Hey Y’all!
It’s almost June and we’ve had quite a year so far. We were in Florida in January, California by March, by June 1st we’ll be in Michigan and Maine by the middle of July. All that to say, these past couple days we’ve taken some much needed down time in Palisades State Park in IA, both for us and the dogs. There comes a point in a busy month of touring where we can feel Puddle’s pent up energy- she hasn’t gotten enough walks, is carsick, has been left with her sister too many times in the camper- and it becomes an extra being in the truck we have to take care of quickly or else we’re doomed. Have you ever been nudged to death by a wet dog nose? It’s not pleasant, so we took a few days to make sure that she and her sister, Mag’s The Destroyer, got some walks.
It’s not like it’s been totally non-stop for the last 4 months. All in all we’ve done a good job of taking walks, exercising, getting out in nature, spending time with friends and family and getting as many gluten-free baked goods as we can while in the midwest. We even took the last two weeks to bring our friend, Taylor James Donskey, along with us so that he could play standup bass and open up some of our shows. It was wonderful to play with such a fantastic musician and human being.
But that’s really not the point of this blog. The point is that we met a 1,065 pound pig named Poppy. When was the last time you saw a 1,065 pound pig up close? It doesn’t happen everyday, that’s for sure, unless you live on a pig farm, but even then a 4 year old, 1,065 pound pig is a bit of a rarity. But think about it, when was the last time you saw a 1,065 pound anything just walking around sniffing flowers, eating bananas from your hand?
In our line of work, we come across pigs from time to time: there was Mr. Pig in South Dakota who we met, lying on his side, moaning with both joy and agony, after he gorged himself on the dog’s food while his person had their back turned. Mr. Pig was truthfully on a diet, mostly because he did things like this on a regular basis. Poor Mr. Pig. There was also a pot bellied pig we met at a hipster coffee shop in Philadelphia. Butter got nose to nose with it, which honestly made everyone a little nervous. But they were but piglets compared to our friend, Poppy.
The story goes that 2 years ago, Poppy fell off a truck on the way to the slaughterhouse, was picked up wandering around the road by an animal rescue, and ended up at this beautiful farm in Minnesota when Gayle and Bob said that they would take her. Apparently, the only stipulation for this adoption was that she would never be eaten. Which, I’d say is a pretty good deal. She has a pen in a red barn where she sleeps in until 10AM, which is really a feat because she shares the barn with chickens, barn swallows, guinea hens, pigeons, barn cats and a flopsy, little bunny. She takes her breakfast of bananas, carrots and apples at around 10:15, hand-fed to her by Gayle (or by Mallory when we stay there) and then she spends the rest of the day moving from mud puddle to dirt pile and back again. She sauntered along the fence where we watched, rubbing her back on the fence posts, poking her snout through the holes in the gate, just another member of the family, not afraid of being eaten.
And to bring it home, isn’t that what family is all about? Not being afraid of being eaten? Even if all you do is lay around in your own version of a dirt bath, isn’t it nice to know that you can relax around these people you live with?
That’s it folks! If you want to see us and Taylor perform a song with Poppy the Pig, you can see it if you’re a member of the Catsnake Society on Facebook or you can join us on Patreon for as low as $3 a month. That’s less than that pig in Philly pays for coffee every day! And if you do join us on Patreon you get some fun perks- like for the last couple months our Patrons have gotten REAL SNAIL MAIL, like these stickers.
See you soon in June!
Scott and Mallory, MudPuddle, MagPie and Goo