“So, um, a pig auction? Listen, we stopped doing people like that and it is time to free the pigs, too!”
Seven-year-old Amanda Ludlow was on the war path when she heard about the Lofton County September Pig Auction.
Mrs. Thalia Ludlow, her grandmother, tried to quickly shut all that down.
“It's canceled this year, Amanda – the pandemic.”
“But why do we need a pandemic to do what we just ought to do as people?”
Capt. R.E. Ludlow chuckled and walked away from that one and went to take some extra firm tofu out of the refrigerator to thaw out to back up for Amanda and her nine-year-old brother George later.
“The thing I love about Amanda,” he said to Mrs. Ludlow later as he was seasoning said tofu, “is that Amanda is consistent!”
“Yes!” Mrs. Ludlow said with a chuckle. “She doesn't have any money, but her mind and her body are where her mouth is! She's going to write the county about all this, and she has her pink crayons on the purple paper, too, and won't let Edwina sequin it all up – 'This is serious, Edwina, because this needs to stop – you don't need bacon this much!'”
“Blasphemy to most breakfast eaters in the land!” Capt. Ludlow said as he cracked up.
“I know, but Amanda Ludlow don't care!” Mrs. Ludlow said as she laughed. “Tell them they need to get ready to give it up, because Amanda has learned about abolition and is coming for everything and everyone holding God's creatures against their will!”
“You know, Amanda as a Ludlow is not unprecedented,” Capt. Ludlow said. “My Tancred-line branch of the family never was fully convinced about slavery, and one of my ancestral aunts, Amelia Ludlow Barr, was a secret abolitionist, running an Underground Railroad stop with her husband. They refused to keep animals for slaughter also.”
“Well, here we go again … Aunt Amelia has a baby niece to carry the torch, pink crayons, purple paper, and all!”
“And has already converted George, with some help from some people that are letting their pigs get into copper-based things and turning their fat blue,” Capt. Ludlow said. “George is consistent, too!”
“Talk about a child that does read product labels, too!” Mrs. Ludlow said. “George likes to go with us to get food because he wants to see how the food is – those blue-tinted pigs have really started him questioning the food processing process.”
“It is a good thing we can get so much food locally, and locally processed,” Capt. Ludlow said. “That reminds me it is time for me to go down to Fruitland and buy prune plums.”
“Oh yeah, because they all love that kind of stuff – and twenty hands make for light work!” Mrs. Ludlow said.
“Yes, and no – I gotta buy an extra pound of plums just to feed Rob up first so we have something at the end!” Capt. Ludlow said as Mrs. Ludlow laughed.
“Plums! Feed me up – yes, please!” five-year-old Lil' Robert Ludlow said as he came running in.
“I need to go buy them first, boy!” Capt. Ludlow said as Mrs. Ludlow cracked up laughing.
“Didn't you just have some plums at the Lees' house?” Capt. Ludlow said.
“Yes, but, that was an hour ago and a few good runs across the yard ago,” Lil' Robert said. “See, because, it takes a lot, being the other Robert Edward Ludlow and keeping up the Robert Edward Ludlowness with you.”
Mrs. Ludlow backed out of that conversation with a laugh and went back to watching the kids still playing on the lawn.
