You know.  I like a good pig from time to time.  Mostly, this comes in the form of frizzed ham with my eggs over easy in the mornings.

Yet, historically, there have been a lot of good pigs.  Not in the same way that bacon is good. No.

These pigs have character.  They are, for the most part, likable pigs.

In the Chinese Zodiac…”The Pig Person” is described in quite the admirable manner.   The Way of the Pig goes as such:  “Pigs are models of sincerity, purity, tolerance, and honor. When you first meet them, Pigs seem too good to be true. The Pigs simply want to do everything right.  Pigs are the people everyone admires most.”

Oh.  To be a Pig.  Some of the best….

Porky Pig.  Good old Porky-Boy stuttered his way into the hearts of cartoon lovers around the globe, I’ll tell you. Appearing on the big screen in 1936, Porky Pig was the Warner Brothers go-to guy.  The most famous of their characters.  But once Bugs showed up… Porky became second griddle.  I mean, fiddle. “Th-th-th-that’s all, folks!”

Arnold Ziffel.  This little guy was on the 1960s TV sitcom Green Acres. Arnold lived with Fred and Doris Ziffle in their Hooterville home. He was pretty much…. the Ziffels’ son.  He did all the things most children do.  What a pig….. watching TV (and changing the channels), taking his lunchbox (in his mouth) to school, and painting pictures…. and such.  Green Acres… is the place to be.

Miss Piggy.  Muppets.  You know.  Love her or hate her.  She is hot for frogs.  I don’t understand it… but their marriage in not recognized in 42 of the 50 states.  This doesn’t make sense to me.  They are so in love.

Babe.  Little pig with a huge heart.  Big movie star now.  Great herding pig.  Has a winning smile.  That’ll do pig.  That’ll do.

Wilbur.  Amazing Pig.  E.B. White creation.  This pig is NOT afraid of spiders.  Or rats.  What a pig.

Yet… they are not all admirable.

In 1386 in Falaise, Normandy, France….an old sow was sentenced to be “mangled and maimed in the head and forelegs, and then to be hanged.”

This sentence was handed down because it was thought that the pig tore the face and arms of a child… which in turn, caused the child’s death.  Now… as if to make the travesty of justice complete… that there pig was dressed in man’s clothes and executed on the public square near the city hall.  Other evidence supports that the pig was not the murderer, but a rabid coyote was to blame.  The pig was wrongly convicted and executed.  But he looked really sharp in the suit they bought for him.  And they had a Pork Chop Buffet afterwards.

And finally, there is Gilbert.  Yes.  Gilbert…the pig on Bainbridge Rocky Cliff.  He goes to the top of the cliff, late at night, and howls at the moon.  Like  a wolf.  Or a dog.  Then he eats a bowl of Cheerios… before heading back down the cliff.. and into the caves of Penn Yarn.  Where he knits.  He knits scarves… for charity.

He used to be a stand up comedian.  But his career was short lived.  He snorted whenever he laughed.  So now.. he howls.  And knits.

And that makes him happy.  The Pig who howls at the moon.  And knits.

So, we see again… be it pigs… or humans.

We should follow our hearts.  Be who we want to be.  These pigs sure did… and we can too.   It is the way of the pig.