It’s summertime and there’s no better way to celebrate than to spend a day at the fair and an evening at the rodeo.

When was the last time you visited the state or county fair (or carnival)? How about a rodeo? Fairs and rodeos are the theme for Sunday Stills this week. If you’re stumped, or haven’t been to either one, think of things you might see at a fair. Street fairs and Renaissance Faires count too!

“So wash off the buggy and hitch up the mare, and we’ll all go out to the county fair.” – Edwin C. Ranck

A Day at the Fair

Welcome. Come on in, we’re going to spend the day at the fair.

It has been a while since I attended the Southern California Expo in San Diego, in the town of Del Mar. It is now known as the San Diego County Fair. We always called it the Del Mar Fair.

One of my favorite places at the fair isn’t the midway… although Del Mar’s oceanside fairgrounds are magical…

… it’s the 4-H livestock barns, where months of hard work quietly step into the show ring. Behind every ribbon is a young exhibitor, an early alarm clock, and an animal they’ve learned to care for every single day.

“If you ever start feeling like you have the goofiest, craziest, most dysfunctional family in the world, all you have to do is go to a state fair.” – Jeff Foxworthy

Spokane, Washington, hosted the world’s fair in 1974, the first-ever dedicated to the environment. The huge pavilion stands today in Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane.

Have you ever been to a Renaissance Fair? We’ve been to several. Northern California was home to several popular Ren Faires over the years. Our family and friends went and enjoyed dressing in the Ren-Faire garb.

Time to RODEO! Yee-Haw!

Living in a rural area of Northeastern Washington, we are close to several fair grounds that also hold seasonal rodeos. We recently attended the Springdale Rodeo in June and dressed for the occasion. 🏇

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
— Oprah Winfrey

Rodeos always begin with an opening ceremony, complete with the junior and senior queens of the rodeo, trick riders and an emotional salute to American veterans with the singing of the National Anthem. Check out the slide show.

Then it’s time to buckle up for the rodeo events! Everyone loves the saddle bronc riders, the calf roping and the barrel races.

“Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.” — John Wayne

These young calves funnel into this holding pen after they try to avoid the silly cowboys trying to rope them. Most of these guys were winners that day!

All’s Fair in Health and a Rough Road-eo Ahead

I’m sorry I’ve been a bit short with comments and slow to read posts and reply this past week. Last Monday, I underwent a Mohs procedure to remove a small skin cancer from the bridge of my nose. I’m not sure why it didn’t occur to me that there would be 9 stitches involved. And pain. And “OMG I look like Frankenstein.” But I’m cancer free and the brilliant dermatologist got it in one go.

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy

Meantime, the week before the procedure, I visited my doctor to get my left knee evaluated. 15+ years of pain is quite enough. He sent me for x-rays, and the results came back with a diagnosis of osteoarthritis of my entire knee. I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon soon. I’m possibly facing knee-replacement surgery but I’ll have to make do until we return from our European Viking cruise in October and our road trip to Arizona in January.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Sharing this week for Dan’s Johnbo’s CellPic Sunday, Dan’s CFFC Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Any Crayola-8 Paired with White, Lens-Artists Celebrations and Kym and Sadje’s WQ–Patience.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is simple to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives. Your original images reimagined with AI tools in post-editing are also welcome.

• Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
• Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
• Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
• Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
• I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

If you are participating in the photo challenge, I look forward to seeing how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme. Join me next week as we explore the yellow hues of ochre and saffron for the Monthly Color Challenge.

The themes for August are ready to view on my Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Page, which is updated monthly.

THIS JUST IN! We are hosting 6 evacuees from the horrendous wildfires that hit North Spokane Saturday. Three active fires and thousands displaced. The Autumn Lane fire and Old Trails Fire are the most devastating. We are safe and a good 10 miles from both fires, and winds have died down, thankfully. Our neighbor’s family lost their home and we’re currently hosting 6 people at our home.

Please pray for the Spokane area, Stevens County, and the firefighters and first responders who have worked tirelessly for 15 hours already. With a house full of people this morning, we are celebrating life over coffee.

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