"Swine Lake"!

These pigs, outside Cincinnati Ballet in downtown Cincinnati were created for the "Big Pig Gig", a public art initiative in the summer of 2000.
More than 400 decorated fiberglass pigs were placed in downtown Cincinnati and across the river in Northern Kentucky, sponsored by local artists, businesses, community and arts organizations, schools and individuals. The Big Pig Gig was one of many projects inspired by CowParade, which had been featured in Chicago the previous year. The significance of pigs is related to the city's past, when in the mid 19th century, the city's meat packing industry led the country, and the city gained the nickname of Porkopolis! This also led to the name of Cincinnati's annual marathon - the Flying Pig Marathon. After the event many of the pigs were sold on E-bay for charity, but some remain in different parts of the city.

We were down in Cincinnati this morning to hear the open dress rehearsal for the May Festival performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony 'Symphony of a thousand'. It featured the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the combined choirs of May Festival Chorus and the Cleveland Symphony Chorus and the Cincinnati Childrens Choir! Afterwards we had lunch out in Mount Adams, then came home and did some work in the garden. I was cleaning the patio with the power washer, and Roger was putting some more mulch down. Jen and Jason called in this evening on their way back from Texas, where Jen had several interviews for nursing jobs (and was offered a job!) and they were looking for an apartment ready for their move in August. They have ended up spending the night, as there are some pretty big storms coming through between here and Columbus where they live.