The days before the Pig Roast were full of excitement as many people showed up, and soon I got to share my bed with Jason. We had to come to grips with our long term fears of each other. I don't know that I did, but the morning that I woke up and Jason looked at me and said, "Hey Hass, if you want more blankets, come closer." I knew he had. A disturbing moment, one that will never be forgiven.
Soon though, it was the day of the Pig Roast. Nan and I were all decked out for the event, along with everyone else who came. Anyone who wasn't dressed up was taken behind the cabins and shot. There was no pig meat for them.
One of the more foolish things I have done in my life was to give large water guns to all my groomsmen but only a small one for myself. But as it turned out, the exercise that I got running away from all of them more than prepared me for the many servings of meat I was to eat later that evening.
The pig had been roasting for about three days under the careful supervision of Jon, the "Pig-Master". For the last two nights he had set up a cot about five feet away from the roaster, so that every two hours, he could awake again and check on the pig. I believe he is the most dedicated man I have ever met. With the help of Jerry they created this meal.
Several hours before the meal, the pig had to be removed from its roaster and carried in doors. The pig was carefully slid out of the roaster onto a large board, and then gently carried in. The animal was treated as though he was made out of something altogether very expensive. A life, sleepless nights, and blood. The pig has earned its name.
The pig was then treated like a small child for the next several hours. A small difficult child who will not dress herself up for church. Her dress has to be dragged onto her with kicking and screaming. Then she acts like deadweight and won't get off the ground, and finally her hair is painted bright pink just to look cutesy. Although the pig was only about six months old, being several hundred pounds it put up quite a fight in being decorated. But the final results were beautiful beyond compare. The meat was so succulently displayed as to make a grown make weep, and small child demand for more, and the rest of us to feel fat and happy.
