County Fair

August has literally raced by.  At the beginning of the month, I had visitors and days were busy with rushing about visiting tourist areas and other destinations.  I also had to surmount my last hurdle before officially being offered a position that will allow me to continue living in my apartment in Switzerland.  Then, once my visitors had departed and with the original schedule having been disrupted by my last-minute change to plans, I caught a plane for MD and have been spending time with family and friends here.  "Little things" like an earthquake that happens once every century and what could have been the most disastrous US hurricane ever, given the scope and population that could have been affected, have also occurred this month.  Thank heavens that neither of those last events was as bad as it could have been!

Earlier in the month, however, HWMBO and I decided to take advantage of a break in the usual hot and humid August weather to attend the local county fair.  We arrived early and thus were able to browse about without being much affected by crowds, our favorite time.  Here, HWMBO enjoys looking at an ancient Ford.  He remembers his father driving one like it.

Obviously, agriculture - still an important part of Maryland's economy - was featured at the fair.

We visited halls full of steers, some prize-winning, others not.  All were beautifully cared for.  Unfortunately for them, all were also destined to become features on beef menus throughout the county.

Even this handsome guy ....

Fate was kinder to dairy cattle ... so long as they were heifers.

We also enjoyed watching the sheep judging

while other sheep await their turns in pens.

This one looks like a Shar-pei!  It has more wrinkles than I do - well, perhaps not.

The pigmy goats were cute.

Prince Tyger would have LOVED to visit this exhibit.  HWMBO is convinced that he'll be an engineer with his love of anything mechanical.

We also went over to watch the quarter horse competition, bemused somewhat by the fence-borne water hoses that are used to wet down the dusty surface of the ring.

This rider was waiting casually outside the ring.  She and her horse were eventually among the prizewinners.

Once the riders were allowed inside the ring, they trotted their horses around as requested

and then lined up for the decisions of the judges.

From the horse show ring, we browsed through more exhibit halls, seeing veggies galore

as well as exhibits from the various 4-H Clubs in the area.

There were eating options available and

 none were crowded this early on a weekday.   The amusement park hadn't even opened yet.

When I was growing up in Montana, county and state fairs were always the highlights of my summer.  The sights, noises and smells bring back a wealth of memories.  For a couple years, Artist Sis and I actually belonged to a 4-H Club ourselves, although being "townies," our projects had to involve sewing or cooking instead of raising an animal as our country cousins did.

In some ways that was better, because we never had to say goodbye to our aprons and scarves (our usual sewing projects) or to think of them as someone else's dinner!

Tennis Time

Well, yesterday marked the first matches and official opening ceremonies for the 2011 US Open Tennis Tournament in Flushing Meadows, NY.  NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave a short introductory address, very smoothly indeed, considering that he had just passed an incredibly harrowing weekend weatherwise.

His speech was followed by another given by the President of the United States Tennis Association (USTA).  Then there was an original musical number presented by a talented 14-year-old named Greyson Chance, a YouTube video of which can be seen here.  Is it just me, or are entertainers really getting a LOT younger?   He looks like he's just barely out of diapers!  Of course, that may be the influence of my weekend with toddlers and babes in diapers taking its toll.

Young Chance then sang the "Star-Spangled Banner" while US Marines unfurled the colors.  Finally, the evening matches began.  Venus Williams started things off by defeating a young Russian player who had only arrived in NYC hours earlier, a combination of visa problems and airline delays caused by Hurricane Irene.  Then my hero, the truly Great Roger Federer, won his own match handily, although it certainly wasn't pretty at times.  Federer admitted to being a bit flummoxed by all the havoc caused by the hurricane, including the near-total shut-down of the Big Apple.  Will he make it to the final and win again for a sixth US Open championship?  At least he's managed to tie Andre Agassi's second-best record of matches won during Grand Slams, no matter what else he does here.

Even though I'm hoping for it, only the Fates know for sure.  As the commentators noted, there are a lot of excellent and "hungry" younger male singles players, among them Novak Djokovic, who would just LOVE to win the title, currently being defended by Rafael Nadal, who seems to be as bamboozled by Djokovic this year as Federer seems generally to be by him.

Anyway, they're currently the top three players in men's tennis and I have every expectation that one or more of them will be in the final match.

On the other hand, the women's side is a real toss-up.  Defending champion Kim Clijsters is not there.  Current World No 1, Caroline Wozniacki, has yet to win ANY Grand Slam.  Serena Williams, if she stays healthy, is always a good bet, and it's never a good idea to rule sister Venus out, although the odds are longer for her this year.  Maria Sharapova has been winning titles this year and I like her generally, even though I wish that she would get the excessive sound effects under control.  I can understand some grunting, but all the noise all the time is a bit much.  Anyway, there are lots of other women players who could make it into the final match.  It'll be fun to see who they are.

