THINGS THAT MAKE ME GO "HUH?"

Hello, Blogging Buddies!! My apologies for the lack of posts recently. I will try to do better.

Now then... I took a little road trip recently. While flying can get you there faster (if you don't mind the whole TSA security thing that provides you with NO security whatsoever) and a train ride can probably beat out the time it would take you to drive it (if you have someone on either end to drop you off and retrieve you since train stations are NOT the rental car meccas that airports seem to be), there are things you will definitely miss if you are not cruising the highway with your rubber hitting the road and the freedom to pull into that most interesting spot you have passed a gazillion times before. Yep. That's where we start today.

There are a lot of things that make me go "Huh?" A babbling baby will do it every time. The party at the other end of the drive-through window speaker is guaranteed to make me do it. There is no question that just about ANY politician, regardless of length of speech, will make me do it (with Ron Paul as the potential exception to that one). Clicking on an icon on my laptop that should take me to a particular program but lands me in the bowels of computer-speak files I have never seen will definitely do it. Someone who accuses me of having the wrong perspective when I have always felt that perspective was a truly individual thing with no real "right" or "wrong" to it will make me do it. Getting the first water bill here definitely made me do it!! I could go on and on... and I'm certain each of you has as extensive a list yourself!

So... when I pulled off the highway into a little spot I had passed many, many times over the years between Louisiana and Texas, I cannot tell you how surprised I was to see the following:

I hope you can read the top sign. If not, it says "Pecan Vending Machine for 24-Hour Shopping!"
Okay. I have never been pregnant so I cannot properly speak to the cravings of a woman... or maybe many... who awaken at 2:30 a.m. screaming for a pecan product? Any of you who might be able to shed light on that, please feel free to comment! Maybe I am missing something. But... after saying "Huh?" out loud when I viewed this machine, I had to try to determine the need for this mechanical marvel. Surely it simply provided pecan confections, like candy bars, to the pecan-hungry public? I was wrong about that.

Folks... there are bags and bags of pecan goodness in this vending machine. Everything from the basic roasted, salted pecans up to a multitude of chocolate-covered pecans... from white to dark chocolate and from sugar-buzz worthy to sugar-free!! Oh yes. We got'cher pecans right here! There is even a bag o' ole style beef jerky thrown in for good measure (perhaps for the poor husband who has been sent out at 2:35 a.m. for the pecan craving resolution!). I could not believe my eyes. Then... my eyes drifted to the lower left of the machine as I prepared to leave. HUH? What? I cannot BELIEVE it!!

Do you see it? My dear Blogging Pals, there is a full-blown, cellophane-wrapped, double-get-back-throw-down 9" PECAN PIE in the vending machine!!! Yes, there is. This was absolutely (and remains!) mind-boggling. Even if I concede the possibility of a need for an "after-hours" bag o' nuts (which I am still debating internally), how can I EVER resolve the need for an entire PECAN PIE?!?!?!? Sigh. This was simply too much to handle. My brain went into overdrive attempting to work through the marketing logic that prompted this entire machine and its contents.

So... I leave you with this as one of the things I think we can agree will make us all go "Huh?"

Until next post...

FINAL FAIR FUN - THE PETTING ZOO!

It's me again, Blogging Buddies! Let's take our final stroll through a portion of the Beauregard Parish Fair.

Join me at the Petting Zoo... which is not something I remember fondly as it did not exist when I was a young'un. I will tell you, though, it is certainly fun to visit and I highly recommend it.

There are a lot of critters in south Louisiana and not all are found just any ol' where... but I can guarantee you this Zebra is not indigenous to the area!! He was very sweet and very mellow.

These fine fellas are not really appropriately attired for our weather. They would be better served to have been sheared before their arrival in our 90+ degree heat!! But if you plan to travel where it's cold, an Alpaca sweater would be an excellent choice to keep you warm.

Our Zebra friend had a little Camel pal, a Dromedary Paint Camel to be specific. There were actually two camels and I'll show you the other one shortly.

Okay. So I looked long and hard at these two guys and had NO idea what they were or from where they came. The signage (thank goodness for that!) indicated these are Patagonian Cavies (AKA South American Jack Rabbits). They were very interesting and appeared to have very long rear legs but with a "standard" cottontail rabbit upper body and ears. Check out the link for more information! (This is an educational blog, you know!)

Here is that other little Camel. These guys were both 10 months old. I don't know if they were twins but they sure looked as if they were! Very sweet and not yet one of those "vile-tempered spitting" camels. This one was happy to allow me to stroke his nose. I was happy to do so.

