I got up at 6:00 this morning to see what Joe Scarborough (on MSNBC) had to say about the financial crisis. Glad I did. He was basically in rant mode, flinging blame in all directions. Incensed with the breakdown of government.

• He blamed the President for not explaining the crisis well. Leadership is largely about communication.
• He blamed Nancy Pilosi for her stupid partisan speech at a totally inappropriate time.
• He blamed John McCain for his theatrical parachute drop last week.
• He blamed House leaders on both sides for their inability to deliver votes.
• He blamed the Treasury Secretary for his initial proposal.

I listened, some, to Olberman and Maddow last night on MSNBC. They were both blaming Republicans for basically everything wrong in world history, including the Crusades, the sinking of the Titanic, and New Coke. Meanwhile, on FOX News, the Democrats got blamed for everything. Only CNN, in my view, offered any balance. Maybe that's because their programming focuses more on news than on punditry. Lou Dobbs, who I normally dislike, was taking a broad view.

Interesting time.

Posted at 08:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I had mentioned the three books I hoped to read on vacation. I got them read, plus one more.

• Die Trying (Lee Child). My second Jack Reacher book. Wow, what a great character! The ultimate tough guy (tougher than Spencer, I'm afraid, but not Hawk). Reacher lives off the grid, wandering around the country, coming to people's rescue.The Fifth Woman (Henning Mankell). My fifth Kurt Wallander mystery by Mankell, a Swedish writer. Superb, once again. Every Mankell book is a delight.
• Cross (Richard Patterson). I savor every Alex Cross novel. Devoured this one in one day. Patterson never disappoints when he writes about Alex Cross.
• Jar City (Arnaldur Indridason). A police mystery by an Icelander set in Reykjavik. A slow start, but couldn't tear myself away toward the end. I always enjoy mysteries set in other countries. There are several excellent Swedish writers. Iceland makes a somewhat exotic setting.

Posted at 09:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since we're still on vacation, what church should we attend today?

We tried Sonrise Church, which is probably closer than any other church to our home. An evangelical United Methodist church of about 600 people. I've always heard good things about them.

First, the externals:

• Went to the 11 am service (the third of the morning.
• General attire was business casual. Only a few people wore bluejeans. I almost did. Glad I didn't. Would have felt under-dressed.
• Meet in a squarish multi-purpose room with plastic chairs. I expected a fancy sanctuary with pews. Good for them.
• I love their logo.
• Good, but not great, worship team. Outstanding trumpet player. I'm not a brass fan--more a traditional rock-and-roll-band kind of guy--but this guy was great. But couldn't really hear the keyboard or lead guitarist (just the trumpet, drums, and bass). Need to adjust sound levels.
• Got in and out with nobody saying a word to us. Always amazes me how that happens. Actually, during the everybody-greet-your-neighbor time, people did say these words to us: "Good morning," "Hi," "Hello." I'm sure it'd be the same way at Anchor, if we had a greeting time. But I know nobody gets in the door without people talking to them.
• People clapped a lot. Clapping at Anchor tends to die out fairly quick.

Now, let's try to look at some of the heart of Sonrise.

• They're sending out 50 people to start a new church in Roanoke (10 miles west). I was part of a group like that. I'm excited for them, and commend their vision.
• The pastor's sermon was basically a 10-minute video based around the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission. Pastor Stan Buck says they've partnered with the Rescue Mission for many years, and people from Sonrise volunteer there on a regular basis. Sonrise has a steady (not sporadic) heart for the underprivileged.
• I was impressed that they are making do holding services in a multipurpose room with plastic chairs. Not bothering (at least yet) with a big, fancy sanctuary.
• The service placed a big emphasis on missions. A Kenyan pastor was on hand, and the pastor interviewed him for probably 20 minutes. Nothing paternalistic about it.
• Pastor Buck also gave time for the youth minister to talk about what they're doing. The junior highers left before the message for their own service. Pam and I were amazed at how many there were. This church has quite a future.

Posted at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The only political blog I read religiously is Swampland, from Time Inc. It's a group blog with a wonderful handful of writers, all respected journalists. Except for Mike Murphy, a recent addition I dislike because of his Republican connections (though he's done okay lately).

