Here’s your learnin’ for the day, kiddos:

“Root, hog, or die” is an early-American expression whose origins lie in pig farming.  You see, it used to be common practice for farmers to turn their hogs loose in the woods to forage (or “root”) for their own food, thereby saving the farmer the time and trouble of having to feed and fully care for the animals themselves.

The expression has become a Southern idiom for self-reliance, meaning that you must fend for yourself if you want to survive because no one else can (or will) do it for you.  And ain’t that the fuckin’ truth.

I’ve begun this blog because I have recently found myself clinging to this idiom for dear life, and I intend to use this site as a forum to document my journey into (and hopefully out of) the abyss that is the giant gaping hole in my life.  I hope to repair my broken heart and renew my sense of purpose as I take up writing again, and I invite you all to come along.

So let’s call them hogs:  WOOOOOO, PIG!  SOOIE!