The Douglas County Fair And Rodeo

This past Sunday was the final day of the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo, and my friend Mark, sister Susan, and I decided to take advantage of the free grounds admission and head down to Castle Rock, Colorado to check it out. Like all county fairs, there were carnival rides, live music, rodeos, food, a marketplace selling locally produced products, and of course, animals raised by local youths, which was the best part of the fair.

I took the photograph on the right of that friendly cow relaxing in its stall and turning its head to pose for its portrait, which was very nice of it to do. All the other cows in the building paid no attention to me, busy scarfing up the food in their feed bag. And happily, there were a million fans placed all around the building, and so it was pretty comfortable for both man and beast (should that be person and beast?).

In the next building over, I took the photograph on the left of the young girl trying to interact with the llama (or is it an alpaca?). Being raised in the Brainerd neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, we did not see too many llamas or alpacas around. I have heard that these are not especially friendly creatures. Just the other day at the Colorado Day celebration at Denver's Union Station, a woman tried to pet an alpaca, and it wound up spitting at her. And there was a warning sign on a cubical letting visitors that those animals do not really like people and will either bite your hand or spit at you if try to touch them. I did notice that that particular beast did not approach the young girl, and so fortunately there were no biting or spitting incidents. At least this time.

The llama in the photograph on the right was also a bit standoffish, sitting in the middle of its compound and keeping away from all the people approaching its compound. Fortunately, it was willing to pose for a portrait, looking quite regal as it checked out everyone who walked by, probably thinking to itself that it was too far away to try spitting at them. The rest of the building was filled with goats, many with babies, who were quite cute. And there were signs letting people know that those babies were for sale for $150 each. Susan really wanted to take one home, but I told her she would have to discuss it with the building manager and possibly get HOA permission to keep it in the condo. I wonder how long it takes to toilet train one of those babies?

And, of course, there were a number of sheep around, too, such as the one in the photograph on the left. The Junior Livestock Sale took place last Friday, and so I imagine the animals stay in their pens until the end of the fair, when the new owners take possession of them, putting them in the back seat of their SUVs or however they plan to transport them to their backyard. And this particular sheep was also happy to have its photo taken. We skipped the carnival rides, as well as the carnival food, and called it a day after viewing the animals and the items for sale at the Marketplace. It all made for a very pleasant day, even if we didn't buy a baby goat to take home.