Arnold Days

It's starting to feel like fall around here!

We haven't had that first frost yet, but the nights and mornings have been chilly. I'm guessing Colfax has around 10% of its fall color right now.

This has been a bumper year for acorns-- so forget walking barefoot on the lawn! The grass may hide them, but bare feet will definitely notice the acorns.

The corn and peas are done, but the endless supply of beans we're getting continues to amaze me. I had no idea that if you go out and pick beans every few days, THEY KEEP COMING. I'm not sure when we first started getting beans... probably July. So this is going on two months of continual beans!

I've really enjoyed the garden this year. It's good to be outside, coaxing life and nourishment out of the soil. Usually the chickens, our little dog Coco, and baby Leila are out there with me. Leila gobbles down any cherry tomatoes she finds like they're candy.

We're even growing our own pumpkins. We have three big ones right now (though nothing near the size of Jodi's pumkins!), and lots of mini pumpkin gourds. Of course, I've been using the miniature pumpkins around our house for those famously kitschy seasonal displays of mine.

Speaking of displays... here's David's senior picture on the mantle of our fireplace.

Last weekend we attended "Arnold Days", an outdoor celebration at Jon's brother Eric's country bar (not far from their hunting shack). One attraction was this tractor with steam engine. The conductors (including a conductor-in-training who must have been around Emma's age) were all dressed in pin-striped overalls and hats, like Grandpa Bragg has.

The tractor pulled a small canopied trailer that gave rides to children (and me!). The fun part was that the steam engine was multi-purpose; besides powering the tractor engine, it steam-roasted corn on the cob in an attached compartment.

The main event, as far as Emma was concerned, was the greased pig contest. We had talked to our farmer neighbor beforehand and made arrangements to house the pig, if Emma actually managed to catch one. We optimistically brought along a dog kennel with us, to bring the pig home (Jon was more than a little hopeful-- he's had so many of his other childhood farm fantasies indulged recently).

This was the first greased pig contest I've ever been to. I was hoping it wouldn't be too traumatic or tortuous for the pigs involved... and in the end it wasn't so bad. It went fast and no pigs were hurt, though I'm sure PETA wouldn't have liked the terrified squeals of the pigs as they were greased up with dish soap, prior to the contest.

There were three age groups. The first group was kids six and under; Emma was in the middle group, and cousin Seth Hurlburt was among the oldest.

The first piglet, released for the six and under crowd, almost immediately darted under the fence and escaped into an open field. Two of the little kids who'd wanted the pig burst into tears... their big chance was running away!

Luckily a group of enthusiastic older kids made chase and brought back the renegade pig before it made off into the woods. The contest was restarted... and this time one of the little kids caught the pig.

Of course, that was immediately followed by more crying from the little kid group.

There weren't any tears during Emma and Seth's parts of the contest, but that doesn't mean there was no disappointment...

Let's just say that the Hurlburt pig kennel came home empty.

Of course, it was fun just visiting with the spectators... among them were sisters-in-law Tammy, Sally, and Ann, and my mother-in-law, Jane. The kids had lots of supportive family to cheer them on.

A few of the people who came to Arnold that day arrived on horseback. One young lady was kind enough to give Emma a ride.

More recently we had Jonathan over for supper. He came in time for a batch of home-made tomato soup (Sally's delicious recipe-- a big hit, Sal!) and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Jonathan played with the kids and got to see for himself that yes, his father does wear reading glasses now.

Last night we went for a fall drive to the Weyerhauser area, where we'd heard fall color was pretty good. We ate at the Blue Hills Supper Club, which sounds pretty civilized until you remember that we were dining with a one year-old.

We wanted to do something fun because Jon will be leaving us again soon. After next weekend he'll be heading to Superior to do power-line work.

This is good news because it's close enough for him to come home on weekends. It also means better pay and a continuation of our insurance benefits... no small thing in this day and age! Still, we're glad that Jon was able to have the whole summer "off" with the family (though he hasn't exactly been vacationing!).