Just the other day I was watching the pigs out in their pen. Garbo was lying in front of the door on our little stoop...catching the rays of sunshine that she normally misses in the summer due to the trees in the yard. I was fiddling around with something for about ten minutes and when I looked back up toward the stoop, Louise was lying there. It's almost as if I believe they vote on how often they should change positions in order keep me wondering.

I love this time of year. It's not only beautiful, but wholly unpredictable. Warm and sunny one day, freezing cold the next. I'm still amazed that the pigs want to go out in the morning, but considering that their pellets are scattered all over in their pen, it's like they are playing and eating all at once. There have been about four times so far this past week that Garbo has missed the beginning of breakfast because she slept through it. She is the one who's known for sleeping heavily. I have had to literally put the pail of pellets just above her head and shake them vigorously in order to awaken her. Once up, she will immediately strut to the front door and wander out to see what part of breakfast is left for her.

Lily has been brave enough to be outside in the rain. I'm not saying she's too great at ignoring it like the other three seem to, but she's willing to at least go out and try to entertain herself outside for as long as she can tolerate the temperatures. When I say "temperatures", I'm referring to the fact that our high temperatures have been in the fifties for the past few days. Bleak, cool, gray days with rain aren't Lil's favorites. She's being "brave" and withstanding the near-frigid conditions (in her estimations). However, around two in the afternoon, she gets right up next to the bottom of the door and begins to scream. You all know what I'm talking about, for I don't mean she's "complaining", I mean she sounds like she's being harmed in some horrid fashion. The first time I heard Lillian make this sound, I did react as if she was being hurt and raced to find out what the dire problem was. There were no marks on her, the other three pigs were oblivious to her complaining and too far away from her to be the cause of the complaints. As I stood there on the porch, I asked her what her problem was and she immediately came inside, walked over to the corner and fell asleep in her pile of blankets. Seems my biggest "pig baby" can't really tolerate weather if it's rainy or if the temperatures dip below sixty degrees. It's important to note that Lily is now six and a half years old and she really is better than she used to be about cooler, rainy weather.

I was actually going to go out and measure the exact size of the front porch. I can't call it a porch, really...it's just a cement stoop with two steps to make getting in the front door possible. Since it's a crummy day, let's just say it's about five feet wide and four feet from the front door before the first step. It also serves as a very hard bed for four weary pigs to pile on during the evening hours. I tried to tell the pigs that we were going to be gone until it got dark one night and they didn't seem motivated to come in prior to us leaving. Boy howdy! By the time we got home, all four of them were on the porch and more than ready to go into the blanket pile.

Speaking of reasoning with a pig...I find that if I really sit down and talk with them, they do seem to understand me. Perhaps they just take pity upon me for being a mere "human". We are going to try something very unique around here this winter...I'm really going to see if the pigs want to continue to go outdoors for as long as they wish. It might be only to rush out and go potty, but it will be their choice. Funny thing is that Lily and I are very much alike. If I could hibernate until April rolls around, that would be all right with me, too.