of the gaggle had disappeared and the gosling had been abandoned. A search for the family ensued but to no avail. Subeth was mortified. She hesitantly took the gosling home. She was so afraid that Sacha would eat the gosling but as she turned around, the gosling had planted herself in the curl of the dog’s tail and that became her safe place.
As the days went by, they noticed that the gosling had a deformed wing which was most likely the reason why it was abandoned. The gosling grew up fast and now believed he was a dog. He ate only dog food and followed ‘his’ dog around like a shadow. They eventually named him ‘Shadow’. Shadow would quack when the dog barked and sleep when the dog slept. They were a couple. After 2 years of being together, Sacha sadly got sick and was diagnosed with cancer. Despite Chemo and treatment, it became clear that Sacha was not going to survive. Shortly before Sacha died, Subeth adopted another little Alsatian pup that only had one eye. They named her Mandy.
Sacha, Shadow and Mandy got along just fine but there was no question that Shadow the goose belonged to Sacha, and Mandy was just the 3rd wheel. Being a happy, playful pup, Mandy did not seem to mind. After Sacha died, Shadow was inconsolable. He spent days sitting in the back garden just staring into the sky, not eating, not quacking, and the fear that Shadow would die from a broken heart was very real. One day, as puppy Mandy was playing in the garden, Shadow stopped staring into space, turned around and just like that, decided to adopt Mandy the puppy. They fell in love!
From that day on, 5 years ago, Shadow has not left Mandy’s side. He is overprotective of Mandy and is super protective of Shadow by making sure that Shadow is comfortable and not agitated. She moves him around to make sure Shadow is safe and Shadow chases all the other geese away! They have literally become life partners. They eat together, sleep together. They bark/quack together and they are the most adorable couple in the hood. They are side by side every moment of the day except for the 1 hour that Subeth takes Mandy out for a walk. Shadow is not impressed! But on their return, Shadow is right there waiting for his forever friend.
This story really struck a chord with us. During a time of such change and upheaval, a story of strange, unconditional love, across the species barrier and right here in our hood is a message to all of us that love conquers all. And maybe it’s true that Love is all we need.
Signing off All good in da hood!
Murray and Cecily
*Please remember to send us your stories of our hood. We love to hear them and especially some historic titbits…
