visiting my aunt and uncle in the colorado rockies last month made me realize how much i miss life in the country. while there, we got back to our american roots and did all the redneck things we could fit into six days… like sleeping in a trailer in the mountains, running a river, being unsure if we should cheer or wince watching cowboys rope cattle at the rodeo, and roasting a pig.
for my high school graduation party, my dad insisted we have a pig roast in the forest preserve instead of a conventional backyard party like all my friends were having. appalled, i strongly objected and he did it anyway. shortly after, i became a vegetarian (coincidentally or not) and didn’t have any further run-ins with animal carcasses until i moved to korea where there is a butcher on every corner. somewhere between seeing whole animals hanging from the rafters and walking beside calf heads in wheel barrows at the market, i became a bit desensitized. so when my uncle pulled together a neighborhood pig roast the equivalent of a county fair, i surprised myself with my excitement… i even volunteered to pick up the pig :)
on the morning of the event, cast iron skillets filled with rising bread and country baked beans sat over the wood fire while the pig roasted to the twang of fiddles and bluegrass. all the neighbors came… with their kids, their dogs, and their dish to share and when all of our bellies were full, we were treated to a sunset tour of the neighborhood mountains on a tractor-pulled hay ride.