Here's one reason I like Swampland. Joe Klein began one post this way: "A new rule here: Rather than do the McCain campaign's bidding by wasting space on Senator Honor's daily lies and bilge--his constant attempts to divert attention from substantive issues--I'm going to assume that others will spend more than enough time on the sewage that Steve Schmidt is shoveling and, from now on, try to stick to the issues."

I know, that sounds partisan. But actually, it was just journalistic frustration at the way the media has focused on trivial stuff (usually, at least to this point, initiated by the McCain campaign). On Swampland, the writers hit McCain and Obama equally, and objectively expose their lies and hypocrisies. It's one of the few places I feel like I'm getting actual light.

Posted at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first presidential debate confirmed (to me) my sense that we have two good candidates. Very different candidates, indeed. But both would make good presidents. I can't say that one person won and the other lost. Both did well.

Let's make that three good candidates.

NBC talked to Joe Biden. But though they invited Sarah Palin to appear, the campaign said, "No, you can't talk to her, but we'll let you talk to Rudi Guiliani." Hmmmm. Their confidence in Palin overwhelms me. They are hyper-protective and controlling of her. The Obama campaign has no such lack of confidence in Joe Biden. Will Palin turn out to have been just a...tactic?

Some other thoughts from the debate:

• Jim: Obama and McCain really don't want to talk directly to each other. Let it go.
• Obama was overly defensive, wanting to correct McCain's statements way too often. Chill, dude.
• McCain's demeanor turned me off.
• Barack: Yes, we know about that speech you gave long ago opposing the war. It only shows that you got one right. Doesn't mean you'll get them all right.
• Did either one ever actually answer a Jim Lehrer question?
• I'm totally with Obama about talking to Iran and others. It's the biblical approach: when you have problems with someone, go talk to them. McCain's harping about preconditions seemed empty.
• McCain's experience came through strongly. Several times, he said, "I know how to...whatever," and he does.
• And yet, on a range of key issues, I prefer Obama's view of things, even though it's built on a foundation of relative inexperience.
• David Gregory did great anchoring for MSNBC. Fair and balanced.
• Watched a few minutes of Olberman's "special." Couldn't take it.
• Babylon 5 fans: Doesn't Mike Murphy's hair remind you of a M'nbari?

Posted at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two Missouri couples joined us Sunday morning at the bed & breakfast. During out breakfast conversation, I mentioned that we'd spent three days in Oklahoma City. I said there wasn't much to do in
OKC, but that the city had some great steakhouses.

"Oklahoma thinks they know how to do barbecue," one of the guys said. "For real barbecue, you need to go to Kansas City."

Aha, a rivalry. I guess Missourians have spent decades getting clobbered by Oklahoma football and basketball teams, so some resentment has built up. They're obviously inferior to Sooners when it comes to sports, so they resort to claiming superiority in something more subjective.

But then, I've not had Kansas City BBQ. Maybe I would agree.

Here, for my own record, are the steakhouses we've eaten at during this vacation:

• County Line BBQ in OKC. Terrell Sanders, head of MinistryCOM, took the workshop leaders, speakers, and sponsors here last Wednesday night. Terrell told me, "County Line is where Oklahomans go." It was certainly excellent.
• Longhorn Steakhouse. This place, near our hotel, had been open just two weeks. Amazing service, excellent food. Added a skewer of grilled shrimp, which was a good move.
• Earl's Rib Palace, in Bricktown (downtown OKC). Big ol' juicy-tender ribs with lots of fat surrounding the meat. Supposedly the best ribs in OKC.
• Shorty Small's Steakhouse in Branson. What an amazing meal! Very meaty ribs. Definitely a place I'll revisit during return trips to Branson.
• Santa Fe Steakhouse. That's where we just finished eating. Right across the street from our Hampton Inn. Tough, overdone ribs. But I got the ribs in combo with coconut shrimp, which came close to redeeming the meal. But overall, the weakest steakhouse we tried on this vacation.

Posted at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

That's how much we just paid for gas. Three dollars and seventeen cents. Per gallon. Right down the road at the 7/11 here in Oklahoma City, a few minutes from the airport.

I don't care if it was cheap, as in low-quality, gas. We were just filling up the rental car before returning it to Avis in the morning. I haven't seen $3.17 gas in a long long time.

