Gettin' Piggy Wit It

Quick - what comes to mind when we say Chicago? Wind? Deep Dish Pizza? Cubs/White Sox? Old school gangsters? While the city is famous for all sorts of stuff, it was pigs — yes, PIGS! — that sucked us in. How’d that happen? Well, the story starts in Oklahoma, where spent two nights with two of Dorian’s photography friends. One of the couple, Danielle, said that her sister, May, had two pet pigs and was looking for for someone to watch them mid-summer. Beyond the bovines, we learned there'd also be two cats and six chickens! The more the merrier as far as we were concerned, so we penned in the pigs and friends from June 3-14.

When we reached the suburban Beverly neighborhood on the south side of the sprawling metropolis, May and husband Jeff welcomed us, showed us around, and introduced us to their herd. We met two orange felines, Buber and Sherbs; they apparently spent most of their time sleeping. The chickens were, well, chickens; penned in the backyard they didn’t do much beyond cluck, scratch, and lay eggs. Our stomachs kept up with their egg laying for a few days, but the birds upped their production and overran our appetites by the fourth day. So, chalk it up as a win for the chickens.

The snuggly Buber (Boo-ber) at left, the independent Sherbs at right

Breakfast is served!

And then there were the piggies!!! Darcy (white) weighed about 100lbs white sister Vashti (black) tipped the scales at over 120! They had the run of the first floor of the house, but they spent most of their time out back, where they knew to use the bathroom. We’ll have lots more to say about the pigs in a moment, but we'll leave you hanging while we step into some Chicago stuff. There will be pig videos, so hang tight!

Vashti - Sonia - Darcy

While Sonia has visited Chi-town of number of times, it was a new city for Dorian. That rendered Sonia in charge, and she shepherded us through the usual tourist attractions (the lake front, Old Town, Millennium Park, etc). It was, however, our baseball leanings which prescribed not one but two outings: one to Wrigley Field on the Northside to watch the Cubs and the other to Guaranteed Rate Field on the Southside to see the White Sox. Both games featured a fair amount of scoring and went into extra innings, but the visitors triumphed in both contests. Regardless, it was great to add two more MLB parks to our growing collection.

Wrigley Field (Cubs) at left, Guaranteed Rate Field (White Sox) at right

Beyond baseball, we spent a bit of time exploring Evanston and adjacent Northwestern University. Talk about a nice place to live! The suburban neighborhood and nearby lakeshore were beautiful and we got to spend a lovely afternoon with one of Sonia's long-time friends. Bonus, she and her partner have an older beagle, Daisy. She stole our hearts from the moment we met her. 

Visiting our friends, Karen, Mike & their adorable beagle, Daisy

Alright, let’s get back to the stars of the show. In brief, the pigs had two speeds: eating and sleeping. We fed them a bowl of pig pellets at 7am, and they spent the rest of the morning orbiting the backyard bird feeder, waiting for seed to fall so they could hoover it up. When they tired of that (or the seed ran out), they sacked out on the back porch or — wait for it — on the living room sofa! Though they didn’t seek affection, they were friendly to the touch and loved hard scratches. It’s worth noting that they weren’t furry; instead, they had sparse, stiff hair that felt a bit like a hairbrush or a broom. And the best part? They did tricks! Well, they did on trick, but it was so fun to watch. At one point we even go them to synchronize! Here are a bunch of piggy videos. Enjoy!

The piggies do their famous spins

The piggies love watermelon

Sofa jump

Carrot swap with Vashti

Vashti grooming Darcy - aka eating the seed that was still on her back

The pigs kept us laughing the entire time we were there. It was tons of fun getting to know them and connecting with them. By the end of our stay, we had gained their full trust to the point that they rolled over and let us give them belly rubs. If this doesn't make you want to swear off pork, I don't know what will! (luckily we are already vegetarian). 

Thank you Chicago piggies, kitties, and chickens for such a fun, memorable sit!