To be a farm kid, you need to learn how to lose and how to win, there are, of course, far fewer winners than competitors, and I saw a lot of tears and frustration at the county fair. This future farmer was a winner, and that was a good note on which to say goodbye to the county fair, and to thank these young men and women for the hard work and values and determination they show, win or lose.

The County Fair comes here at the end of summer, for the farmers, that has special meaning, they need to get their crops all planted and inn and harvested, they need to prepare for winter, a hard season for farmers, although perhaps not as challenging as summer.

I celebrate the winners and the losers, they seem both heroic and inspiring to me.

To me, the heart of the fair is the celebration of the family farm, and the competitions of the 4-H members, all of this a dwindling part of the increasingly commercial, fair. Times change, and family farm fairs are especially vulnerable to change. But there is still much to celebrate there.

It reminds me, as the light does, that the seasons are changing again, and my favorite season looms ahead. For us, time to prepare for our Columbus Day Weekend Open House, here at the farm. The RISSE refugee band is coming, so are some of the Mansion residents, and eight or nine wonderful artists to participate in Maria’s increasingly popular art show.

She will also be selling her potholders, hanging pieces and quilts.

Ed Gulley will show his art her, Maria Kellogg will read from some of her new poems, so is the poet Jackie Thorne.

There will be donkey visits, sheep shearing,  sheepherding demonstrations with Red and Fate, and maybe we can even get Gus to sit on a donkey. He will be greeting guest. There will also be talks and  readings. Details On Maria’s the events page of Maria’s blog.

The Open House will be held at the farm from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Columbus Day weekend, October 7th and 8th, the peak of leaf season.

We hold the Open Houses so that people can share our lives and see our animals, we are getting a lot of requests for private visits to the farm from people vacationing in New York or New England. Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate private visits. Private visits are time consuming and disruptive.

We love the Open Houses and are excited to share our lives with so many of our readers and friends.