baby pigs and happy times

This one was a big week.  The sun came out like crazy, more maialini (baby pigs, if you haven't caught that yet) were born, lots of pigs escaped their fences (as usual, our fencing system is a mess), I squished my finger, the boss returned, and then finally, sadly, a cow died last night.  Cinese, the cow, had a lung infection and a week ago she stopped eating.  Then two days ago Cinese lay down and wouldn’t get up.  When a cow does this one worries.  She didn’t have a cough or a fever, but the vet said that was worse than if she had.  We did everything we could and the farm shelled out a whole bunch of money for medications, but last night we lost her.  It moved me to tears to see such a big animal in so much pain, her body obviously trying hard to live.

In happier news, there are so many crazy cute little pigs running around the Piano in packs of twelve, playing and cuddling with each other.  It’s incredibly relaxing to just watch them go about their little baby pig business.  

We moved many pigs around this week, including 19 to the area that I finished building a couple of weekends ago.  It felt great to see my hard work put to good use, and I’m sure the pigs are stoked on their new territory, which is totally gorgeous (forested hillsides, grassy fields, creek running through it all) and must be at least 10 acres. 

It surely was an interesting experience for Richard and me to be left without a Capo for two weeks, but boy were we glad when Giulio returned on Wednesday.  It was so nice to get so much done and to have someone drive the tractor.  And honestly, I enjoyed having someone telling me what to do again.  And there is always so much to do--this week was made up of early mornings and long evenings, but with the air so warm I didn’t mind working while the sun settled behind the western hills, long after I was supposed to have called it a day.  That there is so much to do is at once overwhelming and also inspiring.   There’s never an excuse to be bored, really. 

we've adopted sheridan onto the animali team

Outside of work I've also been having fun.  Learning Italian continues to be an excellent adventure and I really appreciate the fact that I get to practicare basically all day every day.  Last weekend some ragazzi and I went to Rome with Valeria, our Italian teacher, and her choir.  It was quite an experience being on a 3 hour long bus ride with a bunch of Italian singers.  It was awesome.  Rome was rainy and beautiful and full of people everywhere.  On the long bus ride back I thought to myself how great it is to feel at home at Spannocchia, to feel cared for and safe and happy in a place where two months ago I knew no one.  It reminds one how possible and open the world can be. 

after Vincent and Valeria's concert, the ragazzi

Speaking of great Italians, we said goodbye to our dear friend Tommaso last week who has been here with us from the beginning.  It was a true pleasure to live and work with him, and he taught me so much about the italian language and culture (by which I mean, all the bad words).  But really, Tommaso ti vogliamo bene zio.  We had a dress-up dance party (as usual) to see him off, complete with lots of Campari.

In sharp contrast to a week ago, the weekend has been unbelievably glorious.  Today it was close to 80 degrees, so the gang loaded up in the van and drove to the nearby town of Brenna to lay like river rats all afternoon.  I read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and even did some good river swimming/floating.  We also brought a spacebag full of wine white.  It was the definition of an ideal Saturday afternoon.