Babe

It turns out that while a baby pig looks sweet and charming in a landscape shot, up close in a cropped frame of the same photo, his snout is wet and slobbery and covered in a little too much erm, dirt (if it's something else, let's not focus on what that might be). But still, a total cute babe, this pig is!

This photo is from the image gallery that accompanies a story I saw in the Times today {+}. The article's about a woman who went gangbusters on the trending food movement à la Michael Pollan and is now, with husband and family in tow, five years into running her very own sustainable farm. Because, you know, when you have a few million to invest and a newfound passion, that's what you do. Naturally.

Photo by Drew Kelly for the NYTimes for this piece {+}

In the article, the farmer is quoted with a line that stirs up the sweetest image in this city girl's head:

“The most amazing thing happens when a sow is in labor down in the farrowing pen... The laying hens will go and gather round her and make sure to drop an egg right near her face for a little added protein to keep her energy up. How cool is that?”

Cool, indeed. Farm life suddenly sounds so dreamy and magical and everybody, let's gather around the campfire for a little kumbaya action.  When I think about these hens moseying on up to their animal friend and popping out an egg, I can't help but wonder just why Anne Shirley had such a difficult time adapting to life at Green Gables.  Farm life sounds pretty sweet to me.  Inspiring, really.

I love stories about communities that take care of its members.  Even our friends in the animal kingdom have them. It's a universal phenomenon present across all living, breathing things, this ability to act on our generous inclinations, to share our resources and support our neighbors.

All this talk makes me want a cute baby chick. One of the wee yellow ones that Joey and Chandler had in their apartment comes to mind. A little squealing piglet doesn’t sound so bad either, perhaps the runt of the litter, because I’m a big fan of the underdog. I'll tell you what: if the chick and piglet happen, I’ll make it a point to keep the plum pudding covered and go easy on the raspberry cordial.