in memoriam

i wasn't the only one hit hard by tammy's passing.  farm255's farmer/chef jacobia francois was a good friend of tammy's, and has a history longer than my own.  francois taught me how to ride tammy--an activity i neither condone nor partake in--as well as how to have a several minute snorttalk conversation an inch away from tammy's open snout.  she will be missed, and these are his words:

by:  francois

spamela.  Spam-Spam.  Tam-Tam.  Spammy.  Tamela.  Grandma Spam-A-Lot.  Tammy the Tamworth.  Yes, we name our animals.  And the most venerable of the lot get nicknames.  She had many. 

Tammy, Our old and venerable and wise sow was the last generational link to Elroy, the greatest and gentlest of hog-kind we have ever encountered.  His memory still lives close to my heart.   Tammy was one of Elroy’s sows, and the two of them together was like a watching an old married couple from the Funny Pages of a nineteen fifties’ era daily newspaper.  Tammy was always honking and snorting in Elroy’s ear about some goddamn thing.  Elroy usually just ignored her and then fell asleep.  it was classic.

She went a few days ago with the utmost dignity.  She did not bellow.  She did not disturb the other much more junior pigs also on their way to the big processing facility in the sky.  She inched her way onto the trailer, gamely made the move to the second trailer for transport, and that was it.  Her fortitude in the face of impending demise awed me.  These pigs aren’t only smart- the wise ones are wise.  Hers’ was a fate sealed, and one that she seemed to have made peace with.  Tammy had too much pride to fuss about when the time came.  She went, as we all do, and went with head held high, her snout wet and curious.  She sniffed at me through the ventilation hatch on the trailer just before it drove off--one last hello/goodbye.  I rubbed her massive wet nose, flashed over some moments we have had together over the last 2 years, and thanked her for her contributions and sacrifice.  She kept her snout against the grate--sniffed deeply and paused--and pulled back to situate herself for the long ride.