A Pig Is A Good Thing in the works!
A Pig Is A Good Thing
I recently had a contest to see if someone could figure out what I was going to paint showing a mostly blank canvas with the hint of a barnyard. There were many great guesses but to my surprise, no one mentioned painting a pig.
I actually love pigs!! Yes, those disgusting little creatures that eat anything and dig and roll in the mud, the blood and the beer. It is a true story that in my youth I was in the Future Farmers of America, FFA. For my project, I raised a pig and I called that piggie Mr. Tidbits.
I learned to guide Tidbits with a cane and give it verbal commands. I was proud of Mr. Tidbits and decided to take him to show. Well, he turned out to be a her. And at the fairgrounds, she decided to….. well let’s just say, get herself prepared for pregnancy.
It wasn’t but a few hours after taking 2nd place that some crazy boar got wind of my Tidbits. That boar busted through his fence, into Tidbits pen and decided to make babies without anybody’s permission or invitation.
I was appalled by such an action. It’s not like I haven’t seen dogs breed. I’d grown up around animals. But this was the most horrifying experience watching this happen to Tidbits. I beat that boar with my cane to no avail. I screamed for help to no avail. After being consoled by my mother I realized that nature took its course. This is the only truly disgusting thing I have to say about pigs.
Unbeknownst to most individuals, pigs are not that dirty. In fact, they only poo in one part of the pen and sleep in a clean spot. Their skin is relatively clean apart from a little mud every now and then. They can make the greatest friends.
I ended up raising pigs for a few years but decided to give up pigging when my dad decided to turn tidbits into bacon. (To be fair; she did root up and eat half of his garden).
Years later I got wind of house pigs. Pot Bellys. People would let them live in their house so I got one. I called her Atty. Short for attitude. Because she had a serious one.
Atty ate everything. She loved leftover popcorn and she would push her head to the bottom of the bag by shoving it against the couch to lick it. It was the funniest thing because every time she did this it would get stuck on her head. She would squeal a muffled sound that would make us laugh even though she was backing up into everything wiping out a few lampstands.
Atty became a housetrained pet that we received lots of love from. My favorite part was when you scratched behind her ears she would flop over like a cat so that you could scratch her belly. If you kept on scratching her left leg would kick like she was running.
During the summers I’d go to various fairs and set up a booth and paint. On several occasions, someone would ask if I‘ve ever painted a pig. So here it is…in the memory of Tidbits and Atty with an attitude, A Pig Is A Good Thing.
Let’s not judge by just a few external actions of an individual or an animal. Let us take time to learn and get acquainted. To observe. It’s called caring. Once you take the time to begin to care you will find that even a dirty pig can be a good thing.
I hope this motivation message finds you and your family well. Thank you for your continued prayers, support and good thoughts. I’m super excited about those who jumped on board with my donation subscription video from last month. Your $10+ a month helps keep the lights on for our Never Give Up nonprofit mission. As always, we can’t get our message out without your support. If you’d like to join the team please visit rollonron.com and click the Donate tab.
P.S. Yes, even the boar turned to be a good thing. There were a handful of Tidbits after that day at the fair.
With an attitude of gratitude,
Ron