I was much impressed by the Violettes, who brought 18 cows to the Washington County Fair to show in hopes of winning another Grand Champion Award. They are serious about the fair, their trailer is camped right next to the cows and the whole family works day and night, mucking, hauling hay, brushing and cleaning and milking and showing. Their daughter is in Iraq and missed the fair for the first time in her life. John Violette talks movingly about the plight of the small farmer, especially dairy farmers, who struggle with plunging milk prices and impossible competition from enormous corporate farms. Cows there never get to pasture, or know the pleasure of sitting under an apple tree and taking the sun, he said. They stand on concrete 24 hours a day, seven days a week, are shot up with drugs and put down if they are ill.
  His cows live up to 18 years, factory farm cows are lucky to make it to five or six.
  I will be visiting the Violettes as often as I can this week, around the book tour.

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Note Tomorrow, Hubbard Hall,Cambridge, 7 p.m. I’m going to the fair in the morning to see Meghan show Annie.