Yesterday was an amazing and exhausting day. Last week I called my neighbor to ask him a bunch of dumb questions (“So, how exactly does scalding work?”) and he offered to come over and bring all his equipment and help us. Well, he and his wife and their soon-to-be-sixteen son (“Hog killin’ means a day off school!”) showed up, and they were the best teachers ever! I am pretty accustomed to figuring this stuff out for myself, which has gotten me through butchering chickens, deer, goats and sheep, along with many other activities, but having these guys show us the way through our first hog killing was hugely helpful.

The day was crisp and bright and relatively cool, and there were so many good friends here helping—it was a party, and a lot of fun, even with the long day of hard work and the undercurrent of death and all that goes along with that. I have a much clearer understanding of the role these kind of events played in a community.

Warning: somewhat graphic photos follow.