Posted at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pam and I have been in Branson, Missouri, since Saturday. Had a nice bed & breakfast overlooking the city lights. But no internet access. Cable, but no internet.

This was our fourth visit to Branson. So we kinda like the place.

But now, we're back in Oklahoma City, ready to fly back to Fort Wayne early tomorrow morning.

So, what's been going on?

• On Sunday, took the Branson Belle Showboat cruise. Loved it.
• The new Branson Landing--a mini city down by the river--is amazing and beautiful.
• Saw "Six," a new act (at least, since we were there last, which is probably four years ago). Six brothers. Actually, there were ten brothers ("Our parents REALLY wanted a daughter," they explained), but only six were in the act. Really enjoyed them.
• Ate at Shorty Small's steakhouse. Superb ribs.
• Beautiful weather the whole time.

Posted at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MinistryCOM ended today. Tomorrow, Pam and I head to Branson for a few days. So what of our Friday night? We headed to Bricktown, a renovated area near downtown Oklahoma City with lots of restaurants, the Triple A baseball stadium, and other stuff.

• Ate at Earls' Rib Palace.
• Walked around for a while.
• Took a boat ride on the canal.
• Got some ice cream at a Coldstone Creamery knock-off (good, but not as good as Coldstone).

Posted at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Before 9/11, in airpots, you could accompany someone to the gate even if you weren't personally flying. A wife could wait with her husband until he actually boarded the plane.

Can't do that now. But on Wednesday, as Pam and I waited to fly out of Fort Wayne's airport, I noticed several serviceman, clad in their fatigues, waiting with spouses or kids. An exception had been made. Nice to see.

Last night, Pam and I ate supper at the County Line BBQ with other workshop leaders and sponsors of MinistryCOM. A fellow from Willow Creek sat at our table.

He told of being in an airport restaurant getting a bite to eat. Four military guys sat at a table. This guy thought he would buy their meal for them. Least he could do.

He motioned the waiter over. He pointed to the servicemen and said, "Will you give me their check?"

The waiter leaned down and said, "Get in line."

How great is that?

Posted at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thursday and Friday, I'll be in Oklahoma City for the MinistryCOM conference, billed as the "National Church Communications Conference."

I attended two years ago in Phoenix and last year in Nashville. This year, I'm doing a workshop about writing. Twice (once each day). Really looking forward to that. Don't get many chances to talk about my craft.

Most MinistryCOM attendees do communications for megachurches. It's a highly competent bunch.

Then Pam and I are taking some vacation. I'll be tackling three novels:

• Cross, by Richard Patterson.
• The Fifth Woman, by Henning Mankell
• Die Trying, a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child.

Posted at 03:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ed Rollins: "[Obama] is not going to win by telling voters McCain is too old and doesn't know how to use the Internet. Many of McCain's supporters are old and could care less about the Internet."

Posted at 01:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tim's preaching through the seven cities of Revelation. I wrote a song for the worship team, based on the CCR "Proud Mary" tune. We played it today as a special.

Really, really fun to play "Proud Mary" in church. As we played, I could see a few smiles, like, "Wow, this is cool. I can't believe I'm hearing this." Maybe they still think it's a song about marijuana (Proud Mary is a paddle-wheeler.)

I managed to work in the name of each city. Which isn't so easy when you're talking about Pergamum, Thyatira, and Laodicea. Here it is.

Left to see the seven cities,
Seeing what that man, John, had to say,
Some of them were good, and some of them were bad,
Laodicea was just lukewarm.

Sardis needs to wake-up,
Thyatira needs to hold on.
Readin', readin', readin' Revelation.

Met Jezebel in Thyatira,
Saw folks worship Balaam in Pergamum,
Endured persecution with the folks of Smyrna,
Those who overcome get the crown of life.

Philadelphia, hold on,
Ephesus, find your first love.
Readin', readin', readin' Revelation.

Posted at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For me, Charles Gibson's interview of Sarah Palin was disappointing. She came across about how I expected--straightforward and earnest, but shallow on the issues. My big disappointment was with Gibson.

He didn't press her on anything, except for that stupid Bush Doctrine question (which I'll bet Bush himself would have flunked). He just put questions out there, and accepted her rehearsed answer without prying further. I suspect that Palin herself felt like she got off easy.

