Fall Fair

Once again it is time for the Hymers Fall Fair. I think it is the 106th year of the event in the Whitefish River area of Northwest Ontario. It's just outside the Municipality of Neebing and not far from South Gillies and Nolalu, nestled back in the woods where you have to be looking for it on purpose. Otherwise you wouldn't know it was there. I only "discovered" it about twenty years ago and have attended on an irregular basis as Labour Day weekend can throw unexpected things at a person. For example, my brother came to visit and brought his two friends Mohammad and Mohammad who helped fill in the evenings with their company. (I want them to go on the road with their musical group, Mickey and the Mohammads and I could be the opening act.)  Professor Batty is in town, but I can't seem to get away to hunt him down. On top of everything I have tweaked my back and am having trouble moving. If not for pharmaceuticals I don't know if I could move at all. 

So I went to Hymers anyway. I caught a bluegrass band, Gibson, Martin, and I, that I have followed for about 25 years. It's good to see that they are still upright, but they have turned a bit gray (just like me!) and can still play the notes and be entertaining. We're not dead yet!

There were a couple of inspired dancers, too.

There were lots of dogs there this year which added to the people watching experience.

Dogs:

People:

There were farm animals and equestrian events.

There were exhibits of many types:

Being in Canada there were all sorts of things maple which I had to taste and then acquire for myself. Nobody better touch my maple butter!

Then it was time to return to the United States.

It was a fun, but somewhat tiring day and the trip home was fairly quiet, although the corn dog and onion rings kept reminding me that I had eaten them earlier. I looked carefully to see if there was a wall being built to keep us southern riffraff out of Canada. There wasn't. The Border Patrol did want to inspect our bags of goodies that we were bringing home and fortunately for them they didn't try to abscond with my maple butter. We got to bring our corn and fudge back, too. I hate to think what an ugly scene it could have been.

Happy Labour Day to all who celebrate it! Thank you labor unions!
 

Things I forgot to tell you and New Stuff

When I was down in Minneapolis for the wedding I saw my first Tesla! It was pretty. I don't see them up here because of their limited range, but I think one of the big West End (of the county) resorts has some plug in stations for electric cars.

When I went out to look at the stars I was greeted by a howling wolf pack less than a half mile away. When I went around back of the house I scared a deer away. Maybe it thought I was one of the wolves.

Tomorrow is an eclipse of the sun. These happen regularly on the planet (averaging less than one total eclipse per year), but I haven't seen one since the 70s. There were a couple I saw during that decade so I guess this one is only a big deal since it crosses the U.S. diagonally from coast to coast. I will only see about 80% here, but it will be cloudy so I won't likely see it at all.

Meanwhile, I like sunny days better. Summer is starting to wane and there are some leaves jumping the gun of autumn. I had to work a half day on Saturday and decided that since it was a nice day I would stop by the harbor and take my camera for a short walk. And this is what I saw:

Families and friends enjoying each other's company.

And then I just sat on the rocks for a bit and took some deep breaths to relax. Work has been grueling and I was tired so it felt good to just stop everything for a few long moments. I watched the waves roll in as they have done for millennia and just sat there. It was lovely.

Click to embiggen. 

Summer Activities

While I was lacking inspiration to write anything I published a bit of my father's life as it seemed more interesting. Then I made a quick trip out of town last weekend, but in looking through the stuff I had actually been doing the last few weeks I decided it wasn't so bad. Even if the only time I seem to have is on the weekends it has been a fun month. I'll mostly show it in pictures.

Earlier in July we had the local Art Festival. Over 70 local and regional artists were exhibiting their wares and there was a pretty steady crowd milling around for a couple of days. The weather was reasonably cooperative, the lake was a wonderful companion and the entertainment was first rate.

At the end of July, a couple of days after my birthday, A couple of friends invited me to go along to

5th annual Bay & Algoma Busker's Festival in Thunder Bay, Ontario which is just across the border. Thank goodness the Canadians haven't built a wall yet to keep out us undesirables from the South so all we needed was our passports. There were at least 27 acts signed up for the two day festival along with food vendors and the local businesses in this Finnish community. Most of the performers were quite good and the local food was also tasty. It was a hot day by our standards and might have gotten into the low 80s Fahrenheit for us and about 27 or 28 C for them. Some people dress for the heat and the nearby harbour has a wading pool for everyone to cool off. Here are Ann and Dan deciding if the want to wet their toes.

  People watching at these things is always fun, isn't it?

Here are a couple of buskers entertaining Dan (who is remaining anonymous) and Ann, who is obviously happy, and Ayla (who stopped by the farm last year to visit our horses)is tending to her dogs.

Last weekend I went to a friend's daughter's wedding in Minneapolis. It was a combination of the young friends of the bride and groom and those of my vintage all enjoying themselves on Nicollet Island which is in the Mississippi River. I got to see a lot of old friends and roommates from years ago. Here is the bride and the parents and brother of the bride.

The last shot is Maggie, the bride, and her father Jim who is one of my best friends for the last 48 years or so.

This weekend is the Perseid meteor shower. I went out behind the house Friday night to see what I could see. I saw a hundred satellites and several meteors and attempted to take photos of the event to see if I could capture any. I have tried this before without much success. I only had until about 11:30 when the moon would be above the trees and too bright. This time I got one! Click on it for a better visual experience.