So, right now, I'm enjoying the moment.  After all the turmoil of the past week, it's fun to think about tennis rather than natural - or unnatural - disasters!

Meandering Around the Megève Region

During their last weekend in Europe, my summer visitors wanted to do some Alpine hiking.  After considering several possibilities, it was decided that our destination would be Megève, in nearby France.

Megève, considered by many to be one of the most beautiful resorts in the world, does not appear to be too well-known among Americans.  It is, however, much beloved by the French themselves who flock there in abundance during the high seasons.  Ever since I realized that Megève was the setting for one of the early scenes in the film Charade (the 1963 version, which I prefer), where Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn first meet, and that it was so close to where I live, it has been one of my favorite ski areas.  This was my first-ever visit during the summer.

After arriving, we headed for the Office du Tourisme where we received maps and information about potential "hiking" possibilities.  We were looking more for "family-type" recommendations, rather than for difficult slopes.  Unfortunately, the lift to our first preference was closed for the lunch hour so we headed for our alternate trail.  Most of the way up, via cable car, was pretty easy.

Mont Blanc, with its summit wreathed in clouds again that day, is also visible from Megève.

Hiking further upwards, the road looked deceptively easy - the uphill slope doesn't show.  Believe me, however, those of us who are not regular hikers felt both the altitude and the climb.  New muscles were discovered.

Lo and behold - an oasis in the mountains!  

We settled down to enjoy lunch at the oasis.

We still had energy to smile.

Afterwards, things should have been easier and, indeed they were, at first.

But then the path went straight downhill.

There were attractive and colorful plants along the steep trail.

And the cows in their summer pasture had seen people like us before.  Ho-hum!

It's still a LONG ways down.

The girls glided along with the grace of gazelles.

Megève is getting closer.  But oh, how my quads hurt!

At long last, in the center of town and seated at a cafe,

enjoying the respite

and people-watching.

Now, why on earth do you suppose that woman got her hair braided like that?

And how does she brush it?

Flower Children

I spent the weekend in DC, with Princes Tyger and Attani and their parents, waiting out Hurricane Irene just in case an extra pair of hands was needed.  I was also there in the hope that we would all be spared the worst - which we were - and that Prince Tyber's pre-third birthday celebration could take place as scheduled yesterday.   It did.  I'll have more about that later.

But right now, elated because everything went even better than hoped for most of us in this area, I am posting a couple photos from the Spring, when the DC area was blanketed with blossoms, rather than the first fallen leaves, branches and twigs left behind by Hurricane Irene.

Here the Tyger reaches for some bright flowers, secure in the knowledge that Proud Papa Big T and Sweet Momma H are there to support him if he falls.

And here, Baby Prince Attani is gleeful amid the magnolia blossoms, nestling in Sweet Momma H's arms.

He may look more like a princess in this shot.

Never fear.  Prince Attani is All Boy Personified.

Aftermath

It is with a great sigh of relief that I write this - Hurricane Irene has passed us!  For the most part, we here in Howard County, MD were spared the brunt of its force.  So was Washington, DC, apart from some small flooded areas, downed trees and power outages.   Things could have been so much worse.  Thank heavens that they were not.

Thank heavens also that the death toll was not high, 26 known dead at the time of this post.  But for each of those deceased persons, there are loved ones who mourn them.  I send deepest sympathies to all.  There are also several families who lost - and are continuing to lose - their homes to flooding as aftereffects.  I send fervent hope for their speedy rebuilding.

The authorities - federal, state, and local - emergency services (policemen, firemen, EMTs and other first responders) were all well-informed, communicated and coordinated among themselves and have functioned and are still functioning well where they are still needed, primarily far to the north.  Volunteers and concerned neighbors also deserve kudos.

Would you believe, however, that some people are actually complaining either because a) the storm was not as awful as first predicted or b) we here in its path were actually "over-prepared" because of media-hype and/or overreaction by the authorities?

I find, for the most part, that such people are perennially unhappy, no matter what happens, and take great glee in pointing out the so-called failures of government.  These same people are the first to call those of us who criticized the lack of preparation for and terrible response after 2005's disastrous Hurricane Katrina "traitors" even though we were correct to do so.  That approaching disaster was either not taken seriously or deliberately played down for nefarious motives about which I do not even want to speculate.  Others more capable than I have speculated about those motives, however.  For an excellent and well-researched summarization and history of deliberately nefarious policy-making and motives, I recommend Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine.

We here in MD (where I currently am) and DC consider ourselves very fortunate to have been spared the worst.  We are thankful that Irene's winds lost strength by the time they arrived here.  Even with that, there has been a wide swathe of destruction, a lot of it further inland because of the size of the storm.