• She's been misleading the country about her support for the Bridge to Nowhere, but Gibson passively accepted her canned answer.
• He brought up, but didn't push, on her record with other earmarks.
• He let her get away with her totally unnecessary lie about selling that government jet on eBay.
• He didn't pry into what, to me, sure looks like abuse of power in Troopergate.
• He didn't bring up her, and her husband's, association with the Alaskan separatist party, and that party's affiliation with the American Constitution Party, which seeks a US theocracy (can you spell T-A-L-I-B-A-N?). I don't care how hard-core Republican you are--shouldn't this be explored?
• Religious statements she has made, like describing the Iraq war as "a task that is from God," and that building a new gas line was God's will.

Palin's next interview is with Sean Hannity on Tuesday. That'll be a joke. Like Olberman interviewing Obama. Hannity will mostly just set her up to criticize Obama. At some point, Palin needs to be pressed.

Posted at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

At break this morning, we reminisced about where we were when we heard about the 9/11 attack in New York. I had just returned to the office from an elders meeting at Bob Evans.

CNN has a memorial to all the persons who died that day, with photos and information about each person and comments from people who knew them. Very interesting and moving.

Posted at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was told yesterday that one of the almanacs is predicting one of the coldest winters ever.

We have a new furnace and roof. Bring it on.

Posted at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At the Y, a long bank of TVs hang on the wall to help fitnessnics while away the time on the treadmills, bikes, and arc trainers. My arm-bound Radio Shack tuner lets me dial into the various channels.

So I'm treadmilling last night, switching back and forth between MSNBC and FOXNews. And getting very frustrated. Lots of very serious analysis of lipstick comments. Olberman is bashing McCain and giving Democrats highly articulate wet kisses. Meanwhile, O'Reilly is pretending to be fair and balanced while belittling all things Democrat.

Olberman is now officially a joke (there, Mom, I said it), his own Worst Person in the World. (O'Reilly has been one for some time.) His Alpha Dog power trip downed Tucker Carlson and Dan Abrams, and he's working on banishing Tom Brokaw, who told him on air that he was being unfair.

Their shows end. On comes newcomer Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, and Hannity and Colmes on Fox. Maddow is Olberman's spunky little sister. Hannity loves superlatives and exaggerations, like last night when he said of McCain, "He had every bone in his body broken in a Hanoi prison." Colmes is allowed to speak occasionally.

I just want to watch some objective news. A couple nights ago, Olberman interviewed Obama, with questions akin to this: "You've seen the latest McCain ad. It was stupid, right?" I think even Obama was embarrassed by it, and may have thought Olberman was hitting on him, it was so suck-uppity chummy.

I went home and turned on CNN. Anderson Cooper was actually dealing with issues--comparisons of the candidates' tax plans, their abortion views, other stuff. It was enlightening. What a concept.

I miss having Headline News at night, when you could actually turn on the TV and get the day's news. Now, Headline News has Shallow Glen and Shamelessly Exploitive Nancy...and better ratings, evidently. So sad.

Posted at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My all-time favorite church potluck food is the corn casserole. You know, the corn with Jiffy cornbread mixed in. I can never get enough of it.

In what must surely be the bizarrest-ever version of a midlife crisis, I've spent the year learning how to cook. Instead of getting a Harley (which I've not ruled out entirely), I've gone domestic. I had a goal of learning ten crockpot recipes, and I think I've gone beyond that. On Saturday, I made pancakes for the first time. In stores, I look at skillets and cooking utensils. Yes, I'm losing it.

In light of my infatuation with cooking, it's not surprising that I learned how to bake a corn casserole. I checked out various recipes on the internet, mixed-and-matched some ingredients to form my own recipe, and gave it a try.

Jodie, Pam's sister, was over a few weeks ago. I grilled us steaks and baked a corn casserole. Jodie loved it. In fact, she asked for the recipe (yes, a woman asked ME for a recipe). She called to say her kids liked it. This gave me a decidedly un-guylike sense of satisfaction.

Pam's not so crazy about corn casseroles, but that's okay. Just leaves more for me. Potlucks are few and far between, and I haven't seen a corn casserole at a church potluck for a while. But now, I don't have to wait.

