Friday & Fair

Caleb woke up at 6am this morning sucking loudly on his finger. For some reason, he cannot abide having anything on his feet, and so he kicks his covers off and leaves them throwaway at the bottom of his crib. A school morning, I did the usual exercise of dragging myself out of bed and into the shower. During High School, my bathroom was the shower. The shower head came right out of the wall, and the floor was all smoothed concrete. It was very ugly, but quite convenient when it came to self-dragging; nothing to step-over, simply lean against the wall and wait until you wake up. Last night, a few of the Survivor contestants received a shower. The smiles on the faces of the losers reflected not joy for the winners but the knowledge that the jungle insects would find the perfumed skin of their compatriots a far tastier dish in the coming days. Kara has decided to begin cultivating what, by her teen years, will become a stolid resistance to waking for school. This morning, after I was done, I pounced on her like a gorilla, hugging, kissing and bouncing her around while making gorilla noises. There was much laughter and giggling. Today is “bring a friend” day at her school. Her friend is Mrs. Tucker, her Sunday School Teacher.

Wednesday night we went to the Fair. A long-time family ritual, made more affordable by company tickets, the Fair is always an experience in same-and-different. “It was colder last year.” “Isn’t that the place we usually get such-an-such “Have we seen the hatching chicks?” This year, Lynn-nore sensibly cut costs from the ridiculous by pre-making our dinner as well as bringing a few caramel apples along. We still enjoy a ½ pound of Jordan Almonds and some German fries, but, at $5 apiece, home made caramel apples saved a bundle. Kara always enjoys the rides! She even went up in the Ferris Wheel with Mommy and twirled in a spinning strawberry with Daddy. We always see people we know, this year two members of the Black family, and we always stop by the petting zoo to see “Goatie Goat” .”(Though in actuality a different goat each year, Kara imagines each to be the cheeky black one which ate from her hand during her first trip to the Fair two years ago.) Each year we also visit the building of vendors hawking their wares. One of these is always selling various dips with unlimited free samples. Another favorite demonstrates a high-powered hot/cold blender which makes ice cream, soup and salsa from the strangest combinations of fruits and vegetables. Free samples are provided. The giant prize-winning pumpkin this year: 1300lbs!