Roger's Ramblings

Hi friends and neighbors of the mail. Last week the rambling left you all hanging with the question about the days when ‘pigs could fly’. I also promised this week to share about those days. So, this is it!

Saddle up and ride back with me into the land of ‘make believe, and let’s imagine together about the wonderful days of the past. Are we ready? Close your eyes and ride back with me and let’s begin. O K, here we are. I am pulling my little wagon through the woods on the way to the spring to dip water. My favorite animals to watch and admire were always the flying pigs.They had beautiful wings and I always adored them so very much. I always dreamed of the day when I could catch one. I had so much fun back then. All the water was clean and the land was abundant with lots of food for all animals. One day as I was strolling along the forest floor looking for a new adventure something was squealing under a huge apple tree. I noticed five cute little baby pigs. They were so very adorable and I wanted to play with them. I picked them up and took them home. All of my brothers and sisters were so very excited to have our new pets. We built them a cage so they could not flutter away and after sometime they became very attached to us. After a year of growth and maturity they would fly around our house and follow us everywhere we went.

My dad finally said I must return them to the forest so I did one day with sadness. I took Buggy, Rootie, Loogie, Ludy and Tootie out to the woods and told them they must stay and return to their own kind. It was very difficult and with much sadness I did. The next year we went through a terrible time of drought. Gardens failed and crops dried up. Neighbors from miles around became desperate. However: my parents were always saving for the future and had saved back crops and food for a bad year. One day all five of our flying pigs came back. They were hungry. Us kids were so happy to see them again. They stayed in our barn at night and one morning we had a surprise. Rootie and Ludy each had a litter of babies. We were all so very excited! However: three of them did not have wings. We were so very worried.

My dad said, “In nature pigs born without wings would perish.” My dad however was a man of vision. He said, “pigs without wings? (Mmm mmm) It would mean in the future anyone could raise hogs with a simple fence to surround them.” As the years went by our hogs became wingless and popular all over the world. Today, winged flying hogs have become extinct. Looking back, I am so very sad sometimes when I walk through the forest remembering the good old days when I was a kid watching fluttering, flying hogs eat fruit from the trees. My memory of Buggy, Rootie, Loogie, Ludy and Tootie will always haunt me as my favorite childhood pets when ‘pigs could fly.’ Oh my friends, I must go. I will be back next with another story about why some cows have horns and others do not. Question for next week. Why do cattle producers call cattle that do not grow horns polled? Next week in the land of make belief we will find out why. More ramblings next week! Do not miss.