We own no domestic animals on our Back 40 – supposedly because we want to ‘keep it wild’ but ALSO because neither of us are good at animal tendin’.
That doesn’t mean I don’t get tempted from time to time – but sometimes I believe it’s by the idea more than the reality.
For example, I could start small, with the acquisition of a pot-bellied pig and a chicken.
When one owns pets, one has license to fly with their names. Livestock are no different.
I would name the pig ‘Ham’ and the chicken ‘Eggs’, so that in the morning I could awaken neighbors with the feeding call of ‘Ham ‘n Eggs: come and get it!”
I had believed my notion unique: so imagine my surprise when i discovered some of my rural neighbors more serious about 4H indeed chose names (if they named at all) relating to food.
Thus one neighbor’s 4H kids proudly reared the prize-winning Pork Chop and Hamburger, another fattened up Pot Roast, and a third enjoyed the too-brief company of Shank the Lamb.
Names: they really pinpoint your future role in life.
Just ask Bacon, Pork Chop and Hamburger…
