Destiny's Children

Last weekend we had a sudden influx of thirteen additional residents to our community. Destiny our pig had given birth! Each piglet has a black head and hind quarters with a pink midriff and are at their very cutest when sleeping in a jumble on top of each other. Their bedroom is just a couple of yards from their mother so breakfast is quite easily obtained by them all rushing over and nudging her until she wakes up and rolls on her side.

A pig’s gestation period is 3 months, 3 weeks and 3 days which sounds to me like a line from Donnie Darko (“and that is when the world will end”). Happily in this case it didn’t and in fact there were no stillbirths either, and neither has Destiny squashed any with her terrific bulk. Not yet anyway.

The rather precise dating of the birth allowed a former resident of Pilsdon, Iain, to book in a visit as a “wayfarer” for that very weekend as he had always been the one to take care of Destiny during her labour, spending many hours in the pen with her and ensuring no one else came in and accidentally startle her into crushing her progeny. 

Wayfarer is the term used here for people living on the road, without fixed abode. Pilsdon has always kept its doors open for those in such circumstances, allowing people to spend a night here and if they come on Friday to stay until Monday. So each weekend we tend to have a few extra living with us, some familiar faces and some new to us, but all bringing something unique to the mix. 

There’s Jungle Jim who keeps his backpack on at all times for reasons known only to himself. There’s Kiefer who takes great pleasure at beating me at chess as many times as possible throughout the weekend. There’s Ian who used to play professional football for Oldham Athletic before the drink got to him. There was a Scot who turned up midweek looking the very image of Captain Haddock who apparently had just washed up on the coast after spending most of his life on the open seas. Sometimes the police bring someone who was vulnerable or in danger where they were living, to give them a few nights of safety and figure out what next.

All these characters and many more come for some respite, a decent bed and some good food. Not all are homeless necessarily but all are on the fringes of society, and Pilsdon’s community is the richer for having them. And it’s got to be good for my chess playing too.