What I Did On My Days Off

After working nine consecutive days, having two days off was utter bliss. I slept, slept, and slept some more. In between all those beautiful sleeps, I did the following:

Amanda (my dear friend who just moved into Place de la Concorde, as I've dubbed our house, making Three instead of Two), Bekah, and I went to the fair. Forgive me if I wax sentimental, but walking through the cow barns was my favorite part. My lungs felt as if they'd been suffocating for lack of dairy air. I breathed deeply, patted cows, and just generally reveled in the sight of so many beautiful animals. My dad is a genius when it comes to dairying and is a self-taught cattle judge so good that he won a judging contest once. From him I learned what I know about cattle genetics and the marks of a good cow. Here's a little-known Becca fact: for as long as I can remember, I read my dad's "bull books" from Select Sires and picked out which bull I'd like to breed with each cow in our herd to balance her weak points. For fun. Until I was seventeen years old. What else do you expect from a girl raised in a family that goes to cow sales for family entertainment? Suffice it to say that there were some lovely bovines at the fair, and I enjoyed them more fully thanks to my dad. The horses, of course, were my second-favorite of the animals. Cupping the nose of a prize-winning Arabian in your hand is quite thrilling, as was the draft horse judging. Oh, and the pigs! I so wanted to take a baby squealer home with me! They are so comical and their mini snouts so perfect. I restrained myself, however. I doubt city ordinances would allow a pig in my backyard. We held a 7-foot boa, ate sausage sandwiches and ice cream, I won a T-shirt in a dart-throwing game, Amanda won an adorable mug in a coin-tossing game (to add to our epic collection of mugs), and Bekah gave me a bite of a deep-fried Snickers bar (it was good, but one bite sufficed). Oh, and I bought one of those super-comfy Indian blankets. The fair was lovely.

I've been reading The Children of Hurin and The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrun, both excerpts from the (I think) twelve-volume set of Tolkien's "History of Middle-Earth". Fascinating history bits and genealogies. Did you know the elf-lord Elrond of Rivendell had a tiny bit of human in his ancestry? Also, Elrond and Galadriel, the elf-queen of Lothlorien had a common ancestor. Of course, being so immersed in Middle-Earth lore, watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was perfectly natural. Good thing Bekah and Amanda love it as much as I do. Such fun to laugh, clench your fists, shout agonized advice to Frodo, and quote favorite quotes together!

In the evening air that smacked invigoratingly of fall, Bekah and I dug a flower-bed home for the birdbath. I most satisfiedly mixed good compost into the soil around the white echinacea and pink tea rose bush. I'll have to post pictures of the result later.

My days off were quite tolerable, indeed.

This entire post is for those of you who want to know what I actually DO with myself. If, perchance, you've read this far.