Last Days of Summer

We have now crossed into the last half of August and are heading towards Labor Day Weekend otherwise known as the unofficial end of summer. I know summer doesn’t technically end until late September and hot weather is still common in September. For me, though, once football season starts, the summer vibe kind of goes away.

We made our last trip to the Fair on Sunday. It goes on for one last week but we likely won’t do a fourth visit. This third visit was to see some of the animals we missed the last time (sheep and goats) and for my wife to get a second look at the rabbits.

It also gave us an opportunity to sample some of the new food items. There are things we must have each year so you need multiple visits to really be able to branch out. I mean it is tough to turn down fried cheese or the pork burgers but we skipped them this time to sample some new things. One was a brisket corn dog (don’t ask me how they did that) which was good. The other was an empanada stuffed with mac and cheese and bbq turkey. That one was OK but it was one of those things that sounded better than it actually was. The turkey was good but the rest didn’t quite live up to expectations.

Got to feed the goats and baby cows again. The cows were lying down because it was a little hotter than it was on Friday but it didn’t stop them from gobbling up the carrot slices. I can’t imagine how much profit they made on those carrot slices because you didn’t get a lot in each little cup and so many of us just want to feed the farm animals.

I didn’t grow up in a rural area. We did help Mom a couple of years with a garden plot when some organization rented out patches of land. I will say there is something kind of amazing about watching stuff you planted grow and produce actual vegetables. Just for fun, we ended up entering a few things in our county fair and actually won a few ribbons.

Still there is something about the vibe and atmosphere that draws me to the fair. And it is more than just an opportunity to eat fried food. Probably just a different feeling than what you get in a big city and it is nice to get a little taste of something different. I have no desire to go off and farm somewhere although I do think it might be fun to just have a few cows around. Although I’m sure I’d think differently in mid January.

So we draw the curtain on another State Fair. I’ll be more than ready to go back when the next one rolls around.

Again, the quotes don’t fit the post. I just liked them.