Tractor Events

Despite all those new roofs and big box retailers, there is still a part of the Prescott area hanging on to its rural roots. Rather desperately, I would say. Be that as it may, the harvest end of the year is when rurality is celebrated, even by the city folk, who flock to fall events, such as the now defunct Young's Farm Pumpkin Festival and, of course, the county fair.

It's a time when farm equipment operators strut their stuff, with races and tractor pulls. I was never quite sure what this competition was at last year's Youngs Farm scene. However, it made great pictures.

These fellows are lined up for the tractor pull at this year's Yavapai County Fair. Don't know why farm equipment has to wait for late afternoon, but just look at those shadows!

As well as that yummy chili dog. Love that fair food!

Perhaps the end of the day is appropriate for a waning American lifestyle. Melancholy, those shadows, those empty spaces, those mountains.

Comment Note: Someone from the London School of Economics has just caught up with my post about Truly Nolen, the family owned & operated exterminating company which uses those cute little VWs with Mickey Mouse ears. He/she has a comment which fills in more about the Nolen family.

Synchronicity: Right after I posted about vanity license plates, an AP article on the subject appeared all over the place (be sure to scroll down!); in looking for a link, I also found Coolpl8tz, a site that collects the best.

Goats in Her Future???

There is a new scheme afoot in my dotter's household. Not her doing, BTW. Oh, no. Now ensconced on one acre up in Alaska, they are zoned for ..... a horsie!!! (Did I mention that this granddotter is besotted with the idea of horsies?)

But horse flesh is pricey. And so her dad has come up with this scheme to start out with a pair of breeding goats, learning to care for animals and selling the young to build up a nest egg with which to buy a ..... Real Live Horsie.

I recalled that I had a picture or two of goats taken at the Yavapai County Fair last month. So this post is dedicated to my SIL and his Grand Plan. I recommend that you read all about how they are trying to teach a nearly 6-year-old all about how to milk a goat... it's a hoot.

Of course, they might consider sheep. I'm sure that a winter in Alaska would produce plenty of heavy-duty fleece...

...for the shearing...

...even if the critter has to wear a coat to keep warm for a while.

Or they might raise pigs like these boys -- but I'm sure a little girl would find her pets' future as bacon to be a tragedy.

A cow? Too dang big, so big that they required a separate building at the fair.

Rabbits? Well, the sign warns us about the ferocity of bunnies, such as the little guy below.

And geese are well known for intimidating little kids, so that's out. I guess the dotter's family will have to settle for goats.

Reminding me -- what ever happened to llamas and alpacas. As I recall, the SIL lusted after an Andean camelid. Of course, they are as pricey as horses.

The Rest of the Chickens

Surely you didn't think that all those chickens I posted last night brought an end to my poultry posts, did you? Our county fair had other ways to celebrate the national foul. Starting with the cloth, above, which covered one of the tables in the animal house.

Chickens were in evidence in the exhibit hall, too. This papier-mache critter was part of the big elementary school art show at the fair.

The quilt, above, was a blue ribbon prize winner. Neat roosters, aren't they.

Yes, there were also paintings and photographs on display.

As for this quiltish rooster, he was the creation of another of the school artists. High school, BTW.

Bloggy Business: sheoflittlebrain has handed me this award:


It seems I have made her smile on occasion. I hope frequently! And my instructions were to pass the award along to others who have made my day a happier one. Here goes with a partial list; several I might have included were already nominated by she:

* Right back to The One Acre Wood
* Desert Cat
* Albuquerque Daily Photo
* ksquest
* Not Dead Yet
* SmilenSigh
* Olivia in Germany
* The Lazy Artist
* Escaping Suburbia
* Foolsewoode

County Fair: Chickens Galore

I'd be willing to bet that a big percentage of visitors to the county fair are there for the thrill of the rides. But there probably wouldn't be a fair if it weren't for farmers and the products of the land.

A good third of the space over at our new fairgrounds was devoted to the animals -- big and small. Here, a focus on the small. Chickens, to be specific. And as an honor to Little Sir Galahad, the gallant Mille Fleur bantam rooster who resides at The One Acre Wood.

As a townie, raised neither on the farm nor in the big city, I'm pretty naive about such matters. The critter above, for example, along with his red brethren, is what a Real Chicken looks like in my mind.

Oops! How wrong I have been all these years. A university down in OZ offers this handy dandy chart of the varieties of chook, as the Aussies call this species of foul.

Visits to the One Acre Wood and, now, the Yavapai County Fair, have certainly improved my education re: barnyard denizens. What a wonderful variety I've become acquainted with, if ever so briefly.

Of course, along with chickens go the eggs. There appears to be a second prize-winner (red ribbon) in this batch.

A beautiful tail! What better way end to this short tale.

County Fair: the Midway

Fortunately, my neighbors decided to go to the Yavapai County Fair last night. Took me along for the ride, which was great, since I haven't been to a county fair since the 19-aught-80s. Today must have been miserable for the fair participants -- kids with their carefully groomed animals, visitors looking for a good time, entertainers, farmers with their cattle. Our weather blustered, then delivered a series of veritable cloudbursts in front of that hurricane down off Baja. All day. Wet.

But last evening the weather was cool and fair. Perfect for the occasion. First stop, several long looks at the Midway, starting with semis that declared "circus load" on the cabs.

On one end of the fair grounds, the animals; at the other, the arts, crafts and commercial booths. In between, the best part of all -- the rides.

A machine called the Kamikaze...

...the Tornado, which looks sort of like the old Tilt-a-Whirl that I fondly remember...

...a ride whose name I didn't get, though it looks like great fun...

...and, of course, the Ferris Wheel. Didn't take any of the rides. A pity -- I recall motion pictures my LH took from the Ferris Wheel. Very unnerving point of view. Another memory -- the remarkable wheel with closed cars in Vienna that Orson Welles featured in The Third Man.

OK, OK. After dark, I couldn't resist the opportunity to check out the Night setting on my Cannon. Cheap shots, of course, but why not?

The one problem: the Ferris wheel was the only ride visible from my shooting position -- we were waiting to be picked up and couldn't go for a long walk.

But the County Fair is certainly about a lot more than rides and junk foods. More later.