Posted at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am really enjoying a website called GraphJam. People post silly graphs and charts about all manner of nonsense. It's quite funny. Some are good, some not so good.

Here are two recent ones I got a kick out of.

Posted at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm a trained journalist. I used to regularly read Washington Journalist Review and Columbia Journalism Review. I'm an admirer of old-school journalists, and I appreciate their mindset. You put aside your own biases and follow the story, wherever it leads. No matter what the partisan spinmeisters say, writing a negative story about the Clintons doesn't make you a Republican, and writing something negative about McCain doesn't mean you're a Democrat. Journalists follow the story.

I loved David Brinkley's Sunday morning show. Brinkley was a hardcore journalist; so were Cokie Roberts and the ever-unlovable Sam Donaldson. George Will, a pundit, was thrown in for good measure.

But today, pundits rule. The people who host TV "news" shows don't come from journalism backgrounds. Olberman, Matthews, O'Reilly, Stephanopolous, Scarborough, Buchanan, Carlson, Abrams, Larry King--these are not journalists. They are personalities. And so, news circa 2008 is far different from news circa 1978.

There are still some true journalists out there. Jim Lehrer, Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell, Bob Scheiffer, David Gregory (though he's aspiring to be a pundit), Brian Williams, Christiane Amanpour, Bob Woodward, Candy Crowley, Anderson Cooper (yes, Cooper). Dan Rather was an amazing journalist in his day. The major newspapers are home to many superb journalists.

But TV viewers want opinions, evidently, not facts. So personalities rise to the top at the expense of journalists.

And today, there's the dilemma of deciding, "Who is a journalist?" The evil "media" now includes the blogosphere, where facts are optional. And so, Andrea Mitchell and Bob Woodward get lumped in with DailyKos and HuffingtonPost. They are not the same. But the blogs get half-baked stories out there, and journalists really have no choice but to follow up to see if there's any truth to it. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity vomit up innuendoes and tabloid-worthy gossip about Democrats, and when Brian Williams doesn't repeat it on Nightly News, he gets accused of being on the Democrat payroll. No, it's just that they didn't find anything credible to report.

But unfortunately, the half-truths and thoroughly-spun tripe from the pundits and blogs is what we end up talking about.

Posted at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Regrettably, I fell asleep halfway through McCain's speech last night. When I woke up, he had just finished. Time for balloons. Poor Andrea Mitchell, drowned in balloons. She was trying to come up with something clever, like when John Chancellor said while being carried off by security at the 1964 convention, "This is John Chancellor, somewhere in custody." Andrea said she was somewhere on the convention floor, and I'm sure she had Chancellor in mind, but she just couldn't think of something clever.

So, my long bout of sleeplessness will come to an end.

• Two weeks of Olympics.
• A week of the Democratic convention.
• Then the Republican convention.

I guess McCain knew I needed the sleep, so he let me get started early.

Posted at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Laugh if you want about Sarah Palin being mayor of a little town like Wasilla. Truth is, Wasilla is the fourth-largest city in Alaska. And it's growing. Used to be ninth.

If Palin were mayor of the fourth-largest city in Indiana, she'd be living in South Bend and rooting for the Fighting Irish.

With 9780 people, Wasilla is roughly the size of Decatur, Ind. So there.

Posted at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sarah Palin rocked. Her family rocked. Excellent pick, Mr. McCain. The news this morning, various channels, replayed her best lines--and there were a lot of them. When she was selected, the conventional wisdom was that McCain had just forfeited his greatest argument against Obama--that he was inexperienced. But Palin's executive experience--though minimal--only accentuates Obama's pervasive novice-ness.

A few other notes:

• Rudy was superb. He killed Obama on the experience issue. Gave me extensive pause.
• Did you know that John McCain was a POW? Someone pointed that out last night.
• I watched the first 45 minutes of Morning Joe this a.m. A ravefest for Palin.
• I remain concerned that the McCain campaign is headed toward the contemptible "divide the country so we can win the election" tactics of George Bush.
• The constant "USA!" chanting really gets on my nerves.
• Mitt Romney: boring! He said something about Republicans not being the party of Big Brother. 'Scuse me, but--warrantless wire-tapping of American citizens? Curbing of civil rights?
• I didn't like the campaign people constantly portraying Palin as a victim of the press. As if she was sequestered in a hotel room, barely holding back tears, muttering, "Everyone's picking on me. Please tell them to s-t-o-o-o-o-o-p." She's a tough gal. I can't imagine she enjoys being depicted as a victim.

