We just got home from what felt like a "Blast to the Past". We went to Solomonville (near Thatcher) for my cousin's reception on Friday. (Go anywhere ending in 'ville' and you're gonna be in another world!) Since my mom and step-dad live there, we stayed the weekend. Saturday morning my sweet husband went to help build a chicken coup. I'm not kidding. Another cousin, not the newlywed, inherited 40 chickens and needed a place to keep them. Let me attempt to create a mental picture. They live on a farm where they drink milk from their very own cow. He was wearing work boots, jeans held up by suspenders, a long sleeve shirt, and a big straw hat. Brad was wearing a t-shirt, basketball shorts and flip flops! While they worked, Cohen and I fed hay to my 16 year old cousin's herd of cows, which were corralled by mis-matched pieces of various metal fences. I used the cool wind and sporadic rain as my excuse not to do my hair or make-up. I didn't even get ready later in the day when we woke Cohen from his nap to head over to the Graham County Fair. We used all of our cash to pay the $4 admission. That meant no money for junk food and rides. Instead, we perused the livestock corrals and craft entries. I love you Graham County but some of those craft entries looked like they came straight from the thrift store! We couldn't believe the things people won blue ribbons for! We were, however, quite impressed with the Grand Champion Blue Ribbon Pigeon from Pima. Ooh doggy, what a specimen!
We loved sitting in the stands and watching the livestock auction. At first we couldn't figure out why they were selling goats for $3.75 and cows for $4.25. We found out that they sell them by the pound. Duh. Do big city schools do 4H? I remember my brother had a goat named Butthead at Dobson in the early 90's. Do they still do that? These Safford kids spent a thousand bucks to buy a calf and then another grand to feed it for 9 months. The cattle then get judged (on who knows what) and only the 1st and 2nd place winners go to auction. At auction, they get sold for like $6,000! Quite a profit for a 15 year old kid! But if your cow doesn't go to auction, you've got yourself an expensive pet or a whole lot of beef. Raise your hand if you knew that they vacuum the cows before auctioning them off? I've never seen cows look so pretty! Not a speck of dirt or a piece of hay stuck to them anywhere. No flies buzzing around their eyes either.
Brad wants to make it a tradition to go every year. We loved feeling like we were in another country, in another decade. Did I mention we saw the Blue Ribbon winning okra?
In potty training news, Brad took Cohen "poo poo" on the toilet and as they were flushing down the business, Cohen said "Look Dad! A baby poop, a mommy poop, and a daddy poop!" He's proud of his work.
9 comments:
That's hilarious! Nothing like a small town fair. Too bad you didn't bring your camera. You for sure have to go next year and remember it!
oh, it sounds so fun!
i did 4H with my pigs and yes i believe city kids can do 4H. if the school doesn't offer it then you just have to find out where the 4H meetings are and attend to be eligible. we used baby oil and baby powder on our pigs to make them look pretty. and pretty they looked.
I love County Fairs. Your story reminds me of my home town, Yuma(ville). I love it and miss even the smell of cows as you enter into the county. Yum.
I did 4H for two years at Mesa High. I raised lambs and took them to County Fairs. It was awesome, plus I got an extra week off school for the fair.
Mmmmk. So much to talk about. First and foremost, Congrats Cohen! Any child who recognizes the importance of good potty work is cool in my book. Secondly, DAAANG! I wish you had pictorial documentation of this weekend. Awesome. My stepdad's grandkids in Idaho make quite a pretty penny selling their pigs at the county auction. They make like 4-5K in a summer. Not bad for tweens! Glad you had fun: ) and that you shared with us.
Wow Jill, that was so funny! Lisa, Lela, Matt and I are still laughing. Matt would like it to be known that the milk cow is hormone-additive free, as are the chickens, and that his corral is 75% all the same metal, and that all the animals are auctioned; but other than that, its true that we could skip the fair for 5 years straight and it would be exactly the same stuff. Except that if you went to the midway at night, there would be a different set of teenagers doing exactly the same thing.
WOW!!! Can we come next time??? I think all of us together there...we could make that a happenin' time!!
I have TONS of blue ribbons from the Graham Conty Fair! Good times!
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