On a hot 4-H Fair, garden beans, and County Roads

No one knew for sure if this edition of the 4-H Fair was a record-setter in terms of temperatures, but everyone agreed on one obvious fact - it was hot.

And very, very sticky.

A heat index of over 100 slowed the pace of kids, adults and animals - except for the water fights, of course. It was good to see that tradition is still alive and well at the Fair.

Kathy Love at the Fair Office said that several people thought the 1988 Fair was comparable in terms of the heat and humidity. Another possible contender might be either 1980 or '81. It was around that time period that Aaron and Alfalfa - a son and his rabbit - spent some hot days in and around the rabbit tent.

As I recall, Alfalfa didn't make it through the entire four-day stretch. Some prodding by Aaron's grandmother, Marcella Kloeckner, resulted in Alfalfa's exit from the rabbit tent shortly after the judge's.

It was okay for Aaron to be hot, sweaty and miserable - but no way was a "poor, little rabbit" going to spend another night away from his hutch.

If you have recollections about weather conditions from previous 4-H Fairs give us a call or send an email to rwestfall@voyager.net

We'll put together a 'Fair' weather report - bad pun intended.

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It was a long time coming - or at least it seems like forever - but I finally was able to enjoy the wonderful taste of home-grown vegetables this past week. A late planting date followed by cool and then hot weather created the real possibility that there would be no beans or peas at all this year for yours truly.

Lots of time spent watering - and some help from Mother Nature - resulted in just enough yellow and green beans to make a meal. They were delicious.

Next up, hopefully, will be juicy red - and yellow - tomatoes.

That's assuming I can keep some horrid-looking worms from feasting on the plant leaves. They must serve some useful purpose I suppose, but they sure are ugly.

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Along with queries about how my garden is doing, several readers have asked when - or rather, if - we'll be concluding the County Road series that was started over a year ago. The original intent was to tour each township, village, and city in Clinton County.

We made it through all 16 townships and the village of Maple Rapids before the car stalled - or at least the writer did. Maybe it's time to gas up the creative engine and conclude the project.

Touring our county's cities and villages during the coming months of autumn - with its colorful leaves and bright blue sky - seems like a good time to restart the series.

Will the first stop be Wacousta, Elsie, or maybe DeWitt?