Reducing Greenery . . .

. . . To Clinking Coin

(Hobbs, New Mexico. 9/7/10, in the shade 101*)

Yesterday afternoon about 3:30 I heard Lady B say "let's go to the fair."

I quickly checked my wallet to determine the funds therein and agreed since there was a good bit of greenery contained among the ids and business cards.

We arrived at the fairgronds in Lovington and thoughtfully parked near a street entrance, remembering a past experience when it was nigh on impossible to get out of the place as the fair ended and attendees clogged all entrances of the parking lot.

Admission was $5 each. Had we arrived before 3 p. m. we'd have gotten in free but anyway this fee included the rodeo and a concert by a "well known" singing artist whom I've never heard of before.

Lady B was most interested in hearing the oldtime fiddlers jamboree (her dad was a fiddler) session at 5 p. m. so after a few wanderings around the grounds during which we bought and consumed a funnel cake, six bucks, we sat in the Yucca building for the jamboree.

Heard a few fiddles tune up and then for 45 minutes watched a group set up mikes, amps, stools, wires and lights, (all of which I thought could have been put in place hours earlier). We could have been visiting other fair attractions.during tha wait.

We heard some nice music, of course but realized about 7:30, we had missed the first half hour of the rodeo. We made our way to the arena and found many thousands of people crowding the bleachers.

Seeing no readily accessible seating, we just grabbed the first available spots in the lowest range of the bleachers and sat, eating double size hamburgers just purchased in the food alley, ten bucks.

My lack of good eyesight diminished my enjoyment of the rodeo events, coupled with the fact that for at least three quarters of an hour, the action took place behind a large pole just in front of me and which several times was the spot where a number of men gathered to chat and smoke while leaning argainst the pole and an adjacent fence.

But I did have a bit of unexpected amusement before we found a few higher up seats. Because of the extreme crowded condditions a lady took up a position near me, standing and leaning on the opposite side of a chain link fence.

In her hand was a gadget with a keypad and a screen that displayed words I could read from where I sat. I saw first "hi" and then "where you? and next "room 26."

Somebody passing by jostled the lady and I missed a message or two I guess but then saw "shall I come ?" and "sure" and "which motel? I must assume I was privy to a conversation between two women, maybe one of whom had just arrived from out of town and was registered at a motel on the highway, or . . . oh, well, there was action in the arena and when I next looked back, the lady at the fence was gone.

Lady B and I saw out the rest of the rodeo, changing seats to higher bleachers several times, and squirming constantly on the hard, ribbed, steel seats.

We were late then for the concert but followed the mob out to the concert area where we found, that even with tickets marked with our seat rows and numbers, we were maybe three hundred feet from the concert area with a few thousand fans pressed together ahead of us.

Shaking our heads in a "no way" fashion and commenting to each other "doesn't sound like we'd enjoy that screeching anyway" we turned into the food alley again to leave when Lady B murmured she would like something to drink.

We settled for plastic glasses of lemonade at three bucks a throw ---lemonade? --- actually three quarters of a glass of ice and SOME lemonade.

With glasses in hand and our backs aching, we found our way to the Toyota Matrix, by which time the lemonade was gone.

Lady B took to the wheel of the Toyota (I don't drive at night anymore) and made like a New York taxi driver, squeezing out of the parking lot and between two threatening pickups in the oncoming traffic in a flat minute or two! An eye-closing moment.

Had a good night's sleep 'til about nine this morning. Then went dfowntown to the Farmer's Market, got two pounds of green string beans, four dollars, just about as the place was ready to close .

As I walked away I heard the farmer say to someone in his booth, "time to close up. She could have had the whole bag (looked like another five pounds) for five bucks."

This weekend in Hobbs is the annual "Hobbs August NITES" festival but there were a few activities going on, mainly the food booths and some of the craft tables. Tired, we sat in a tent's shade for a bit of relaxation and listened to a band playing gospel music before heading for home.

Casey's in the Mini Mall, best hambuger joint in the city, was on our walking route back to the car and since lunch was on our mind, we made a stop there.

Casey's was mobbed as the last my wallet's greenery parted company with me, ten bucks for lunch, plus change and that's where the COIN in my headline above comes in, the 92 cents in the final bill had to be coin!

This afternoon another blog came up suddenly on the phone, prompting another "Strange Happenings" blog.

I'm on a roll but I'll make it a separate blog, maybe later tonight but maybe tomorrow.

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