This pig has been keeping watch outside the main entrance of our building since Friday. This is totally normal, right? Right?

What is this, you ask?

I recently wrote about one of my main concerns as a writer, which is feeling at home in my surroundings. I’ve struggled with this since moving to the Queen City six years ago. I love our flat, and our building; if the whole thing could be picked up and moved somewhere else, my contentment would shine forth like a lighthouse beacon. I know that I am guilty of focusing on what I wish I could change about our neighborhood, even as I am faced with all that there is to enjoy in this weird little corner of town. Mr. Enormous Pig has reminded me of some of the perks of living in the CW. They are:

• Sharing a building with an unusual museum (thus, Mr. EP).
  

  Come closer.

• The best (and wackiest) mural of George Washington you will ever see.
• The ability to get chili at 3:00 in the morning, and the simultaneous people watching opportunity.
• A giant gorilla hanging off the side of a costume shop building.
• People watching. Oh, the people watching.
• The beautiful park across the street (visible from all of our windows), especially the dough boy statue that was dedicated just post-war.
• The handsome architecture of this neighborhood is truly impressive, even if many of the buildings are derelict or down-right abandoned.
• The city salt barn directly across the street. Not only is it an easy landmark for guests, it is absurdly fun to watch news crews swarm the premises at the slightest indication of snow. Also, it looks like a voluptuous breast. At least a C-cup.
• I love being surrounded by manufacturing businesses and a sea of trees. This area is not very residential, but is intensely lush.
• The minimum-security jail behind the park (also constantly on view from our windows). It sits on the site of an old workhouse, razed many decades ago. Only the stunning stone wall remains. A jail in the neighborhood means that the streets are very well patrolled. Even though some people think the CW is sketchy, it actually means that we have the lowest crime rate in the city.
• Diversity, diversity, diversity.

Looking out our wall of windows, nine stretching full-height in a salute to the ceiling, I see colour and character; zest and life; dirt and beauty. It’s always interesting. A writer could do worse than to have so much at hand.

Don’t look into his eyes, or you will turn to stone.

Belly of the beast.

*This is a quote from George Orwell’s Animal Farm.