An hour with Marvin and Beverly, High Res

Although the skies were gray, no rain was falling yet last night so we decided to make our annual fair visit.  We were surprised when we approached the entrance and saw a HUGE line of people both waiting to get tickets and to get in the door.  I didn’t expect such a big crowd on a Monday night but I guess they had two promos going, half price entry and discounted ride pass tickets.  The long line apparently was also due to more strict bag screening and only having three metal detectors.  It took us about 20-25 minutes just to get inside the fair.

Once we entered it didn’t take us long to find our way to our traditional arepa vendor which we enjoyed for dinner.  The cheesy/corn concoction is very good, in small quantities.  We then headed over to the small animal exhibit area which was mostly chickens.  Some of the birds were just so beautiful.  We both couldn’t help but feel badly for them as being locked up in a two foot square cage 24×7 has to be miserable.

As we wandered next door we came across a blacksmith stand.  We watched as the blacksmith took a piece of iron and with the help of the little boy customer who cranked the coal forge, turned it into a miniature horseshoe with his name stamped on it.  It looked like a  unique memento so I asked Cindy if she wanted one.  At first she said no but then she reconsidered.  I told her it would be cool.

So we waited patiently while he took care of the little boy ahead of us.  In the meantime we talked to his wife Beverly who took the money and wrote the inscription on a little card for Marvin to work off of.  Cindy and her hit it off.

When it was our turn Cindy got up on the platform and started turning the hand crank as instructed to stoke the forge.  Somehow during this process the conversation expanded as Cindy talked to Marvin about her Air Force experience and he in turn talked at length about his dad who was in the Air Force as well.  Marvin is 75 years old, he and his wife Beverly tow this trailer/blacksmith shop around the country doing fairs and conventions.  Before we knew it we had spent a full hour with them.  It was very cool to have that sort of unexpected interaction.  The horseshoe will always carry that memory with it.

After getting our customized horseshoe we again hit the food stands, this time looking for desert.  Cindy opted for an elephant ear which is basically dough, butter, and cinnamon.  I went for a chocolate milkshake, a staple of my youth but something I rarely indulge myself in anymore.  We both enjoyed our selections.

We made one more stop at the petting zoo where we fed carrots to sheep, goats, cows and even a camel.   However much like the other animals at the show, I hope that outside of their time on exhibition, they get to roam freely around wherever home is. It started to rain maybe an hour after we got home so we timed it out quite well.

It’s funny, although we still enjoyed the fair, I told Cindy it was odd how the changes they have made to the event over the last few years have made it worse instead of better.  As time passes usually things get streamlined and planned better as issues come up.  It seems that opposite is true of the Collier County Fair.  They made things less efficient and have tweaked the layout in ways that take away from the experience, IMO.

Today I had the first of my doubleheader of medical procedures, a high resolution chest CT.  I had two CT’s back in September so I knew the general drill.  This one was a higher res version.  As a result I also had to roll onto my stomach which I didn’t have to do before.  The function of the test is two fold.  It will reveal if the likely benign nodule in my lung has changed at all and hopefully give a closer look at my vascular system to see if the calcified coronary artery they detected the first time around is more significant than originally thought.

Tomorrow I head back to the dermatologist to have yet another basal cell skin cancer cut out.  It’s in the corner of my forehead so I am curious how this will go.  It isn’t like there is a lot of excess skin to work with in that location.  It is the MOHS procedure once again where they cut, test the edges and if more cancerous cells are detected they cut again.  It’s not a fun time.