Finally, there was a Wallaby to see. Most of you know they look like small Kangaroos but they have their very own personality.

Thank you all so very much for sharing the Beauregard Parish Fair with me. I hope you saw something that sparked a memory or made you laugh! I enjoyed being your guide.

Until next time...

EXHIBITS GALORE AT THE FAIR!

Hello again, Blogging Pals! I told you there were a LOT of pictures! Hope I'm not boring you.

One of the things a Parish (or County) Fair allows one to do is compete. You have already visited the Livestock where ribbons are awarded. Let's take a run through the Exhibit Hall where there are a number of things with which one can compete. Let's review a few of those now!







I will tell you I threatened the spousal-unit with the possibility I would enter one of his canned pear jars in the Fair this year!! :) What kept me from doing so is the fact they are EVER so good and I'm not willing to sacrifice any of them... Grand Champion ribbon notwithstanding! There were a few competitors in the Pear Realm as you can see.

If you thought the art of canning/preserving had been lost, let me assure you that it is very much alive and well in the small towns of America. Those of you who have never enjoyed Mayhaw Jelly or Fig Preserves put up by a relative (or even a parent you were glad to assist!) have all of my sympathy. I don't care how much advertising the national brands do, they know they will never reach the level of taste (and love) that is in every single Mason jar filled by the same folks who picked the figs (or pears or plums or apples or whatever!). The term "preserves" is NOT synonymous with "preserved" either. Make no mistake. To "preserve" is to process in such a way that the FRESH products used are ready to keep on the shelves for quite a while and enjoy at leisure. The way I use this term is to denote what happens in family home kitchens across the United States every year. The "preserved" product you purchase in a store has been bombarded with all manner of artificial preservatives and a whole lotta' stuff your body doesn't really need... or want, for that matter! This product may last a while but will never be as healthy as the "preserves" Grandma (or the spousal-unit!) put up in the summer. Trust me on this one.

Parishes in Louisiana are typically divided into "Wards." Most of you have at least heard of these if you have watched anything about Hurricane Katrina and its effects on the "Ninth Ward" of New Orleans. At the Fair, each Ward will typically enter a display showing off its produce and/or products for all to see. This is a typical display by one of the Wards. Colorful, isn't it?

Here is another Ward display. These were really fun to view with all of the items laid out to see and some stats about the Parish typically included.

I don't know if quilting is something you are familiar with but it is another of those things that remains alive and well in small-town America. You can see only some of the entries here. Everything from the very old patterns to newer ones had been quilted for this event!




Young folks are strongly encouraged to participate in the annual Fair. Members of the FFA (Future Farmers of America), FCCLA (I had to Google this to learn it is the Family Career and Community Leaders of America which USED to be the good ole FHA or Future Homemakers of America), and FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) all typically are involved in some form or fashion. I can pretty well assure you they all had floats in the Fair Parade, at LEAST!

Finally, I had to stop to make a sentimental journey back in time. This booth is the Lions Club Booth. It has had its same location at the Fair ever since I can remember and I would put a pretty big bet it was there before I was on the scene! My dad was a member of the local Lions Club. There were a lot of things they did to help out in the community. Every year they would sell hamburgers, chili dogs, and all that good old Fair food from this booth during the Fair. I remember my dad putting on his "gold" vest (pretty much just like the one you see in the picture!) and heading down to do his duty behind the counter. When I was old enough, I was allowed to work behind the counter, too!! Funny thing about that... I don't remember it as work. It was great fun to me.

Well, we're almost done. One more post to show you what I found at the Petting Zoo!!! You really don't want to miss that one! Stay tuned...

Until next post...

FAIR RIDES... GOOD ONES!

Howdy again, Blogging Buddies! Welcome back! You just had to check out more of the Beauregard Parish Fair Fun, didn't you?!?!? :)

Alrighty then. Let's visit the carnival! The Midway is always the most exciting with the lights, the barkers, the screams from riders who weren't expecting what is being delivered, the scents, the cotton candy... heck... you all should know what I'm talking about. If you do not, GET THEE TO A CARNIVAL!!!

Let's ride!!

So many choices!!

I admit I have never been through the Monkey Maze... but I would go if I could find someone to go with me!! Any takers?

Ahhhhh! The Tilt-A-Whirl!!! A favorite! The fun of bumping up and down over the wooden flooring (it was when I rode the thing!), hanging onto the hand thingie in the middle, and the amazing shifting from left to right in unison with your riding buddy to get the darned thing to hit a peak at the exact point to make the car absolutely whirl like a whirling dervish!! There was an art to riding this thing, Blogging Pals. Truly. I probably learned more about physics riding this than I ever learned in a classroom!

