....

PART II of THE 96TH SHOW



Hurray for the bunnies--so soft and quiet (and longsuffering), and even their appendages are cute! Which can't quite be said of the cows, though they're mostly gentle creatures (and they've got their endearing qualities, fully realized in that mountain of whipped cream you had on your pumpkin pie last week, Reader Dear [hmm...not to mention...well, we both know there's far too many things to mention!])















Far too many animals to show you, as well!













"Oh! Look at this little horse! You're going to want one of these pretty soon!" exclaimed my yard man to the Little Actor excitedly. It was the only horse we saw at the show, since those big draft horses that the yard man favors (well, it's putting it mildly to say he "favors" them--my goodness, more accurate would be to say he owns a bunch, buys them, sells them, feeds them, breeds them, trucks them here and there, trains them to work in a pair (or three or four [or more (ever hear of a seven-horse hitch, Reader Dear?)]) the draft horses were here at the show earlier in the week, but a few days ago (the yard man explains) those equine had to go home to make room for the bovine.

I'm happy to say there were plenty of ovine and caprine!*



So many that I'll have to come baaaaack* tomorrow,
Viewer Dear, to show you more...


......
*(It's true, I confess--I looked it up, that word for the goats)

......
IT'S THE 96th ANNUAL PENNSYLVANIA FARM SHOW!
Ready yourself, Dear Reader, for a cackling, mooing, cock-a-doodle-doo-ing extravaganza!


Today my yard man and I got to pick the Little Actor up at his house, load him into our car, feed him macaroni and cheese en route, and take him to the farm show. This show's been going on for ninety-six years; it's about time he attended!



Ah, Dear Viewer, the oddities of nature that are on display here! We started out with the birds.

I can't begin to show you the whole flood of photos of fascinating fowl!



Some members of our group (we met up with friends) found the turkeys (uproariously) funny with their wiggling and wagging (and shrinking) weird wattles. More than one of us was charmed by the playful ducklings.



and, oh yes...there's more to come. Clucking and bleating and honking, oh, yeah!
......

......

POWERFUL PAPER WHITES (still pushing upward)!

I went to the mall today to get a SIM card. My little black flip-phone had been misbehaving quite badly. Now it was telling me "insert SIM card" and refusing to cooperate entirely.

When I got to the T-Mobile kiosk, there were three young males working there. One of them looked at my phone and guffawed. "Man, this phone is so old! I'll bet Jesus used this phone!"*


I was so amused, I bought a new phone.



It took more than an hour to get that phone,
but part of the time
I was car-racing.**

......
*"Please repeat that for the camera," I begged.
("I'm camera-shy," he said, but another guy obliged.)

**Suddenly I was in the driver's seat with no
instructions! (Yes, indeed, they handed me the controls and then watched me tear up the road!)
......

......
I'VE GOT THE JANUARY BLAHS. Which makes it quite a feat that this afternoon I was able to deny the denuded Christmas tree further latitude in the living room, pack up the angelic angels and the decorative decorations, count the hundreds-yea-thousands of needless needles on the floor (or, at least sweep them out the door), and then...then...take four loops at the park (in the semi-dark).


4:52 pm













5:02 pm








5:12 pm














5:22 pm






5:32 pm: My cheeks cold, my eyes straining in the dark to see if my fellow walker, the one with two dogs, is still there. She disappears into the shadows as I'm watching. Before I myself disappear, I climb into my car and drive home.

With that walk, I was able to banish the bane of the blahs ( now I'm saying hurrahs)!

......

......

IT'S A LITTLE BIT SAD, Reader Dear. Because to me, this tree looks just like one I might have glimpsed on December 9, headed for a happy home. And now....





...the car turns left, toward the local Compost Park.
I try not to think about what they do there.








It's a little bit sad.
......