Coop's Corner: July 4th -- An early season County Fair

Friday, July 4, 2014

July 4th -- An early season County Fair

Happy 4th of July to all!

We weren't exactly sure how this year's holiday would shake out for us. Now that the kids have scattered near though mostly far, the many years of traditional 4th of July day for us is nearing its end. Our oldest did grace us with her presence today, so the 4 of us headed to the Cannon Valley Fair, though are long standing schedule for the day was altered a bit to fit 'modern' times.

I was outside early as the sun was rising to find that indeed our wild raspberry plants next to the house were busy ripening a few more berries overnight. At their current pace, we're keeping up with pick-and-eat harvesting.

They are black when ripe; my uncle used to call them Black Caps. I doubt that's a very proper Latin name but it's easy. The photo didn't capture any ripe ones since those were still in the shadows.

We did NOT attend the fair's parade this year, though we did arrive at the fairgrounds while it was still in process. It wasn't berry harvesting that gave us a later start, rather the long, slow breakfast that we all enjoyed together.

The fairgrounds were very quiet since most everyone was still watching the parade, its route adjacent to and just outside of the Midway. We didn't plan to watch the units go by, didn't bring our chairs but did stand and watch a few of the participants go by.

We had politicians in old cars....

Local 'haulers' showing off their shiny, air-horned trucks.....

The local FFA Chapter.....Note the upcoming gap; luckily we've got very patient parade watchers around here.

We took the gap between units as our chance to go back on the grounds before it got busy.

Young steers doing what many young boys do.....

Young calves doing what they do....

We normally attend the harness races but decided that it wasn't in today's mix of plans.

The Starting Gate Car waiting for 2PM.

They've traveled far......

We didn't try their food but I sure enjoyed their music.....

The moment of truth...I thought he'd done a great job but didn't stick around to see what they thought. Daughter does look concerned though.....

Parade over, the crowds moving in......

The grandstand, jockeys just finishing their riders meeting, racing about to begin.

We're off to fireworks in an hour so, arriving early for just the right spot in the City Park. Noise and light always starts promptly at 10PM, no matter how anxious everyone is. Before dark, some cribbage, Kings in the Corner, snacks, a beverage or two, etc.

Hope you've had and are having a fantastic 4th of July!!

8 comments:

RichardMJuly 4, 2014 at 7:43 PM
Cool county fair but you're right, very early in the year. I'm guessing that there weren't very many vegetable entries...
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CanajunJuly 5, 2014 at 8:04 AM
Country fairs are the best!
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SonjaMJuly 5, 2014 at 8:46 AM
Coop, I was surprised you'd call this early. Country fairs are on since early May, and there are berries and other fruit galore... but we have another climate, too. The call the area we live in "The German Tuscany".
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TrobairitzJuly 5, 2014 at 9:22 AM
A wonderful day spent with family. The fair doesn't look too busy in those photos, which is nice.

We typically avoid our Benton County fair because of the people. The fairgrounds are only a few blocks away so we can usually hear the bands from our backyard though.
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)