Happy New Pig Year

Yes, today, 2007fev18, is the beginning of the Year of the Pig, which sometimes, is also called the Year of the Wild Boar, since being a pig is not necessarily as glamorous as being a horse, especially that ISLAM, and JUDAISM prohibit eating pork meat, an unclean animal, according to both religions. Personnally, even though I belong to neither of those religions, I didn't eat any pig meat in the last 18 years; in fact, I actually stopped eating pig meat and their derivates over 30 years ago, in 1974, and I assume that my body and soul thank me for that decision, especially that nowadays' pigs are boosted with hormones and are raised in most unnatural settings: I've even read that in some highly commercial farms, their piss is reintegrated into their drinking water, etc.

Nonetheless, according to an Ontario college teacher I knew around 1976, pigs are the most intelligent of animals, especially if they are raised in an environment that corresponds to their true nature, that being open fields, forest land, clean water and muddy spots, in which they can roll themselves in, so as to protect their skin from sun rays... It is a fact that pigs maybe taught all kinds of tricks, other than making piglets and bacon. Moreover, they are great for ploughing and fertilising a garden or a field... However, commercial animal farming doesn't bother respecting animals' true nature, for they are mostly motivated with profit: impeding a pig from running around too much makes them fat faster; but does it make them happy?

As for that tradition of Lunar years and dedicating a year on 12 to an animal, I like seeing as something else than "astrology"; I'd rather consider that it's a good idea to dedicate a whole year to an animal and that maybe during that year, humanity and governments should examine the conditions of that animal and improve it... But that is a truly utopic concept, I agree... There seemingly is another tradition related to the Chinese New Year: writing a haïku on the first day of the Lunar Year, would insure literary proficiency throughout the whole year: so, here we go...

Pig piglet poets
Its true deep nature respect:
Gardens must protect!

EXPLANATION: People who are sensitive, poets, to pigs and piglets true natural needs, know that these love roaming about, but also that they could cause havoc in a garden, by eating or ploughing it at the wrong time of the year. Therefore, in the best of worlds, one must fence off its gardens, so as to keep the pigs out during the growing season and in, when it's ploughing time: pigs walk, roll and run but vegetables and trees don't...

Finally, here's my artistic view of Pigs : a 1987 watercolor and Indian Ink painting of mine.

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