Welcome to the pig pen
© Tony Northrup, 2010
I was going to write something profound this week.
Then Becky McCrary changed my mind with one short email.
Becky had written that she was happy as a pig in mud.
I fired back that our fine swine wallow only in real SLOP.
That acronym stands for “Stuff Left Over, Period”.
I did not realize I was talking with a veteran of the pig pen.
Becky began her training at the tender age of 12.
She carried 5-gallon buckets of feed including slop to the pigs.
She journeyed across a field and into the woods to the pig pen.
There she perched on a fence to read a book until Mama called.
She dug a trench from pen to ditch to shovel out the mud.
Those animals would slosh out clean water until they had mud.
Then they would audibly sigh and lie down.
“That doesn’t compare to the hog farm when I was 17,” she says.
“Those animals lived on concrete that was washed out daily.
“You could tell from their demeanor that something was missing.”
Even today, she loves to feel mud squishing between her toes.
If you have not tried this, you must. It is a moment to savor.
Wait for the next summer rain, pull off your shoes and go for it.
This inspirational message brought to you by Becky and me.
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