“Flying pigs” apparently has a long and international history. When pigs fly is a way of saying something is impossible. Wikipedia tells us it’s an adynaton — you can look that up if you like — used mostly for “humorous effect” and “to scoff at over-ambition.” It’s a bit like “when hell freezes over” or the French expression, which I actually knew, “quand les poules auront des dents” (when hens have teeth). The Flying Pig Marathon is the event of the year in Cincinnati. This past May was its twenty-first running. I imagine it's only a bit less interesting than the clothing optional San Franisco Bay to Breakers run. You can buy a Flying Pig with Flapping Wings from Amazon for only $13.95 with free shipping on orders over $25, or a Flying Pig Copper Cookie Cutter — I'd be willing to bake cookies if I had one — for only $14.79. I’m telling you all this because I don’t think I’ve ever given flying pigs a second thought. Not until Cami told me she’s giving her flying pig a new necklace for summer, and I thought to myself, what the hell is a flying pig?

Cami was responsible for the spring and Christmas gates in Even Though It's Cold and Raining and To You & Yours. She found her flying pig at a junk store, what should probably be called a collectables store, while walking the dogs. It became a fixture on Terry and Cami's front porch, and to celebrate the first day of summer, which is today, she has given it a new and flamboyant necklace. I’m assuming, therefore, that the pig is feminine, though in this day and age that could go either way.

What does it all mean? Well, I suppose it means that Cami has a strange sense of humor mixed with a desire to make sure people know what day it is. That’s the best I can come up with without — God forbid — sounding overly-ambitious.