Yesterday was Animal Selection Day for Katy ISD. This is the day of the year that all the FFA kids raising pigs, goats or lambs come to a central place to select their critters. They are also allowed to raise chickens, bunnies and cattle - but those animals are not part of Animal Selection Day. They have another day for that. We have not raised any of the other options so I have no idea when or how that takes place.
I discovered last year that it is totally possible to raise an animal for meat and (mostly) enjoy the process! I'm not sure if I could say that about bunnies...oh, don't get me wrong, here! I love rabbit meat. I just don't wanna think about where it came from!
So here we are at the barn. Preston was watching something else, but Liam and Andrew were happy to cheese it up for the camera. Pig selection was first and there were nearly 200 kids their to get their pigs. Sheep and goat selection will take place after all the pigs are selected.
The kids all select a token with a number on it out of a bucket. They line up in order of their grade: seniors go first, then juniors, then sophomores...and that's all we cared about because our people were sophomores! The announced starts with number one and as your number is called, you are allowed to go into the "ring" and select your animal. Last year when the boys were freshmen, they both selected very low numbers (I think Andrew got 14 or 15) but this year they didn't do as well. Andrew got number 96! We all groaned and crossed our fingers that there would be at least one good pig left by the time he got to get into the ring!
They allowed 10 kids at a time in the ring. Each kid had one minute to pick a pig. But they had had 9 minutes before to shop while the kids before them were choosing. And they had several hours to wander around the pens looking at the critters. Each pig has an ear tag with a number so they could make a list of their first, second and third choices. If someone with a lower number chose the number one pig on your list, you moved down to your second choice. If you chose the number 96, you can pretty much count on getting your 32nd choice!
Andrew finally got to get into the ring. His first choice of pig was still lurking in her pen with a few other piggy friends. I think perhaps God hid her from the other kids. We thought at first that maybe she and Preston's pig were litter-mates because they were housed in the same pen. Randy and Andrew checked that out (something about the notches in their ears) and said they were from the same breeder but not the same litter. Andrew went over and got his Ag teacher and asked what he thought. Mr. T. took him to the other side of the ring and showed him a little darlin' over there. Their conversation went something like this:
"She looks a little small, Mr. T."
"What do you expect, Andrew? You pulled number 96!"
"Can you come look at this one over here?"
"Oh, well...she does look good! Yeah, get her..."
So he went creeping into the pen...
And grabbed her! This was his humber one pig the entire day! Not number 32, like I thought he would end up with...
See that look on his face? That is the same one I wear when I tell one of my kids "You can be stubborn if you like, but your Mamma invented stubborn and I promise you, I will outlast you!" Yep! I am so proud!...Not! At least most of the time. His stubborn and hard-headed moods make me crazy most of the time, but just this once, it did stand him in good stead. He managed to wrestle that 40 lb pig up...
Out of the barn...
And into the trailer. Preston followed close by just in case he needed to call for back-up. I was using Alicia's (Preston's mom) camera to video while Roger (Preston's dad) took the still shots on my camera.
By the way: I know red-headed people don't look their best in hot pink....I just want it to be known that I was wearing that color because we were selling those shirts at this event and Alicia and I wore ours so folks could see them. Really. It's now the only thing in my closet that color. Kinda looks lonely actually...
So the piggy got into the trailer with all the other pigs from all the other Taylor High School kids and when the last one was selected... oh...wait a minute! First you gotta see this:
That's Miss Molly - her dad is on the Booster Club board with me...I just loved the look on that piggy face in this picture! This guy worked in the ring and did the snatch-and-grab-and-haul-to-the-trailer maneuver for many of the girls (and some of the guys)...he had big muscles! I think this pig's name should be Piggy Sue...just looks like a good name for this li'l gal! Isn't' she adorable??
Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled blog. So the piggy got into the trailer with all the other pigs from all the other Taylor High School kids and when the last one was selected, Mr. T. jumped in and drove furiously out to the barns. He drove furiously because he had to get all those pigs unloaded and get back to the selection barns in time for the first Taylor goat to be loaded in.
We all hopped into our various vehicles and headed out to the barns too. The barns are 12.5 miles from our house. We drive out there twice a day. Do the math. That is 50 miles per day! Fortunately on school days the kids can get on the bus at 5:55 that will take them out to the barns to feed and water their critter in time to get back to school for the first bell. The rest of the time we schlepp out to the barn twice a day. But the experience is worth it. Most days. 5:45 came really early this morning though!
So this is Harley. Andrew named her Harley because he said he could buy a Harley with the money it costs to raise her! She is a pretty little Hampshire pig with one white (they call it white - it looks pink to me, but what do I know?) let and a stripe that goes up and over one shoulder...
...and it almost meets the other white leg...but not quite! The bowling ball was a gift from a dear friend last year and she already was playing with it. Pigs like pushing balls around with their snouts. Thanks, Lewis!
So Animal Selection Day is over for another year. Life will be a bit crazy now leading up to the Livestock Show and Rodeo in February. But we are having fun. Really. This is fun....no, I mean it. It is so much fun to watch your kid learn responsibility and...and ...well, responsibility is a good start!
Randy says many of his life-skills were learned in FFA. How to manage a bank account, how to speak publicly, responsibility and many other things as well. If this program can help to make my boys into half the man their father is, sign 'em up!
And I still promise to write about the mannequin soon... (that is the one that got swallowed into cyberspace last night!)
2 comments:
SO much fun that you are blogging again! I love reading your antics!
Me too! Keep writing!
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