YOSHI

A pig to remember.

Click to see
Yoshi's friend, 
Mars, with Santa.
Yoshi is a 5 year old pot-bellied pig. He is dark grey, with bristly black fur. His legs are white and he has bright blue eyes. He has a white spot about the size of a quarter on the tip of his nose. My sons, William and Nathan, named him after a character from Super Mario World. Everybody who meets Yoshi wants a pig of his or her own. He is that kind of pig. 

Yoshi embodies the concept of "Live and Let Live." He is a good pig, a kind pig, a very smart pig who ignores cats always, dogs most of the time, likes girls, thinks boys are okay, esp. ifthey have treats. 

In the Japanese language, the word "yoshi" has many meanings, depending on context, pronunciation,emphasis, etc. Among thesemeanings are: a reed, a bulrush; a reason, a cause; a means, a way; an expression meaning "There, there, don't cry!"; blank stationery; the gist, the point; an adopted son;elegant, graceful, of a pretty face and figure;a proton.

Obviously, it is no small coincidence that the boys named him Yoshi.
Yoshi lives in a nice home. Here he is at the back door, hoping someone will give him a treat. He loves fruit, cereal, sweets, grubs and roots, certain ornamental plants, beer (if someone sets a can or bottle on the ground, he will run over and knock it over and lick it up as fast as he can - we do not encourage this!) He will do anything for red licorice. The phrase "eat like a pig" did not materialize out of thin air. 

        		
    

  

  














        
 



        

        Here is a picture 
        of Yoshi when he 
        was two months old. Note the ever-present basket 
        of strawberries on the table. 

        

        He was born on a ranch 
        in the hillseast of San Francisco 
        Bay. It was the sign that said "Designer 
        Pigs 4 Sale," that 
        made us pull in off the windy, 
        winding road that 
        afternoon. 

The 
          four baby pigswould 
          run from one end 
          of the large pen to another 
          ... line up in a row, rest for 
          a few seconds, look around, and run 
          to another corner.  
          Even at this early 
          age, his classically 
          proportioned physique,  
          wonderful dispositon, and leadership 
          qualities were evident. Yoshi 
          came home with us that day. 
          As the English poet William Wordsworth once 
          wrote,"The Child is 
          Father to the Man." 
          Clearly can we see the wisdom 
          of that thought as we gaze uponYoshi 
          in his youth. 
          

        
 

      		












          







            
 

          

          

            If you 
            rub Yoshi on the stomach while he is 
            standing and not eating, 
            his rear legs start to 
            collapse and, suddenly, he rolls to the ground, 
            legs outstretched, 
            spine straight, belly 
            bulging, as pictured here. Sometimes he 
            grunts in protest, but collapses anyway. 
             
            
 This 
              is known as his "luxuriant 
              pig state." 
              
            
 Some 
              liberty has been 
              taken with this photo - in 
              reality, Yoshi was lying on cement, but 
              I thought sky & cloud wisps would convey 
              ... the essence of his trancendence at 
              these moments. His eyes 
              remain slightly open and 
              it seems that he goes 
              into a trance while we 
              brush him all over. 
              Some have postulated that 
              he is channelling data 
              from another dimension, or era, or place ... but 
              we must wonder,"To what does the data 
              pertain?" 
            
Click 
              here to see Yoshi soar through 
              the clouds. 
              
            
Click 
              here 
              to see Yoshi's  NEW animation! It is  a little preview 
              of his new site which is now in the works. You will need a Flash 
              4 plug-in for your browser to view it. (Get 
              Flash 4 if you  need it.) 
            
Here 
              is the story of another pig who knows how to fly in style.
          








  

  

    
 
       
        






        Here 
        is Yoshi in his pen, standing by his mud puddle. 
        He has just noticed an apple in 
        the mud. A visitor put 
        the flower behind his ear. 
        He went on a diet shortly after this picture was 
        taken. He weighs a little over a 
        hundred pounds now. 
        Even at this weight, 
        he was capable of 
        jumping in the air and turning a 
        full circle while airborn (a large puppy 
        kept dropping a tennis 
        ball on Yoshi's back in 
        an attempt to get Yoshi 
        to play "fetch." Yoshi 
        does not do "fetch" with 
        puppies) - so Yoshi 
        leapt and spun to scare the 
        dog off. It worked. The dog and Yoshi are 
        now friends, because the dog can reach the 
        handle on the back door, allowing Yoshi 
        inside.  
        



        Click here 
        to see what the 
        critics are saying. 
        




      		
       
        










         

          

         		
       
        

      		
    

  






  











      





















                  Yoshi's 
                  favorite toy is his bowling 
                  ball. It is also his only toy. For 
                  all we know, he may consider it a _tool_, and 
                  the rolling of it, his 
                  _job_. After a long day of pushing 
                  it around the yard with 
                  his nose, here 
                  he is napping 
                  next to it. 
                





















Visit Yoshi's friend,  Bennie, who was a cat.




        Write 
        Yoshi a letter.

        Join Yoshi's Pot-bellied 
        Pig mailing list.