26 January 2013

What's in a name?

Filbert is my pen name, chosen about 4 years ago when I began writing an online journal about my life as a part-time sheep and poultry farmer. At the time, it seemed safer to use a name other than my own.  In case, say, the boss at my "real job" wanted to know what I was up to, googled me & found my blog.  Reading about my dropping my cell phone in the mud outside the chicken coop when I was actually supposed to be seeing a customer didn't seem good for job security.

Filbert
I have a special fondness for the name "Filbert." Filbert was one of my favorite sheep in the flock of woolies I cared for over the past several years. Filbert, or Bert for short, was a beautiful silver Romney sheep, kept as company and a calming influence for the flock's breeding ram Buckeye. Filbert could be a worrier one minute and prancing joyfully like a deer through the pasture the next. He was the sheep that required the most patience to handle. Filbert was the sheep version of me.
Coated Bert

Bert just before shearing
Filbert is also the name most often used in Oregon for the hazelnut. The filbert is actually a particular species of the hazelnut, thinner and more elongated than the other rounder species. Oregon is known for its filberts, producing 99% of the hazelnuts in the United States, the 3rd largest country of producers after Turkey and Italy. When I refer to the filbert or to filbert trees, I am often mistaken for a native Oregonian, as natives of the state are more apt to recognise the name. Another fascinating fact about why I like "Filbert" is the name is thought to have originated because hazelnuts mature on or around St. Philibert's Day, August 20th, which just so happens to be my birthday.
A filbert about 1 month before harvest

"Our" filbert orchard
As my life descended into mild to medium chaos over the past 2 years, I often joked with friends about entering NUTSEC, my own mental health version of the Federal Witness Protection Program or WITSEC.  To keep me safe and difficult to locate, it made perfect sense for my NUTSEC name to be Filbert.