Visiting the County 4-H Fair

Our county 4-H fair is going on this week in all the heat. Last night was the annual Jonah fish fry. I trekked to the fair, hunted for a parking space, and stood in a long line just to eat one piece of fish (I don't care for the other stuff that goes with the dinner for twice the price). I was not the only one to endure the heat, the smells, and the aggravation of finding a parking space. There were literally hundreds and hundreds standing in the long line to eat the expected treat. Tonight it will all happen again as the food to buy will be rib eye steak. I enjoy visiting the fair and remembering all the good times spent at fairs past. I was a 4-Her many years ago. We took pigs to show. We raised the pigs for food and income and not for winning prizes so we were never successful in winning ribbons. In fact the only ribbon I ever won was a participation ribbon. My sis won a second and would have had a first had her sow not laid down. But the ribbons didn't matter. We got to enjoy all the fun of being there and participating no matter what our hogs did. All three of our children were participants in 4-H, showing dairy goats. We had one milker who would produce 2 kids each year. Once in a while we had to buy a wether (a castrated male) to have enough animals to show. Honey Bunch, the milker, won many prizes throughout the years to the chagrin of the original owner of that goat when we beat her herd. (I like those two words together and don't think I have ever written them.) We were small time goat farmers, transporting them to the fair in our car. They stood with their feet on the floor in the back, straining to look over the front seats. Never had an accident in the car and since we always smelled like them from working with them, we never noticed a smell in the car. Ha! When I took my granddaughter to the fair to see all the animals, she really liked the goats. I told her that Mimi would get her one if she wanted one. Her response was, "I want a kitten." That's too easy.