The Pig

The Piggly Wiggly, my closest grocery store, has grown on me, not just for its convenience but because of the friendliness of the staff and chance encounters with locals.

A small store, without much in the way of fresh fruit and vegetables, The Pig offers fine and expensive cheeses and every Pepperidge Farm goodie and locally made delicious bread and chemical-free milk. At first, I couldn't decipher the strangeness of these observations.

But after living here a couple of years, I discovered the answer: the summer presence of wealthy folks at The Monteagle Assembly and the year-round presence of wealthy second-home owners. Sometimes, when shopping, I wonder what the regular folks make of dried blueberries and Starbucks coffee given the scarcity of nutricious, delicious fresh food.

In any case, I love the logo: a cheerful, smiling piggie who seems to say "Y'all come!" No matter where one finds a Piggly Wiggly (from Monteagle to Mountain Brook, Alabama), the pig welcomes all equally.