Fair Week

It's fair week. It's hot, the kids are filthy, everyone has been in tears at least once and it's only Wednesday. Also, one of the goats got loose, Susan (my sister) actually "farmed up" and tackled the goat in the aisle. I was pretty impressed with her! The goat ("Cammie") was less than pleased because she thought she was in the clear, but Sue did a flying leap as "Cammie" rounded the corner and saved the day. Never mind that Sue was wearing some cute khaki pants and a matching cute shirt, which was then covered in goat hair. She sacrificed her outfit to save our goat and I will be forever grateful.

There is always at least one of each animal that gets loose during fair week. The cows and the horses are the most exciting ones but the goats and sheep keep it interesting as well. If you ever see a commotion and a bunch of people walking slowly, kind of crouched down with their arms outstretched, you know that some animal has had about enough of the fair.

Zoe and Max showed their chickens yesterday. For those of you who are not 4-H people, it's a little out of the ordinary to "show" a chicken. (I.e., "Show it what?") There's actually a lot to it and the competition is quite fierce. Some kids take it quite seriously (Emma) and others are just there for the ribbon (not mentioning names). The chickens could care less about the whole thing and just want to go back to their cage. I can't imagine what this all looks like from the animals' perspective. As if they didn't think we were crazy enough...

There is something very sweet and kind of humbling about watching the 4-H kids with their animals. I watched today as a toddler (complete with pacifier) walked a goat around who was about 100 pounds and towered over him. The goat just walked along without hesitation. Then you see a little 10 year old girl hauling around a 1200 pound steer and it makes you believe in the human-animal connection.

And then there are the parents and volunteers. The whole lot of them is completely crazy but none of this would happen without them. They give up their time, money, blood, sweat and tears for the 4-H program but more importantly for the kids in the program. They get, more than most, that kids need to get back to basics. Back to a time when it was ok to just be a farm kid and spend most of your time caring for your animals and playing on your property. You weren't running in 3 different directions trying not to be late for soccer and tuba practice while still maintaining a presence at swim practice. If it allows the kids to have a little more free time, I'm all for it.

The 4-H volunteers still believe in the idea of community and they understand the concept that it really does take a village to raise a child. They get the concept of giving back and of volunteering your time when it isn't always glamorous to do so. They attend countless meetings on countless evenings to make sure that things go smoothly. And for what? So that kids can learn where their food comes from. So that kids can learn to respect the land and the animals that sustain us. They can learn how to sew a dress or can some jam. Things that might be forgotten if we don't reinforce and celebrate them.

People make the mistake of thinking that 4-H is for "farm kids" only but that just isn't true. Kids can be involved in a lot of different ways even if they don't live on a farm. They can enter classes like creative writing, photography or jewelry making. They can join a club and start to meet kids and parents that they have things in common with. The parents then form their own community and it builds from there. There's no telling where we could go with this. Do yourself a favor and check out 4-H.