Eye of the beholder

Charlotte & I spent hours and hours at the fair the last couple of days, going through the animal barn at a slow pace even for me. We looked at, admired, and discussed each and every cow, chicken, sheep, goat, and pig ... especially the pigs. Charlotte has never shown any special preference for pigs before, but this year they really struck her fancy. So of course the sow & piglets in the petting zoo made a huge impression. We watched them for a very, very long time.

The sow was some kind of pink pig. She wasn't as big as some we've seen, but she was pretty big. The week-old piglets were just darling. They spent most of their time nursing vigorously, climbing all over each other as necessary to get to the top row of teats.

The sow was practically comatose. The only time I saw her respond was when one piglet started rooting in her mouth; that seemed to bother her a little, but not enough to make her open her eyes.



Charlotte saw things a little differently. Look at this happy, smiling mother! And doesn't she have a great nose? We watched the piglets exploring the pen, rooting in the sawdust, and talked about how pigs use their nose to investigate the world. Clearly she understood that; exact shape is really beside the point.

We went to the fair together Friday morning, then met Dean & George there for dinner & carnival rides Friday night, and returned to the fair this morning to look at the animals again. On the way home she wept at the thought that we couldn't go back until next year. Lucky me -- I've finally got someone to go with who won't get bored halfway through the barn!