Shaking On It
The pigs are back in their front pasture enjoying the field mix I planted there at the beginning of the summer and fattening themselves up for the long winter. They were ready. What had been a cool and shady spot to spend the summer was getting cold and dark in October. Besides, as I’ve already explained in a previous post, the acorns were a no-show. The pigs themselves are doing fine; not much to report on that front.
Two days ago on my way to Rhode Island, I detoured to Peace Ridge Sanctuary for their final open house of the year. I hadn’t set up a meeting with anyone; my plan was to show up and see what happened. What did happen was a little out of the ordinary. I was wandering around and wondering whom I should be on the lookout for when a woman introduced herself to me as Daniella. (As it happens, the founder of Peace Ridge.) The conversation went something like this:
Daniella: Do you want to join one of the tours?
Me: I don’t have a lot of time. I’m on my way to Rhode Island.
Daniella: Where in Rhode Island?
Me: North Smithfield.
Daniella: I went to high school in Woonsocket.
Me: I went to Mount Saint Charles.
Daniella: So did I.
What are the odds? Pretty small. Turns out that Daniella was in the graduating class behind my brother Tim who is eight years younger than I. So we visited the pigs of Peace Ridge. I had a look at the barn they live in. I learned that they had applied for a grant to add to my fundraising efforts. She learned that I had offered to build the barn. So that was it. We shook on it. Daniella thinks the grant will come through. I will continue to raise money. And at some point next summer/fall I will build a home for pigs, a home not only for my own pigs but for those in need for decades into the future.