The Great Hog Pen Shootout: Part III

The picture is etched in my mind, Wilson and I in the hog pen, huddled up next to the fence in the mud, the hogs looking at us as invaders; outside Billy and Jimmy firing projectiles at us, keeping our heads down. We had used up most of our ammunition, just a few rocks and marbles in our pockets and soon they were gone; Jimmy and Billy, however, had an inexhaustible supply of rocks from the ground around them. The hogs did not appear disposed to help us, in fact, it was only a matter of time before they began eviction proceedings, what to do?

Hogs on one side, rocks coming at us from the other side – things didn’t look good. There was only one thing left to do, drawing on old WWI movies, such as Sergeant York with Gary Cooper, we decided to fix bayonets and go “over the top”. So with a whoop and a holler worthy of the 11^th Virginia Infantry at Gettysburg (where are our great grandfather was captured) we jumped over the hog-pen fence and charged Jimmy and Billy. When they saw us running straight at them through a hail of rocks (a bit dramatic don’t you think?) they figured they were dealing with crazy boys and took off for the house to seek the protection of adults – I guess the house was the Biblical equivalent of a City of Refuge.

The field of battle was ours. Soon we coaxed them out of the house and resumed a day of play and adventure outdoors – we let bygones by bygones not wanting to squander the remains of the day dwelling on past offenses.

I’d rather have a memory of that hog pen, hunkered down in there with my cousin Wilson, than a memory of glitz and glitter at some amusement park – though I do have a few amusement park memories. I’d rather have made the acquaintance of those hogs than of Mickey Mouse, and I’d have rather been shot at by my brother Billy and cousin Jimmy than been eating cotton candy standing in line waiting for a ride in a crowd of people I didn’t know.

While I wouldn’t endorse sling shots today, I do endorse hog pens as a place of adventure. My grandsons visit and they stay indoors. The last three places we’ve lived have had “woods” around them, real honest to goodness woods; trees to climb, creeks to explore, deep mysteries to penetrate…and they want to stay indoors. What’s with that? Adventure awaits outside and they want to play a video game?

You can’t buy a Great Hog Pen Shootout, as a matter of fact you can’t buy anything that really matters.