So yesterday the butcher came out and shot and cut up our three Hereford pigs and our Highland bull.  Once again it is bittersweet.  I was at work so Tom had to do s lot of work himself.  But he said it went quite smoothly for them  They were out in the pasture and did not know it was coming.  It helps that they were getting big and destructive, but it is still a loss. In my vegetarian days I watched the butchering of a cow (actually done humanely) and thought it was heinous.  But now I think these animals would not have had a life if it were not for the meat they can provide.  And there is something magical about raising an animal, giving it a good life and a good death and then incorporating its flesh into your flesh and into your energy.  I know they would have preferred to live, but it is part of the ancient contract that we and they signed up for.  And we can provide healthfully and humanely raised (and tasty) meat for ourselves, family and friends, and not support the systems that produce meat in an unhealthy and inhumane manner.