Who knows

I know things. And I don't mean things that I've been taught or that I've read or learned through experience. I know those things too. Although I have forgotten more than I remember. The more you learn, the more you know. The more you know, the more you forget. The more you forget, the less you know. The more you learn, the less you know. Actually, I know very little. But about a lot of things. Anyhoo, I'm not talking about those things. I know other things. Things that one can't know you know. Weird things. Yesterday morning for instance. At 07.00 I went out to feed the horses, the chickens and the pigs. Since it was still dark(ish) and the snow, rain and frost of the past couple of days caused the path towards the stables to be rather slippery, I took a torch. So I could see where the best options for breaking my neck were ánd avoid those spots. The normal procedure is: feed the horses grass, feed the pigs, feed the chickens, feed the horses muesli/pellets. If you want to know all about the grass we feed the horses and why we put it in big flexible buckets, read THIS. It's a long story with more details than anyone could ever wish for. By the time I had filled the buckets and given them to the horses, it was just about light enough to see where I was going. So I consciously thought about leaving the torch or taking it with me to the pigs who live further down the garden. I decided to take the torch, because, and this is litterally what I thought: 'if the light in the pig's stable doesn't work I can't see a thing'. Nót that there was any indication for the light not working. I honestly have no idea why I thought it might not work. So I took the torch and went to the pigs. You've guessed it. I switched on the light in their stable. It flickered a couple of times and then the light went out. Broken! I mean... hów did I know? When hubs came home that evening I had forgotten all about it. He went outside with the dogs and when he returned mentioned that the light in Nufnuf and Tumtum's stable didn't work. Suddenly I remembered the strange thing that morning and told him. He wasn't surprised at all. 'Typically you', he said. 'You just know these things.' Have I not convinced you? Okay. Another example. I have mentioned it in an earlier post. Last year, a week before little Evie was due, a friend who had some experience with pregnant horses came over for a cup of coffee (or tea). She didn't stay long, and when she wanted to go home I said that if she waited a bit longer she could see Naloma's foal being born. She looked at Naloma and said: "No, she doesn't show any sign of being in labour. She's far too calm. Your foal isn't due for another week and it won't be born tonight.' 'I just have a feeling that it will', I said. Friend didn't believe me and went home. Ten minutes later Naloma went into labour and an hour later little Evie was born. I just knew. No? Not convinced? Another example then. A very different one. Once upon a time, long ago, hubs and I spent about two weeks in Scotland. We visited Glamis Castle, and did a guided tour with a large group of other tourists. Part of this tour was a visit to 'the Queen's bedroom'. There was a stone seat just behind the door that was looking really tempting, because my feet were killing me. But I couldn't bring myself to sit down on that ever so appealing looking seat. Then the guide told us that the seat was haunted by the ghost of a little boy servant. Hmm. Also part of the tour was a visit to the chapel and we were invited to take a seat (finally!). Hubs and I shuffled into the back row and sat down. There were more people than chairs, so a couple of people were left standing. For some reason I had left the last chair in our row, the one next to me, empty. For some reason I didn't sit on that chair. Although there were people who had to stand up because there weren't enough chairs. I offered to the people who were left standing to move to thát chair so one of them could also sit down, but they all declined the offer. So I stayed put. The tourguide did his talk about the chapel and mentioned the ghost of 'the Grey Lady', who apparently always sat in the last chair of the last row. The chair next to me. 'And', he said, 'as long as I'm tourguide, no one has ever sat in that chair! No one.' Everybody looked at the empty chair next to me. As did I. And although I couldn't see a 'Grey Lady', I knew that thát was the reason why I had left the perfectly good chair empty. A couple of rows in front of us a woman stood up and said: "It's true! This is the third time in about five years I'm doing this tour (she must have really liked it), and it's true. I have never seen anyone sitting in that chair!' Okay, so other people know things too. You may know things. Who knows?