Visiting The Petting Farm At The National Western Stock Show

I visited the National Western Stock Show this past Tuesday, including the Petting Farm, one of my favorite places to take photographs. It is very popular with children, of course, and even though it was a weekday, the place was packed with kids and their parents. You can pet the animals and even feed them - ice cream cones filled with food are on sale for $3.00. I myself prefer to just take photographs and let others do the feeding.

Some of the animals like to be fed and petted. Some do not, such as the two in the photograph on the right, pretending to be asleep to avoid being hassled by the hords of young children running amuck. And it seemed to work - none of the little miscreants went near them. And no - I am not anti-children. I am just an old curmudgeon. There's a difference.

Some of the animals simply endure the petting, but don't look happy about it, such as the one in the photograph on the left. It might be my imagination, but he or she seems to have a distinctly hostile look, either because it doesn't like to be petted or because it doesn't like to be photographed. And now that I think about it, it does seem to have the same expression my sister Susan has when I aim my camera at her.

In any case, it was a fun day at the National Western Stock Show, which will continue through January 22nd. You still have plenty of time to attend, although there are no more free days. I would advise everyone to simply buy a grounds admission ticket and skip the rodeo. My friend and former boss Ed once gave me advice about going to the rodeo: once is interesting, twice is a mistake. I myself say once is also a mistake. And just for fun, I am also including a photograph of the animal on the right that bumped into me when I was inside the petting farm. Frankly, I am not sure what the hell it is. All of the animals in the petting farm are supposed to be babies, and so I suspect this is a young alpaca or llama, but who knows? I grew up on the south side of Chicago, and you didn't see too many of these creatures running around, at least until after you had a couple of drinks.