TheBanyanTree: Wilma and Wilma and Wilma and Wilma

[NancyIee at aol.com]

Hurricane number 22. They called it Wilma, a record breaker, since they ran 
out of names for 2005. After previous devastation, I take heed and watch the 
progress of any hurricane.

I was out rounding up the lawn furniture, decoration, flags, and piling 
everything in the barn. I was rounding up the horses and putting them in their 
stalls. I gave the goats extra hay, brought the dogs in the house and secured them 
in their crates, I checked the pigs to make sure they and water and food . 
.wait . . . 

The sow, all 250 pounds of her, was out in the mud, usual for her, except she 
looked odd. She seemed listless and didn't run to the fence to see if I had 
brought her something to eat. She was always ready to eat. I teased her with an 
apple, and she only looked at it. Then, she grunted, and pooped out a piglet. 
There was one moment of utter stun, then I climbed the fence to pick the 
piglet out of the mud.

No time for niceties, I wipe the muck off the limp piglet with my shirttail, 
shook it, then . worrying beyond the yuck, gave a  mouth-to-snout breath.  The 
pig squealed and thrashed. But, that wasn't the end.

The end came eight pigs later. Dumb sow didn't know anything about 
motherhood, so CiCi and I served as slaves/midwives,. warming, cleaning,  spanking all 
the piglets to vigorous life.  There were eight, but no matter the effort we 
made, two could not be revived.

Still, as Wilma swept in with her raging winds and horizontal rains, we 
tended mother and her six wiggling piglets.  Secure in their  nest of hay (and it 
takes a lot of hay to make a nest for a 250 pound sow and her  babies) CiCi and 
I then finished the job of securing all our other things from the storm.

We said we'd never name pigs, since we didn't want to become attached to 
something we might later barbecue.  Yet, we now have the sow, we call Pinkie, and 
the Male, we call Blackie  cause he's . .black.  and Wilma1, Wilma2, Wilma3, W
ilma4, and Wilbur and Gilbert.

And, no, we got really lucky. Wilma missed us, brushing by only with some  
wind and  six or  eight inches of rain. .and six piglets.


NancyLee