Mountain Days

DAY TWENTY-FIVE Yesterday, (Saturday) we went to Alpine Mountains Days, a local fair. Compared to last year it was a disappointment. There were many fewer booths and events. The ice-cream guy said this was not due to the economy, because fairs such as this are actually up in attendance nationwide. It's because the people who manage this particular fair don't treat vendors very well, he said, and they are boycotting it. But we had a good time anyway because it still had what Max likes.

He got to play in the "Bouncing Room" -

Ride the teeter-totter

Try out the jungle gym

and watch the Native-American Hoop Dancer

Last night it rained hard and was cold. The attendance at the fair must have been way down, it must have been miserable for the few vendors who were there, and I can't help but feel that the fair was a financial disaster.

Last year was much better; there was a man there giving horse and buggy rides - he wasn't there this year. That was in the midst of the oil gusher in the Gulf. Remember? It got me thinking about bringing back the horse and buggy as a mode of transportation. I still have fantasies about that when I see the Amish people riding along the side of the road. I wish we could bring that mode of transport back. But maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic. I'm afraid that a year after that Gulf Oil Disaster, our society is no closer to any solutions to the problem of what oil is doing to life on this planet, both with regard to global warming and the pollution of the oceans.

DAY TWENTY-SIX Today Jenny was in Red Lodge, MT with friends, Paul was feeling sick, Ellen and I went to church with Max, I got Father's Day greetings from both John and Betsey. Max is taking a nap. A quiet sabbath.