Sunday, September 9, 2012

On Wild Boars and Revolution

My husband decided to file a complaint with the AA (Animal Assembly, see here for the first news bulletin and here for the second) of the tranquil Province of MulticoloredPieces. He feels things have gotten out of hand and has suffered prejudice at the hands of the animal constituency. Here's what happened.

TRUE STORY: My husband had been complaining about the broken fences around the citrus orchard last spring. Late one afternoon he was working in the orchard. He looked up and found a large (as in mature and heavy-weight) wild boar staring at him twenty feet away. He could clearly see the menacing tusks, and being a city boy who had heard stories about the meanness and unpredictability of wild boars, he panicked and ran for his life back to the garden gate--which was locked. He pulled the key out of his pocket, but, he could't steady his hand to get the key in the keyhole. He imagined the animal crashing up behind him at any minute--and then he got the key in the lock and opened the gate, slamming it behind him, and nearly fainting. In the meantime, the boar had taken off in the other direction, apparently frightened also, or at least surprised. 
---How fortunate for my husband.

The problem: Since the Revolution, tourism has dropped to an all-time low and European hunters who find boar hunting delectable now avoid Tunisia. In addition, the hotels that buy wild boar meat to offer in their restaurants to European clients have lost their clientele and the market for wild boar meat has dried up. Consequently, the wild boar population has increased putting pressure on food resources, which would explain the presence of a wild boar in our orchard. 
---How unfortunate for us.
Further problems have developed in the tranquil Province of MulticoloredPieces. The wild boars, who have been happily multiplying in Tunisia's backwoods, have been making their presence felt. In fact they have formed their own party in an attempt to take over the Animal Assembly. In order to have a majority, they have negotiated alliances by bullying other parties into submission. The Cow Party is cowed, the Chicken Party is chicken, the Feral Dog Party is running away. You get the idea. They even have a militia of young boars that appears at demonstrations and political rallies to badger protesters. As might be expected, the Province of MulticoloredPieces has become a boar's haven as garbage and filth accumulate everywhere. 
       The boorish Minister of Wildlife Affairs shrugged at complaints and grunted:
                                                  "We're here to stay." 
"Revolutionary Boorish Boars," Aug. 2012, 20"x 43.5" /50.5cm x 110cm
                                Or should I say, "The wolves are at the door"?
Reverse side of wild boars before being stitched to background.

                                How unfortunate for Tunisia and the Revolution.

21 comments:

Ms. said...


'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe

(Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

Mary Keasler said...

What a wonderful story, not to make light of your predicament with the boars. And the revolutionary quilt is inspiring. Are you a professional writer? If not you should be. You have such an imaginative way with words.

O'Quilts said...

U r a piece of work putting the boars and the bores into your art!!! You make me smile:)

Els said...

Ahhhh Nadia, what a great story ! (nót of your husband ofcourse !!!!)
The wild boars piece is goooood ! And that backside : how wonderful that there truely are wolves all of a sudden !
LOVE your way with needle-turned appliqué ! I can imagine that it's addictive ! It's a lot like the "Mola" pieces (I háve one !) of the San Blas islands !!!

Cate Rose said...

Wonderful double sided art. So sorry you're in the thick of the animal revolution, though. Hope things work out (however they might) for the highest good of all concerned.

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

That is so funny and so cute, Nadia, but at the same time I realize that it is neither funny nor cute to those of you who have to deal with what are basically PIGS! Hope you reach some sort of solution soon. And glad your husband escaped harm.

Carole Reid said...

Beauriful work Nadia! Your poor husband.
I hope all works out without any gorilla warfare involved! :)

Unknown said...

Oh, I laugh Nadia!!! Delightful post!
Your wild boars are so well done. Hope things settle down soon! xxo. sus

Jacky said...

You are a great story teller (and stitcher)...very enlightening.

Poor husband, that would have been quite scary!

Jacky xox

Quilteuse Forever said...


J'adore le tour de passe-passe du recto-verso...
Tu nous emmènes loin, loin, avec tes mots et tes points...
Tristesse et déception après un espoir au parfum de jasmin.

Sujata Shah said...

Wow! You can draw a picture with words AND With stitches. Scary experience for your husband, I have seen those wild bores back home. They are scary when hungry.

quilthexle said...

Glad to hear your husband was not harmed! And congrats to how you put your words and how you stitched the animals ... Very impressing!!!

Anonymous said...

words, quilts, memory - what a combo! I love the boars, and I too, am intrigued how they look like a completely different animal on the reverse!

BTW, have you seen the new-ish movie "Beasts of the Southern Wild"... boars figure rather prominently in the story.

Roxanne said...

Interesting stitchery. And interesting how it fits today's political scene no matter what country one is from.

Radka said...

Wonderful story, love it :-))))

Norma Schlager said...

You've done it again! Wonderful story, wonderful quilt.

barbbouk said...

I found the email you were asking about but....... I don't have an email address for you!
Send it to me thru FB if you want or just text it to me.
See you tomorrow!
By the way, LOVE the boars!!

Linda in Calif. said...

I don't think there's ever a dull moment at your place! Between your writing, quilting and real life stories. Poor hubby. So glad the boar didn't give chase.

KeyQuilter said...

Great story writing, even though the story line was a given.You are so talented in words AND textiles! I always enjoy my visit! Be safe!

Yvette said...

words and stitches....great

KhadijaTeri said...

Lots of fun reading this and seeing how you stitched the story into your work. I've never seen any wild boar in Libya but I ran into a few when we were hiking on Jabal Bukornine near Tunis. And they don't say oink oink.... they almost growl.