It all started when Ben discovered yesterday morning that two of his tall acacia trees had been completely de-leafed. What had been beautiful, flourishing trees were completely stripped bare overnight. Who could have done this? And why?
We wracked our brains. The kids are too short. The goats can’t get in. It wasn’t the wind. It must have been a shepherd who climbed on our wall and cut off the branches to give to his goats. Annoying. Poor trees. Poor Ben. Oh well. Move on.
Until…it was one of those nights where you keep waking up, hoping it’s a nightmare and will go away…and it doesn’t.
There was chanting. All night. Electrofied chanting. Plugged in. Blasting through the neighborhood.
At first it’s tolerable. Soon it becomes even more annoying than “The Song that Gets on Everybody’s Nerves” or “The Song that Never Ends”.
You fall asleep. You wake up again to the same. You wish it away and roll over. Just a little peace, please.
Then the chanting has competition. Another sound intrudes on the night’s silence. Chewing. Loud chewing. Louder and worse than the grinding of the grindiest teether. Mouth open. Mouth closed. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. MONSTROUS chewing.
The sound of branches snapping. The thief! Who was it? Who had the nerve to steal our trees right outside our window! We could rest no longer.
Ben opened the window just behind our bed, and came almost nose to nose with....camels. They looked. He looked.
We rolled over. We laughed. We fell asleep.
O Hamel, O Hamel, I awoke to a camel!
