Lucy’s Gift
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: O Canada The Wonders of Winter
By Liz M. Forbes

I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.
~Winston Churchill

Lucy, our “never meant to be eaten” pig, was due to farrow on Christmas Day and we had no suitable shelter prepared. Winters here on southern Vancouver Island are generally mild and wet. Our pigs, horses and steers, two of each, had four fenced and cross-fenced acres to roam, and adequate shelter from the rain. However, as it happened, this was a particularly harsh winter and Lucy was heavy with her first litter of piglets. She needed a birthing hut to keep her young warm and dry.

We were city dwellers originally. Buying this land on the Cowichan River and keeping chickens and other farm animals was part of my “back to the land” dream. I knew nothing about pigs, but quickly fell in love with Lucy when we bought her and another piglet from the farm auction. Lucy was special and was like a dog in many ways — often following us around the property as we checked the fence lines, sometimes carrying a big stick in her mouth, imitating our dogs who ran along as well. Her eyes were bright and intelligent, her snout tilting in such a way that she looked like she was grinning. She came when she was called, and I swear she understood when I talked to her. (Keep reading)