Why did the Ferris Wheel seem SOOOOO much higher when I was seven? Hmmmmm. At that age, you had a reluctant parent join you for the ride. No swinging of the car. They were grown-ups and had MUCH better sense! It was about 9 years later when your riding partner was busy trying to impress you with his (or her!) bravery and waiting until you were stopped at the very top before beginning to rock that sucker until you thought you would fall straight through the infrastructure to the ground below. SPLAT! Never happened. Just thought it might.

When I was riding this, it was called the Scrambler! Apparently that didn't have enough appeal so it is now called the Sizzler. Either way, there are a few hints I will impart to you here. First of all, GET ON THIS THING FIRST when you are riding with others!! That will place you toward the interior of the ride. You do NOT want to be at the exterior point. Trust me. This thing is like a four-legged octopus. Each leg has four cars attached. The four cars whirl around and around the center point of the leg while the four legs are being whirled around and around the center point of the whole ride!! Can you say "Centrifugal Force?" Uh-huh. If you were dumb enough (as we all were the first time) to get on last and found yourself at the farthest edge of that Force, you found yourself being compressed into the metal side of the car with the combined weight of ALL of your riding buddies who, even if they wanted to, could not pull themselves off of you. The big fun here is similar to the Tilt-A-Whirl. When you exit, you are usually so dizzy you find yourself walking into the exit gate rather than through it!

Okay. Just viewing this sucker was enough to make my breathing more difficult! This was likely the most "killer" ride I rode and was probably the biggest draw at the time. This, my friends, is the infamous Zipper. Yes, you'll recall I mentioned it when I told you the Fair was coming. It has that kind of hold over you once you have been on it. And you HAVE to ride it. If you don't, there will be long lines of your pals waiting to call you sissy-type names for the rest of your life. Even knowing that, it is a difficult decision to make. After the first ride, this beast sucked you in. You wanted to ride it again and again. Part of the reason was so you could listen to Tommy Roe singing "Dizzy" over and over again... at a decibel level that caused the moon and stars to shake!! Go ahead. You know you want to hear it again. Click on the link. :) I'll wait.

Hope you enjoyed "Dizzy" and sang along! I know I did!! You should all recognize these little guys. Yep. The Bumper Cars. You rode them with those same indulging and reluctant parents until you were FINALLY tall enough to drive one yourself! Oh... the FREEDOM!! I'm going to venture to guess that I likely pushed a hole through the bottom of one of these every year while trying to get the darned thing to go faster! First, I was after my brother's car. In later years, I was probably chasing down some guy who wasn't paying enough attention to me. :)


Finally, the ubiquitous favorite. The Merry-Go-Round. I don't know if I liked it at first because it sounded like my name was in it but I can tell you that I loved it from my very first ride. I never cared that it was in the "kiddy" section of the Midway. I always found time to make it over to the Merry-Go-Round for that wonderful, prissing, prancing pony ride. Age has no bearing on a Merry-Go-Round ride.

I certainly hope you recognized many of these rides and perhaps had a brief memory drop in for a visit (a good one, of course!). It's just so much fun to revisit some things and the Fair (or Carnival or whatever you visited as a child) is just one of those things. Every single sight, noise, and scent brings back a specific memory. It was just such great fun for me and I truly hope you can enjoy it, too!!!

More of the Fair in the next couple of days!

Until then...

IT'S THE FAIR!! HOORAY!!

Hello there, Blogging Pals! I am SOOOOO happy you dropped by today. This will be the first of FOUR (yes... count them... FOUR!) posts covering the Beauregard Parish Fair. There was just so much to photograph but I don't want to overwhelm you!!


Without further ado, let's start at the beginning. (For those who know the Fair, you know there is a "path" one follows!)

We'll start out by purchasing our ticket. It was Senior Citizen's Day but I was a few years shy of the age requirement to make it in for free. Sigh.


If you have been to the Fair before, you will remember the "entries" were in the main building where you got your ticket. That has changed so we will move through that building, past all of the folks wanting to sell us something, out onto the open air fairgrounds. We will take an immediate right past the American Legion booth and walk into the covered livestock pens area. This is really my favorite part!!

