Pigs, Chickens, and Almond Milk

February 18, 2017 by JoAnna 6 Comments

Today’s Stream of Consciousness prompt is a touchy subject for me. The word is, “ham.” Being an “almost vegetarian,” I don’t want to get preachy because I am so imperfect. But ham is one thing that was never hard for me to give up. It has something to do with pigs being mammals and at least as intelligent as dogs. Why do we live with dogs and love them so much, but eat pigs?

Chicken and fish are another story. Is it right that I haven’t had the same success with giving up eating animals that are so much more different from me? But when I watch those videos about factory farmed chickens, that has given me strength. I’ve just about got the chicken thing down. A piece might slip in through a broccoli casserole, but most of the time, I’m done eating chicken.

I’ve been reading a book about raising chickens by Kelly Chripczuk, called Chicken Scratch, Stories of Love, Risk and Poultry. It’s a sweet little easy-to-read account of her adventures raising chickens. She makes them sound so lovable, or maybe it’s because she is so loving. I met Kelly at a writer’s retreat at God’s Whisper Farm where of course they have chickens, along with goats and beautiful Great Pyrenees dogs, but no pigs as I know of. I wonder if someone would write a book about pigs like Chicken Scratch. But the problem is, pigs don’t lay eggs, so…. let’s not get too complicated. Pigs could make good companion animals. They’re really smart, so they could be service animals -fetching things, letting you know when someone’s at the door…..or they could just be pigs for pigs’ sake.

So, yeah. I have no trouble not eating pigs or cows and most of the time chickens. Fish and shrimp are a bit of a challenge, but lent helps. During lent, I can be a strict vegetarian, knowing it’s just for 40 days. Dairy might be included this year in my abstinence plan for lent. Almond milk is pretty good once you get used to it. It tastes lighter somehow and seems to keep longer than cow milk. That reminds me of this commercial from a few years back that just tickled me. Let me see if I can find it.

I enjoy watching the new milkman keep a straight face.

Talk about ham!

(The pig photo is from pixabay.)

The Saturday Stream of Consciousness is brought to you by Linda G. Hill at

https://lindaghill.com/2017/02/17/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-1817/

Here are the rules for SoCS.

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!