THE State Fair of Texas!

The State Fair of Texas has been happening since 1856 I think.  It's probably the longest running state fair in the nation.  They even made a hit movie about it in the 60's.  It truly is a "happening" thing.

The fair grounds are in the shadow of downtown Dallas.  The Cotton Bowl, for all you football fans, is located in the heart of the fair grounds.  It was the original home of the Dallas Cowboys and is still the home of the famed Texas - O.U. college football rivalry.  Things have tamed down a bit for that rivalry, though.  In my day, those two colleges took over downtown Dallas, and it was a tumultuous time in the ol' town the weekend of the game.  Major hotels had manuals dealing with it.  It was listed under "Disasters."

This weekend we're meeting one of our sons at the Fair.  They live just north of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, so it's just a bit of a drive for them.  We left Tyler long before they did.  It's a Saturday, but the weatherman says to expect rain all day, so we're hoping the crowds will stay home and we'll have everything to ourselves!

This is our daughter-in-law, Kristin, and our son stands behind her.

The first thing Granpa does is get online to check out the events.  (Rides have never been our thing.)

"Spirit of the Horse" at 1, 2 and 3:00 p.m. is fascinating!   In the past, we have seen them take a wild mustang and by the end of the day they have a rider on him riding hands free and controlling him with knee commands.  I'm at ring-side yelling, "Take me!  Take me!"  I want to be a horse trainer for real.

Also free is the "Birds of Prey."  This is held in an amphitheatre close to the world famous Texas Star Ferris wheel.  They actually put bird cages in the Ferris wheel and release the doors with a remote control.  The birds then come screaming down, swooping within inches of our heads, to land on the hand of their trainer on stage.  They also have condors and eagles and hawks.  Well, just every kind of bird you can think of.  It's the absolute must-see for our entire family every time we go.

We love the free pig races and the dog show, too.

So much to share with you...  (I love sharing.)

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The East Texas State Fair

Not to be confused with THE State Fair of Texas, the East Texas State Fair is regional.  It's more for "home folk."  Students in the FFA (Future Farmers of America) bring their animals for judging, women bring their pies and canning creations, arts and crafts for judging, kids get to ride the rides and dads get to be suckered in by the carnies to play a game of chance.  This is good stuff!

The first East Texas State Fair was held in 1915.  That means this is it's 97th year!  There are certainly plenty of people to entertain.  The city of Tyler had a population of 96,900 according to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2010.  Their Tyler Metropolitan Statistical Area shows a population of 209,714 in that same year.

With those kinds of numbers any entertainment venue is bound to be a financial win for businesses.
The estimated spending in local businesses by area and out‐of‐town visitors to the fair for last year was in excess of $4 million dollars.  No wonder the city embraces it!!

One of John's favorite things to do is volunteer to help out at one of the booths.  With the medical traveling it's been awhile since we could join in the festivities.  This is an extra special treat because of that.

One of my favorites has always been the animals: Angus, Brahman, Hereford, Limousin, Santa Gertrudis, Simmental, Texas Longhorns, Beef Heifers, Dairy Cows, Steers, also, Lamb, Meat Goats, Rabbit and Swine.

Seems this Texas Longhorn brought her own kid to the Fair!

Miniature Cow

John has a growing interest in miniature cattle.  With just the two of us we could manage a gallon of milk a day instead of seven and a few pounds of beef come butchering time instead of a few hundred.  They eat less feed, can use smaller pastures, and produce less poop.  There's also less chance of an old man or woman getting accidentally crushed by a miniature cow! 

I'm inclined toward a miniature Hereford.
 
Our daughter-in-law loves goats.  She has nine dwarf goats here on our land.  They sure are hard-headed critters!  Tis a good thing we have an Australian Shepherd dog, Junior... except that he's afraid of the goats...

And there are sand sculptures...

The really neat thing is that it's FREE if you go before 1:00 in the afternoon.  Getting into the State fair isn't free or cheap - but it is enormous, and it could take three days to see everything.  There are, however, a LOT of free things to do once you get in the gate.

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I'm Back!

Sorry if you missed me, friends.  Sorrier still if you didn't !!

I've been under the weather for about 10 days.  Today I'm feeling almost human again, so I will begin trying to catch up to myself.

Thank you for your patience.  I hope you got to read some posts that you had missed in the past, or got to re-read some that you particularly enjoyed.

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Wedding Bells

Our youngest son called one morning and said, "Hi, Mom!  I wanted to let you know that we just got married..."

WHAT?  Wow!!  That's fantastic!  I mean, they've only been together for 6 years?  7?  and we love Michelle!

So I sent Granpa to town to buy a wedding cake.  It never occurred to me that I should coach him on what bride-n-groom topper to get.  This is what he came home with !!

Does Granpa have a sense of humor, or what?  And obviously, so does our son and his new wife!

Truth - absolute truth - be told, though, Michelle was the hesitant one so this bride and groom should switch places.  I suspect, however, that that would look pretty Neanderthal and not sell very good.

So we celebrated with what we had, and Michelle loved it.  All our sons have wonderful wives now, and wonderful families.  Granpa and I will rest easy.

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Look What Was Waiting For Us At Home

My eyes and my heart are aching for home.  We really, really love our home.  Being away for so long and living in someone else's home always underscores for us what we think we did right in building our own.

But coming home also means a small window for repairs.

Yes, we lost an old pine tree while we were out of town.  One of our sons has taken our two chainsaws home for maintenance so all we can do right now is look at the mess.  Ah well, just adds to the rustic charm of country living...

We also have a huge oak tree that was struck by lightening and the electric company will have to come deal with it because it's too close to power lines.  All we can do with it is look at it and wait patiently for the electric crews...

However, we may be able to get a bonus out of the oak tree.  Sometimes the power company brings a chipper and creates mulch as they clear out their easements.  I've asked that they empty their mulch trucks on our land as they move through the fall clean up season.  We can use all that mulch to "bed down" the garden and flower beds for the winter.

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