An Unexpected Acquisition
Well, I did it! I officially made it through my last fair as a 4-H beef leader! Don't get me wrong, I loved working with the kids and their steers, but to be fair, I only know how to and like to raise cattle, showing and beautifying big beasts is not my forte. And don't even get me started on dealing with bureaucracy and entitled people and their children. Honestly, if I were an expert in cattle showing or was even interested in it, I probably would have kept leading, because the kids are just that amazing, but I am not a big fan of certain aspects of that world, so away I go.
One person who is beyond awesome at showing cattle is my daughter. She just loves raising, training, beautifying, and showing her moos, and the other night, after auctioning off her latest market steer, an event occurred that showcased her awesomeness in a most majestic way.
And of course by majestic I mean she ended up covered in grease, arena dirt, manure and a whole lot of accolades!
It was announced during the auction that a local farmer was donating some pigs for the kids to try to catch. Said pigs were greased up with some vegetable shortening. If you could catch one of the pigs, you got to keep it. It was a recipe for squeals of all kinds.
A few heats by age groups later, and it was time for the 14 and up girls. I was sitting in the grandstands with my parents, and as I watched the older girls line up, something dawned on me, we were getting a pig.
You see, all my friends have boys, so my daughter grew up with a whole herd of them. The end result is she is rather tough. To put it mildly.
They opened the trailer and two 50-70 pound feeder pigs hopped out. The two pigs assessed the group of girls warily as the girls waited to be turned loose to collect a pig. When the announcer told the girls to go, the magical thing happened.
My daughter raced in with the pack of mad she-teens. For a minute I couldn't see her among the fray, but then I saw her emerge from the pack, dive through the air, and snag a pig by the hock. Then, in one fluid motion, she swung the pig up onto her shoulder like a sack of grain as she simultaneously strong armed two girls off of her, and then she sauntered out of the arena with her new pig.
I'm not gonna lie, I cheered like a proud banshee! It really was an amazing site to behold. So many adults came up to me later and expressed awe at just how amazing she was. This mom is more than a little bit proud.
It was what she did with the pig that made me the most proud though. Her younger showing partner, and almost little brother, really had his heart set on getting a pig. As I walked up to my beaming girl, she smiled at me and said, "I gave the pig to J."
In that moment, as I tried not to hug my grease, dirt, and manure daughter, for I felt as proud as a pig in a pie eating contest.
And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's now well broke in new iPhone.