The Boulder County Fair is here and gone, with Labor Day hot on its heels. A few more weeks, and we will celebrate our last long weekend as the summer days relinquish their sway. |
| Boulder County Fair Queen |
That said, the County Fair was fun and Jesse and I were both stirred by childhood memories. Jesse grew up in a large family working on the farm. He castrated pigs and tomcats, milked cows (50 lbs of milk a day) and goosed a bull, enraging him to kick down his stall.
I had a quieter childhood, visiting my Aunt Mary and Uncle Rich on the farm, feeding the pigeons and the nasty geese, riding in front of my olderboy cousins on their ponies, picking blackberries, and swimming in the little green pond with the catfish that chewed my toes.
We were especially taken with the rabbits, who looked like comfy bedroom slippers, and the chicken with iridescent feathers. The rabbits seemed frozen in fear. Amazingly, one breed of fancy rabbit looks like a kissing cousin to a breed of fancy chicken.
A teenager brought out her white rabbit and told me about mean breeds and sweet ones and how she trained her rabbit "like a dog" with treats to come easily out of its cage and into her arms.
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
Watching the farm kids hanging out on the fences and their parents and little sibs camping out in the stables near their pigs and cows evoked a quasi religious sensation. These days most Americans invite only dogs and cats to share our homes, but one can imagine other times and places when one might want to bring the cow, the goat and the pig indoors.