Never doubt for a second that had those winds been even fractionally stronger, I would be writing a far different post today, that is, if I were able to write at all and had functioning electrical power.   I will not join the naysayers and the critics at all.  Much to the contrary - I am proud of how our government at all levels functioned in the interests of public safety.  That is, after all, one reason why I support public services and public sector employees and will continue to do so, especially when they are beset and beleaguered by zealots, ideologues, outright liars and just plain crazies who see no hypocrisy in using these same facilities while complaining loudly, vociferously and illogically about paying the taxes that allow these services to exist.

For us all.  Not simply for the super rich.

The Tyger at Play

Prince Tyger is blissfully unaware of the world's problems, being sheltered from the worst by his parents, his nanny and everyone else who cares about him - and that is a long list!  He may not have realized that he has already lived through a rare East Coast earthquake, such as that occurring on Tuesday afternoon in Virginia and felt as far away as Canada.  He most certainly does not realize that what is being billed the worst hurricane to hit the East Coast in a lifetime is headed this way.  Oh, for some of that innocence!

So the Tyger spends his days doing what he does best, being active, growing and learning - and we love him for it.  First, he tries his hand at baseball.  We are sure that this ball is headed out of the park!

And here he is, showing off his prowess at the park playground

even though Princess G doesn't seem too interested.

He tries to interest Princess G in soccer, but she seems more interested in her scooter.

Ah well, Daddy is ALWAYS interested

and so the Tyger plays with him.

But it's fun even without Daddy!

"OK, Daddy, I'm ready to go home!"

"Now I can play Spaceship!"

Tygers are very active.  Long may they remain blissfully unaware!

Hurricane Watch

Once again, it is The Season, meaning "hurricane season," and we here on the East Coast of the US are all tracking the progress of the latest threat, named Hurricane Irene, that seems to be the most serious hurricane projected to hit this area in years.  For once Florida and the Gulf Coast, the areas that usually suffer the brunt of these annual storms, are safely out of the way.  At least, we should not have quite the same situation as with Hurricane Katrina, when a major US city was practically destroyed - helped immensely by the incompetence of the political leaders at the time.  Thank heavens they are no longer in power!

But this time, the Big Apple, aka New York City which is America's major city, falls right in the projected tracking path of Hurricane Irene.  Coastal areas everywhere along the Eastern Seaboard are being evacuated and the Big Apple is no exception.

I remember that it was about this time in 2010 when HWMBO and I spent a few days in Ocean City, MD.  Had we planned a similar excursion this year, we would have been forced to leave the area, as have several hundred thousand people already.  So, here we are at home, hunkered down with food and water supplies, batteries and charged cellphones, hoping that we are far enough away from the eye of the hurricane that we will escape the worse of the storm, whatever happens.  We are far enough away from the coast that for us, the worst is likely to be wind, rain and power outages.

We are still hoping that the projected storm track will not be accurate and that the major force of the hurricane will veer out to sea and dissipate so that the worst of the property damage can be avoided.  We especially hope that there will be no loss of life or injuries.  There have already been economic damages for those businesses that count on holidaygoers during the summer season.  Let us hope that their businesses will also not be physically destroyed.

On Sunday, Sweet Momma H has booked a special event with Prince Tyger's upcoming third birthday in mind.  She is still planning for the event to take place.  If it does take place, that will mean that we here will have survived the worst of the disaster.  Let us all hope for that!  For everyone!

Party Animal

My very special Prince Tyger has a wide circle of friends and so he is constantly being invited to attend various events.  Prince Tyger LOVES parties!  Like his father, he is the complete Party Animal, taking part enthusiastically in whatever activity is scheduled.  These photos were taken during a birthday celebration in the Spring.

First, the Prince checks out a piñata.  It's the first one that he's seen and he's not quite sure what's going to happen.

"Oh, you mean I can actually hit it?  I can do that."  Whump!

After the piñata, the Prince tries his hand at croquet.  His style and concentration are impressive, or at least that's what Proud Grandmom thinks!

Best of all, after expending all that effort, it's time to sit down and eat cake.  Which Prince Tyger does, with gusto!

He is quite definitely a Party Animal.  And he - or rather Sweet Momma H - is now getting ready to throw a party of his own.

Swiss Vistas and Working Out

Being generally active and used to playing sports such as soccer (aka football everywhere in the world but the US) and volleyball, my summer guests tried to fit in work-outs as often as possible.   Usually, they would jog throughout my lovely neighborhood,

passing by rolling vistas of vineyards,

and grapes ripening under the July sun,

or by wheat fields ready for harvest,

or by sunflowers, turning their faces as they followed the daily journey of  the sun from east to west.

Other times, they would simply borrow some weights from me and perform their workouts on my terrace

concentrating very hard for a good 45 minutes or so.

Uh-oh, they caught me snapping their photos!

Ah well, they were good sports about it.