Beau is hating the State Fair!  Every night at 10:00, he gets all crazy and out comes the trusty Rescue Remedy.  It tastes bitter, and he doesn't like it much, but it works like a charm.  I worried about him last night when I was out watching the fireworks at the fair.  I had a great time, as usual, and the Fab Four were just as fab as last year.  They really do look and sound just like the Beatles. Unlike Beau, I happen to LOVE the fair and have missed only one year my entire life, and that was when I was in the hospital.  But I still had someone smuggle me some of those wonderful Old State Fair Tacos. 

I have so many great memories of going every year to the old fair on Stockton Blvd. with my mom and dad. Dad took me to the horse races and whenever our horse we picked together won, he'd toss the winnings in his upturned fedora on my lap.  We picked them pretty accurately most of the time.  The money he won never amounted to much, but it looked like a fortune to a kid in the 50s. One year he won me a big stuffed bunny on the midway.  Mom had a lot of dishes in her kitchen Dad won pitching dimes.  He was good at it and knew just how to throw them so they'd stay put.  

I can still smell the green dampness of the soft grass that was everywhere, cooling you and cushioning your feet, instead of hot pavement at Cal Expo that cooks you like a weenie on a griddle.  I remember the graceful dancing waters in front of the Counties buildings and the delicious dinners and fresh pies offered by local church groups.  There was a big white bandstand on the green with plenty of chairs on the grass for older folks to relax and enjoy the music in the shade of mature trees.  I heard a senior lady complaining yesterday how hot it was and how little shade there is at Cal Expo, even after 40 years in this location.  I had to agree.  Cal Expo has never been the same experience for me, either, but I've come to enjoy it and look forward to it each year.  It's the only fair in town, so we'd better love it or we'll lose it.  

I sincerely hope that Sacramentans will not be done out of our State Fair in the Convergence deal for the Kings arena. We are the State Capital, after all.  The fair should stay here, and it should be the largest and best doggone fair in the state.  I seem to recall we were supposed to be the location of the Northern California Disneyland at the time Reagan gave us Cal Expo, instead.  I don't know what happened, but we fell a bit short of that grand vision.  There was plenty of land at that location to make a NorCal Disneyland a reality. Now, wouldn't that have made Sacramento a destination city?  If that is truly what we want.  

But I digress.  I just leave the R.R. out on the bookshelf all the time now, so whoever is here can dose Beau, if need be.  The grand finale of the fireworks just went off a few minutes ago, and sure enough, he was whining outside my door waiting for me to let him in and offer some reassurance.  He was immediately distracted by some popcorn puffs I'd dropped on the carpet and didn't react to the fireworks any more.  If there's one thing that works with this dog it's treats.  I'm hoping that by the end of this year's fair run he will be desensitized to the sound of fireworks, or I'll just have to pop up some corn for him whenever I know there'll be some going off.  

But that still might not work when my neighbor down the street fires up his electric leaf blower, which has an annoying high-pitched whine, instead of the equally annoying drone of the gas blowers. They both bug me no end. On Saturdays I can't even enjoy my front garden because of the mow and blow service that does numerous lawns in our neighborhood.  It goes on all day long, and even Sundays sometimes.  There ought to be a law.  No leaf blowers on the Sabbath.  Has everyone forgotten how to use a rake?  One thing I love when I go up to Lake Tahoe is the absence of the sound of leaf blowers, or even very many lawn mowers, because few people keep a lawn.  Fortunately, leaf blowers don't work well for clearing pine needles.   You still have to use a rake for that.  Beau and I would much rather live at Tahoe.