Reflections on the Fourth Week of Fall

     When guests arrived for Ellen and Chris' celebration at The Sanctuary on Penn, a whole pig was roasting in a smoker in the back yard. The pig was the inspiration of Chef Rosie, who had jumped up and down upon learning that Ellen and Chris were planning a medieval wedding. The pig sweltered through welcoming conversations, salad consumption, and the handfasting ceremony. Then four cooks rolled him around the sanctuary to the front door. The disc jockey announced “King Swine Vale” and played a trumpet voluntary. Revelers, dressed as pirate, peasant, woodsman, and monk, carried the pig into the great hall. They set the pig on the table to the applause of hungry guests. Rosie waved her knife, poured flaming spirits on the pig's back, and arranged fronds at his side. To keep his top in tact throughout the feast, Rosie dug meat from the underside. I asked for a bite of the apple. She cut one from the platter rather than the one in the pig's mouth. It was crisp. None of the apples had roasted in the smoker.