Makin' Bacon.

most people are drawn to animals either out of curiosity or affection...but sometimes unpredictability works, too.  like, if you saw an armadillo at kroger you'd check it out just 'cuz "what the heck?", right?

except in texas.  then you'd be whinin' "ew, get 'dat dirty hard-shell, pointy-nose prehistoric rat outta here".

"i'll have a 1/2 lb of bologna & a 1/4 lb of alpine lace swiss, please."

anywhoo, we are a skiing kind of family so off we went to peek at season rentals for our kids at a family run ski shop, wick's ski and sport.  it's a teeny stone house that stands out among it's franchised neighbors, mostly 'cuz it's got a crazy, colorful fence in the backyard.  a crazy, recycled JUNK fence, btw.  (NOT yelling...emphasis.)

yep, a ski junk fence.  

pretty cool, eh?

once inside, 'da fun begins.  youngin's (the offspring of the owner) adeptly take measurements, tell you which ski is best and then cue the cats and kittens to start pouncing around the resort brochures.  shortly after, a golden walks by with a double dose of tennis balls in his mouth.  it's a touch reminiscent of a disney movie as one expects benji to round the bend and herbie the love bug to bobble into the drive.

yuh, huh. and he doesn't drop them.  evah.

but there's more...
yep, wick's added a piggy to their pot o' fun. 

in our recent visits we have learned that the animal-lovin' wick's clan had a biggie of a piggie for 20-something years.  this piggy became old and ornery so they...um...uh...exchanged him for a bushel of bacon.  yup.  so is the story as told to us in fits and bits though i sniffed a touch of tale in the scoop.  but, really, who cares?

not the actual BIG pig....just a representation.

the pig--now known as bacon--has been replaced with a petite pot-bellied piglet named pickles.  apparently, old man wicks knew somebody who knew somebody who traded him a baby pot-bellied pig for a beer.  or $3.

i do not lie.

either way, pickles keeps the peeps in the shop for a heap more time than planned.  who doesn't want to watch a peanut of a piglet patter under displays and pop out from under puffy paraphernalia? 

pickles...in puberty.

time has passed and now that pickles the piglet has entered puberty (don't ask) he has been separated from the perusing public and placed in a ski-surrounded pen.

the "-ham" part is a tad insensitive, if you ask me.

now, tell me....would you rent your skis anywhere else?  wouldn't you pay more to hang there and pet pickles the pig? or even watch him poop?  yep, piglets need a tad of training but still have pig-cidents though they rank #4 (or #6) on the list of top 10 smartest mammals.

post afternoon of piglet,  i pondered the problem of the slow movin' product in my etsy shop and am wondering if i need a perky piggy to increase my traffic...decrease my bounce rate....and sell my stuff.  you followin'?


you know, i could photo my pig with my furniture... sorta like this family shows their cuddly pudgy pig pouncing on their pieces.

via

whaddya think?  will a piggy produce purchases of my products... pronto?

off to ponder...