Growing up in suburban Columbus, Ohio, I never really saw a pig in my future. Granted, there were pigs, cows, and horses galore in Ohio, but none in my neck of the woods. Fast forward to a rather bizarre move westward to Montana, and some very special new friends, and we have been gifted a pig!

It all began when our wonderful friends Bud and Laura decided to raise piglets for food this year. Laura asked me for name suggestions,  as apparently there is an unwritten rule that they have to be named after food if you are eventually going to put them in your freezer. I suggested Pattie and Link and she loved it. So it was to be. 

On the day of the piggie pickup, I got a call from Laura telling me that I had to come up with another name. Why? Because they had purchased a "gift" piggie for us! Thankfully they would raise it on their ranch, but we would have visitation rights. Well, not very original, but my Dad’s favorite Looney Tunes character was Porky Pig, so we called her Porky.

When we went over to meet her, she came right to me for a neck scratch. (She is the one on the right in the photo.) She was precious, but then they all were.

I had hesitations about getting too attached, but I soon got it. These little pigs had a wonderful life. They ate good organic food, we would go over on weekends and feed them all sorts of things...corn, melon, squash,  apples, and of course their favorite, beer. How they loved the beer! They would run around and play, and were literally smiling.

When the sad day came for the butchering, we were okay with everything. They weren’t standing shoulder to shoulder in a feed lot, they were kept clean and well-fed, and the whole experience was full of good Karma.

We now have a freezer full of the most wonderful pork I have ever tasted, and with every forkful we have memories of our delightful days spent with Porky.