Rabbits, Hares, Paté, and Conflict Avoidance

So... I haven't yet gotten the nerve up to talk to "Joseph" about his 3am blaring television. KayakGirl (Becky) actually has a decent point. The poor man who lost his wife two years or so ago probably is an insomniac and has no clue that his lack of hearing and intent to lull himself back to sleep irritates me (which may be why i should actually say something, but I partially just want to get over it (if possible) - we'll see...).

Additionally, he has begun to take a liking to us, his young american neighbors. He seems to have a fascination in general with the US and often just needs someone to listen to him. Today on the way out the door he stopped me and said he had some homemade paté for me, if I liked paté. I do, or at least some paté, so I now have some homemade rabbit paté. Joseph hunts, so he actually killed the rabbit, soaked it for awhile in vinegar, olive oil, and spices, added chicken liver, some cognac, lots of sherry, and some other stuff, stewed it awhile, and voila. You can't really be upset at someone who just needs a friend and someone to bestow upon his cooking.

Somehow I'm not sure that the path of least resistance nor avoiding conflict is actually the best route. Even as I write this I am struck by the fact that everything in me says that I need to mention his TV. I just want to keep the peace and keep on good terms with my neighbor. But experience and conviction tells me that in would be better to just nip it in the bud and trust God to work in the midst of it all. We'll see, but it is true that resolving conflict does in fact decide to engage versus just allowing walls and distance to be built. (Okay, I'm definitely "verbally" processing.)

So... one more little Joseph story... with several rabbit trails added as a bonus. Joseph, as I will call him, has given us great gazpacho (a yummy cold tomato soup typical for summer and of spain), always likes us to see the improvements he makes to his house (like the fancy new bathroom he put the end of 2007). So, I think I had brought him some cookies or brownies or pumpkin something I had made for some event. He had just gone hunting, so after showing me the new additions to his apartment he offered me pheasants. I said no thanks, not really knowing how they would come and also because you almost always first say no just to be polite. He of course insisted and then pulled 2 freshly killed pheasants out of a bag he had, feathers, heads, talons, and all. He said he had more than he could eat and that his freezer was filling up quickly (which he of course showed me and described in detail). I thought about it briefly and then decided it wasn't the day I wanted to learn to pluck and prepare a fresh pheasant. But I am learning that Joseph knows quite a bit about cooking, not just spanish staples like tortilla de patata and gazpacho but he also knows how to make some of the delicacies and home-cooked stuff I'd love to learn how to make. He's bringing over the recipe later for the paté and I may have to make a list of things I'd like to learn how to make.

Some random facts I found out about rabbits / hares, looking for a picture:
+ At present, Spain is the third largest producer of rabbit meat in the World, after China and Italy.

+ Apparently there is a difference between "rabbits" and "hares," and the meat in my paté is actually from a hare. Hares do not bear their young below ground in a burrow as do other Leporidae, but rather in a shallow depression or flattened nest of grass called a form.

Hares are adapted to the lack of physical protection, relative to that afforded by a burrow, by being born fully furred and with eyes open. They are hence able to fend for themselves very quickly after birth — that is to say, they are precocial. By contrast, the related rabbits and cottontail rabbits are altricial, having young that are born blind and hairless.

All rabbits (except the cottontail rabbits) live underground in burrows or warrens, while hares (and cottontail rabbits) live in simple nests above the ground, and usually do not live in groups.

Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears, and have black markings on their fur. Hares have not been domesticated, while rabbits are often kept as house pets.

+ Hares are very fast moving. The European Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus) can run at speeds of up to 70 km/h (45 mph).