Bakers And Buffalo

One of my favourite stories amongst those I have written for the monthly competitions is one about the demise of the buffalo on the American prairies. Colossal numbers - many millions - of this magnificent beast were wiped out, mainly for sport, and reduced to a few thousand.

We have never seen a live buffalo, or bison, in the USA, but there are a few places where they have been saved - they are being farmed for their meat - and where you can go to see them. We intend to do so on one of our visits there. We did not expect that our first sighting of live buffalo would be in a small touwn, Oxford, in New Zealand. But here they are, two of them, in a field with two cows. Not sure what the objective is. Is the intention to breed them together? To cross them with cattle? No idea, but they are very handsome animals.

The story I have to write this month is on the theme of food. So it was very amusing to see this bakery van in Akaroa a couple of days ago. Look at the registration plate as well as the sign in the window. I think our baker friend Lorenzo (who, coincidentally)  has a bronze statue of a buffalo family near his home) would like to have this van.

Tomorrow we leave New Zeland and should be home in just over a week. This means that the hard grind will begin, objectives being at least one short story per months, "Vic's Big Walk" into paperback, and three more books published in e-format and also possibly in paperback.