Recently we have been having trouble with our electricity and someone said to me “what do you expect if you live out in the boondocks!”
Boondocks
What on earth is a ‘boondock’ anyway?
I had to look up boondocks! According to Wikipedia, “The boondocks is an American expression that stems from the Tagalog word bundok. It originally referred to a remote rural area, but now it is often applied to an out-of-the-way city or town considered backward and unsophisticated.” Okay so we will go with the ‘remote rural area’ definition I think, hrrmph.
Boondocks Help! We are Surrounded by Olive Groves!
Looking up the mountain from my below my house (which is in this shot) I think it looks pretty rural. The straight rows of trees you can see are olive trees as we are surrounded by them. The woodland above the olive grove is full of wildlife and we regularly see deer, porcupine and wild boar around the house.
Leaving the house by car we pass olive groves on all sides. Looking down them, as in this shot, they seem to go long into the distance. This shot was taken at the beginning of sunset so the trees at the top closest to me were already in shade. The ones at the bottom are bathed in golden light. The trees are in full growth now as the end of October marks the beginning of olive picking season. We have been out looking at our own olive trees and talking about the best time to pick them (well into November is our usual strategy).
Why Not Take a Short Cut?
One of our favourite roads is a short cut we take. This involves leaving the unmade up, bumpy, white top road that leads from our house and going down an even more bumpy, unmade up white top road. This has a vicious bend at the beginning (made worse by having to dodge the farm dogs who come out to chase the car) and an incline down the mountain side. Even in a 4 x 4 off roader this is an adventure of potholes and stones that just seem to appear in the middle of the road.
I remember the first time I drove my niece up this track. It was dark and pouring with rain and a porcupine ran across in front of the car (I missed him). “Whoa” she shouted “Concubine!“. We then spent a couple of interesting minutes whilst I explained the difference.
The thing about the animals though is that with this road you never know. Sometimes deer wander across the road, porcupine (as already mentioned), hares and wild boar. Sometimes you will see the lesser spotted log man, cutting his logs from the woodland and loading them onto a trailer.
Boondocks? Yeah, and proud of it!
Before you go
My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.
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Thank you for reading!
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