Posted at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mike Huckabee said that Sarah Palin got more votes for mayor than Joe Biden got for President. It was a joke. But soon as the speech ended, Keith Olberman felt compelled to offer a correction--that Joe Biden got far more votes than that. He wondered where Huckabee got his information. Keith: it was a joke. Chill, dude.

MSNBC put Keith Olberman and Chris Matthews in different rooms. Good idea.

Posted at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BusinessWeek had a superb issue about life in the office. One of the articles talked about working from home, and said, "In the future, work will not be a place you go, but something you do." That's not an exact quote, since I'm relying on spotty memory.

Most of my work can be done at home. I don't need to go to the office. As long as I get my work done, whether I'm wearing khakis or pajamas, there is happiness in Whoville.

What about "church"? Is church a place you go, or something you do?

Or something you "are"?

Is Anchor a church because people go there every Sunday morning? Or because those people, during the week, represent Christ in their workplaces, pray for each other, show concern when fellow attendees are sick or experiencing hardship, etc.?

Is a marriage a legal status, or a relationship?

Posted at 08:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Finished two mysteries over this long weekend, both from the Black Lizard imprint.

• A Coffin for Dimitrios, by Eric Ambler. This 1939 book roams from Turkey to Greece to Yugoslavia to Paris, as our protagonist, a writer of detective novels, researches the travels of a shady figure named Dimitrios. I could have used more action, but I definitely need to read more Ambler stuff. Very literature fellow.
• The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith. As in Strangers on a Train, Highsmith loves to get into the psychology and inner thinking of characters. Ripley (played in the movie by Matt Damon) is quite an interesting, moral-less character. There are four more Ripley novels I need to read. But a Highsmith novel isn't something you read casually. You need to work at it.

Posted at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I saw a photo somewhere of Ed Harris in an upcoming Western movie called "Appaloosa." I wondered, "Is that from the book by Robert Parker?" Parker, of the Spencer novels? The Appaloosa which had been setting on my bookshelf for over a year?

So I read it. And it didn't take me long to realize, this would make a great movie. A realization overwhelmingly confirmed by the end of the book.

We don't get enough Western movies. The last one worth mentioning was "3:10 to Yuma," with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. There was a Brad Pitt movie about Jesse James, but it kinda came and went. But "Appaloosa" should be a good one.

The movie stars Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson as freelance lawmen whose occupation could best be described as "town tamer." The bad guy is Jeremy Irons, and the girl is Renee Zellweger. I'm looking forward to a good Western. And a good Western must always be seen, at least first, on a big screen. No waiting for the DVD.

Posted at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night, Pam and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Van Wert County Fair. We figure this is the 20th (if not 21st) year in a row for us. We started coming at least one year before we were married, in 1989. Both of us had come to the fair for many years as kids. Probably crossed paths and didn't know it.

We went with my brother, Stu, and his wife, Joyce. Their daughter Paula put in a couple appearances, tearing herself away from the tractor pull, which her husband, Tom, was engrossed in.

We were more interested in the Air Dog show--something new this year: dogs taking a running leap into a pool, trying to catch a toy thrown into the air by the dog's owner. They had a contest. Each dog got two tries. If the dog caught the toy before hitting the water, they wrote down the measurement (one dog went 22 feet). The dog with the best combined measurement won.

I forget which dog one. But our favorite was a pit bull that leapt with maniacal abandon. The best pure jumper was a dalmatian. This was definitely a great addition to the fair.

Ate the usual stuff: Rager's ham sandwich, a funnel cake, and finished with cherry ice cream. Tried a couple new things this year: the Venedocia Lion's Club sausage sandwich, which rumor said was better than Rager's (I'm not so sure), and a big helping of vanilla homemade ice cream.

Everything's in the same place every year. The pony ride moved, but they posted a big sign to tell people, lest their world be traumatized.

Posted at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)