Grange Fair, Three Green Frogs and a Clown

We made up for Jeff’s having missed the 2011 Grange Fair by going not once, not twice but three times this year!  That is, three fair days plus the trip up to enter a spoon in the wood-turning category.  He earned a red ribbon and a $5 prize!  We collected his spoon and prize money tonight and walked the fairgrounds one last time.  Some of the animals had already been taken away and most of the vendors were clearing out.  Exhibitors carried away their photography, Lego projects, vegetables and jellies, along with their ribbons.  Some were first-time exhibitors, proud of their beginner’s luck.  Others were veterans repeating the familiar routine, also proudly.  I have been at the fair at clean-up time before and always felt it was a sad time.  Tonight, though, Jeff and I chatted and strolled, enjoying the activity. 

We see family as well as old friends at the Grange Fair each year.  On each of this week’s visits to the fair, we stopped in the pig barn to see whether Sarah G. had entered a pig (she had – and a young dairy steer, too) and to take a chance that we would run into her mother, Debbie, a customer of Jeff's.  We hadn’t seen them yet but tonight we walked past the judging pavilion and Jeff thought he saw Debbie sitting in the nearly empty stands.  There were some young people in the ring and a judge was commenting on their entries but we couldn’t see what they were exhibiting; they held their entries close to their bellies.  In the center of the ring was a heap of soiled wood shavings.  Evidently, they had already begun the clean-up in here, even though it appeared the judging wasn’t finished.  I finally got a glimpse of something with construction paper ears and realized they were showing their pet rocks!  How silly and fun!  Debbie saw Jeff as we slipped into the stands.  She gave him a big hug and a kiss and was genuinely pleased to see him.  Debbie chatted while she snapped pictures of the kids in the ring.

The judge was an excellent commentator, perfect for the mock occasion.  He reminded me of my father who always found nice things to say when judging guinea pigs and rabbits, even when the animals were obviously pets and not necessarily show-quality.  He would praise the child’s good care of the animal and the animal’s nice ears, whatever.  The kids in the pet rock contest were doing it all in jest.  One girl wore her mucking boots. All the exhibitors posed as if they were showing their sheep or cattle.  It was very funny!  Debbie explained that the young people organize these silly contests for the last day of the fair.  Last year there was a goldfish contest.  Cute!

After the awards were given, Jeff showed Debbie his award-winning spoon.  He told her, “This is what I am reduced to.”  She admired the spoon’s nice grip and I wondered why Jeff didn’t offer it to her.  He told me later that he was thinking about it but wanted to put one in a gift bag for her.  Debbie told us that she reads the blog and that Jeff inspired her to click on the Be The Match link and register her marrow for donation.  I was touched by her generosity and puddled up a bit at the thought of it.

Kim came up from Philly for the Grange Fair on Thursday night and spent the night with us.  In the morning, I took her out back to show her Jeremiah, a large Green Frog who has taken up residence in our yard, and a younger frog, as yet unnamed.  She crept toward the “pond” (our 3-foot-in-diameter water feature).  As she approached, the young frog jumped into the water.  I said, “Oh, too bad!  You missed the small one.  Did you see it jump in?” 

Kim said, “It’s right here.”  I looked where Kim was pointing.  Sure enough, there was a frog that was much smaller than the familiar “small one.”  So now there are three!  They tend to sit on the rocks surrounding the water feature in about the same spots.  Those positions helped us to name the younger ones, Noon and 3-o’clock. 

Jeff and I check with each other daily as to whether there have been frog sightings, “I haven’t seen 3-o’clock today, have you?”  They remain very still in the grass, even when I mow, so that it is nerve-wracking to mow around the water.  I am on high alert, heart racing as I circle the pond with the noisy machine.  We are becoming attached to our green friends and have begun reading how they winter-over and wondering whether they’ll still be here next spring when, our Master Gardner friend Annie tells us, they will make a twanging sound.

We spent a lovely Saturday evening with friends Ken and Kathy who shared good food, great wine from their Sonoma vacation (winery tours set up by their son, a sommelier!), and, best of all, great company.  We talked about the joys of empty-nesting.  We shared grief over the loss of our parents.  We talked about our children and extended families and friends and politics (tread lightly!) and furniture and… our souls nourished, we headed home late (well, old-fogey “late”) and collapsed into bed. 

Jeff helped Kerry patch his roof this weekend.  He came home this afternoon, sat on the sofa and admitted that the 15-minute ride home was difficult because he was so tired.  Within minutes he was sleeping sitting up, still dirty from his labors.  Eventually, he got up and showered and was somewhat rejuvenated.  He offered to take me out for a birthday dinner at a vegetarian restaurant that I like and that he tolerates.  I appreciated his offer and asked for a rain check.  He tried to tell me that it was a one-time offer!  We’ll see about that!

The dermatologist had called Friday and asked Jeff a lot of questions about the change in his face rash.  For example, she asked, “Did you have a lot of acne as a teenager?”  He said, “Not like this!”  She told him to come and see her on Thursday at the Perelman Center and she prescribed a “cleanser.”  I picked up the prescription, Sulfacetamide Sodium & Sulfur Lotion, and read the instructions.  I told Jeff it sounded “a little fussy.”  He was not thrilled, threatened not to bother with it and scoffed at the price, a $30 co-pay for a non-generic Rx.  Finally, tonight I convinced him he should apply the stuff.  The instructions said to wet his face, avoid mucous membranes when applying the lotion and let dry for 10 minutes.  It went on like sunscreen, leaving a little white lotion here and there.  I set a timer for 10 minutes at which point he was supposed to rinse it off.   Meanwhile, I went outside to do a little weeding. 

I had been in the flower bed out front for a few minutes when I heard Jeff come out.  I looked up because I thought I heard him speaking to a neighbor.  There was Jeff, walking to the curb with the recyclable bin in hand and totally unaware that his face had transformed to a perfectly white clown face.  This is a guy who doesn’t like to go to the grocery store with his work clothes on.  I was pretty sure he wouldn’t like the neighbors seeing him with what looked like a mask peel on!  I sent him inside to rinse, “The timer has probably already gone off!”  Surprisingly, he didn’t seem embarrassed at all, even after he looked in the mirror.  He also did not laugh as I did.  I checked the drug packaging for the most-likely-to-turn-Jeff-white ingredient.  I think it is “wax emollient.”  I hope the stuff works well.

We had a letter from Keith with news that he may return to training soon.  Thank goodness!  He told us that he bought 100 envelopes and the humidity sealed them all!  It was really, really good to hear from him. 

Jeff began the lowest dose of Prednisone on Sunday.  Please pray for success with the steroid taper.