The dog days of summer.  That’s what this time of year is called.  I wondered where that terminology came from.  Here’s what Wikipedia said:

The Romans referred to the dog days as diÄ“s caniculārÄ“s and associated the hot weather with the star Sirius. They considered Sirius to be the "Dog Star" because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog). Sirius is also the brightest star in the night sky. The term "Dog Days" was used earlier by the Greeks (see, e.g., Aristotle's Physics, 199a2).

At any rate, there is a certain feel to these days in August when temperatures rise a bit and summer has the feeling of moving toward a close. 

Here locally, this week, is the annual county fair which draws the 4-H kids – some are farm children showing their ducks, chickens, roosters, cows, pigs, goats, lambs, horses.  Some of the presenters may not be farm kids – they just wish they were – yet still have found a way to participate in entering an exhibit or showing a favorite animal.  They come looking very comfortable and very familiar in worn blue jeans and cowboy boots.

One of my grandsons sat down near a display of baby chickens and was enamored with their movements, sounds, looks and their response to the movement of his finger along the glass display.

He feasted upon climbing on a mammoth Case Four Track.  Nine year old Jonathon said this monster is even large  enough to sleep on. They could have spent hours climbing and exploring that massive Case tractor!

What a sweet relief to be able to come aside for even just a brief moment in time and walk the midway of a county fair to the sounds of a tractor pull, a cow bellowing, the laughter of children, the smells of greasy, but delicious French fries and chili dogs.

It brings back memories of my growing up days and getting excited about the adventure of the approaching county fair!

What healthy fun it can be for youth and families to take an hour or two and to visit the merchant buildings, the 4 H displays of art work, crafts, photography, sculptures, paintings, drawings.

I’m thankful for my roots from a small country town near the state capitol – Lansing in rural Portland, Michigan.   I’m thankful even now  for living in a small town in these years of parenting and grand-parenting where people still are very neighborly, caring, personal, supportive, protective, loving and who many still have a love of life and who desperately want the best for their children and, yes,  their neighbor’s children.

With so much bad and ugly news swirling around and seemingly draining joy and laughter from our hearts and souls, it is good – at least for me and I believe for many of you – to visit a local county fair and see with your own eyes an abundance of children of all ages finding pleasure and satisfaction in a cow, a chicken, a duck – one another – and with life.

To God be the Glory!