Huckleberries: A little piglet produces big smiles everywhere she goes in Coeur d’Alene

Kenna Smoot admits it was love at first sight.

An unabashed animal lover and vegan, Kenna welcomed the chance to baby-sit a friend’s “micro pig” for a week. Kenna and porker Luna became so inseparable during the last week that hubby, Nick, lamented on Facebook, tongue firmly cheeked: “I think a pig is taking my spot in life.”

Nick and two partners in Innovation Collective are busy transforming the long-vacant Elks building at Fifth Street and Lakeside Avenue into a hub for technological startups. The grand reopening for the historic brick building is scheduled for June 1. Meanwhile, Nick has played second fiddle to a piglet.

Kenna has claimed Luna as her new best friend. She took Luna everywhere. And Luna was a hit everywhere – to the Wellness Bar on Fourth Street, where customers and Kenna’s friends clamored to take selfies with her. To show-and-tell at the school attended by the Smoot children: Anderson, 6, and Atticus, 4. “A couple of the kids have autism,” Kenna told Huckleberries, “and seeing how happy she made them made my heart melt.”

Kenna compares Luna to a toddler who is always getting into things: “She’s nothing like taking care of a dog, she is more like caring for a toddler. She’s very vocal, and I’ve learned what her squeals mean, she smiles when she’s happy, she loves cuddles and kisses.”

Kenna’s pig-sitting duties ended Tuesday.

Is there a pig in the future for the Family Smoot? Kenna hesitates: “Probably not right now. We travel too much, and she’s like having another baby. But I do recommend anyone who is thinking of getting a pet to get a micro pig.”

As Charlotte, the literate, web-spinning, barn spider might add: Luna is “some pig.”

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “It came to pass,/ her darkest fear/ some moss now grows/ behind her ear” – A poem titled “Seattle: Rain Day 27” (from “The Bard of Sherman Avenue: Poems by Tom Wobker”) … BTW, The Bard’s book of poetry has almost sold out three runs, 500 copies total. And that’s a big deal, says Washington Poet Laureate Tod Marshall of Gonzaga: “Sometimes a first printing for a book of poems (1,000 or so copies) will take years to sell out. People love The Bard” … While Huckleberries yearns for shepherd’s pie to return to the menu of Coeur d’Alene’s Moon Time, Randy Severson of Coeur d’Alene pines for another lost fare: “Moon Time really needs to bring back the grilled lamb sandwich.” Yum … Word of the Day offered by Dan Mitchinson, former Spokane media personality now with Sacramento’s KFBK: “procaffeinate.” It means: “to put off doing anything until you’ve had your first cup of coffee.” Which is a state of mind at Huckleberries 24/7/365.

Parting shot

How bold are scammers becoming? Consider. Mary Wolfinger, a mental health court coordinator for Kootenai County, called her husband Tuesday morning to say that she’s about to be arrested. An annoying scammer who claimed to be with the IRS called her direct office line to warn that she needs to take care of her federal tax problems pronto or face jail. She asked the Deceitful One to take his arrest warrant directly to her husband, Sheriff Ben Wolfinger. Sheriff Ben, who received a similar call on his county cell phone in March, tells Huckleberries: “No one is exempt from these scammers.”