When I was a kid, chickens were pretty much white with red combs and the key to winning was to have the biggest, healthiest, happiest chicken. Things have changed a bit!! The chicken breeding world has clearly expanded greatly and there are now many "exotics" from which to choose! Here are a few for your viewing pleasure. I'm sorry you can't hear the VERY happy rooster who felt the need to crow the entire time I was walking up and down the duck/chicken rows. :)


This little gal was very attractive with her black & white feathers and that very contemporary hairdo!! (And no, she does not have "human legs." Those belong to the woman on the other side of the cage!)


The lady on the left appeared to be set for a very "formal" day while the lady to the right looked more like she was dressed for a fun shopping day with the "girls." :)


This little goat was far more interested in the hay than in me!! It took quite a bit of talking to get even this brief look!! (I'm sure it would have been more accommodating had it known it was blog-fodder!)


These two, on the other hand, were VERY interested in having their picture made and stood up straight and looked forward to make things easy on us all. I was very appreciative.


Now then... don't EVER let anyone convince you that pigs aren't smart. You'll notice that, in the whole "barnyard" here, only the pigs were smart enough to be taking "siesta" in the 93 degree heat!! Go Piggies!!!


This Brahman was the only one as smart as the pigs although the breed is known as one of the more intelligent. I always liked the way these guys looked since they were very distinctive. They were brought over from India and were descendants of the "sacred cows" of that continent. While there were plenty of good ol' Black Angus-types at the fair, I chose this specimen for the photo opp.

So, I hope you have enjoyed our stroll through the livestock area. I certainly did! It was always one of my favorite stops at the Fair. I reckon I'm just a country gal at heart. I'll have to look into some of those "fancy" chickens for the "last house!" :)

Stay tuned!! There remain Exhibits of varying items, the Midway, and the Petting Zoo to visit!! It's going to take at least three more days, Blogging Buddies!!

Until next time...

ART REIGNS AND THE FAIR IS COMING

Howdy, Blogging Pals!! Thanks for stopping by!

Alright. A lot of odds and ends to cover.

Let's begin with my job-seeking status. I'm still looking. It is fortunate for me that I do not harbor self-esteem issues (!) since I received two rejection letters last week. :) I continue to throw my resume' out there and ask anyone I meet if they know of any employment opportunities.

Since my return here, I had noticed an occasional blurb in the local paper about "RAD" which stands for RealArt DeRidder, an artists' cooperative opening a new art gallery here. Come to find out that one of my high school-era chums, Joey, had a big part in getting it organized. You'll remember him from Goober Folk Art fame (posting last December)!! The Wednesday paper indicated there would be a Grand Opening this past Saturday night. Couldn't miss that!! Heck no! I scrubbed up appropriately for a public appearance and sashayed on downtown to attend. It was really great, folks! Seriously! There were about 100 pieces on display from a large number of local artists. A few were not for sale but most were available and at very reasonable prices (in my humble opinion). The turnout was FABULOUS! I arrived at 6:00 p.m. when things were just getting started. There were already about 30+ folks milling about. I chatted with the few folks I knew, introduced myself to a couple of the artists I didn't know, and milled about with the rest of the gang. It was great fun. Within 30 minutes, the place was PACKED!! I must admit I made my escape at that point, primarily because I knew I could return at any time and it is hard to view art on the wall when there are people's heads flashing back and forth across it. *chuckle* I signed on as an "Extreme RADical Supporter." I look forward to the future shows, etc., and hope these folks get the recognition they deserve!

Okay... now the BIG news! The Beauregard Parish Fair is coming. Yes. Yes, it is. I know this means very little to those of you who have not been privileged in your lives to attend any one of the previous 80 fairs... and I am sorry for you. But I, having marched in and ridden in the Fair Parade on different occasions, look forward to this event in a way you cannot possibly understand. It's a ritualistic annual event in this town. As a child, I loved stopping at the Lions Club Booth for a chili dog (or greasy hamburger!) and a Coke. The ice cream sandwich man's little kiosk was a favorite place to end the evening. As a teenager, I strolled the midway with my pals, secure in the knowledge that we were the most fabulous, most brilliant, most everything there was on those fairgrounds that evening. :) (This knowledge could be quickly dispelled upon the unfortunate event of "cookie-tossing" by any one of us dumb enough to ride The Zipper shortly after consuming food.) As an adult... well, I haven't really had the opportunity to catch the Fair as a full-blown, card-carrying person over the age of 30 yet. But I will. Oh yes, I will. And you will attend vicariously through me!!! There will be photos and descriptions and comments to ponder.

I leave you with that little tease. I will do my utmost to impart to you the feeling of the Fair. It is something not really described with common words... but I will try my best.

Until the next post...