There's A Place For You

by Michele Boy | July 3, 2025

It’s July 2025.The year is half over. The county fair begins in just a few weeks and school will start shortly after that. I cannot believe how fast time is flying. 
 I am home with a fever and a cold. And quite irritated because that is for winter, not beautiful summer days!
But it is important to express gratitude in all things. First,  being under the weather helps me appreciate the healthy days. Watching my husband and daughter go about their lives could make me a little jealous but instead I am truly happy they are healthy and busy. 
Second, I am grateful for work that I can do at home sometimes, especially in instances like this. 
And finally, I am grateful this is just a setback, not a permanent condition. 
Does that stop me from being irritated and frustrated? No. But it does wake me up to the awareness that it could be far worse. 
As quick as life is going, I want to enjoy every moment I can. So once the paper is out, I will try to get outside and feel the sun on my face. 
Hopefully, the fever goes down and I can enjoy some of the weekend. We won’t get away this year but we can still do things like canoe the river, catch up on neglected house projects, and do some prep work for the county fair. 
  This is my annual reminder that you too can enter the fair even if you aren’t in 4-H. Open class offers many opportunities to put a float in the parade or ride your decorated bicycle. There are prizes too!
  You could enter vegetables from your garden, a cake, a quilt, a Lego you completed, a photo you took. It just has to be something you finished anytime after August 2024. 
My dream is every household would enter at least one thing. That our fair buildings would be filled. 
The theme this year is “There’s No Place Like Fair.” So even if you don’t enter something, there is still a place for you. Maybe you are a spectator at the parade, come visit the exhibits, or look through the barns. Stop and watch a livestock show. 
 You will say that is because your kid is in 4-H. Yes, that is true. But I feel that way about local sports as well. I like to see the stands full, cheering on our kids. 
  Now, many are busy serving, helping, working, getting kids here or there. If you have the opportunity, bring the kids down. I will have the fair schedule in next week’s paper. 
There is a free bbq put on by the county with live music,  the demo derby, a rodeo, and a cupcake, pie, and ice cream contest, to name a few.  There is a place for you at the fair! Not sure what, when, or how to enter? 
Find a 4-H family. Call the extension office. 
And don’t forget the youth auction where these hardworking kids parade their animal or a static exhibit through the sale ring for you to bid on. 
 While the fair doesn’t begin until Thursday, July 17th, you can start your planning now. 
 I guess this week’s column should be about wheat harvest and the 4th of July. Clearly my bias is showing. 
 I have enjoyed watching the combines cut wheat. And while my dogs and I don’t love the noise of fireworks, I enjoy the light show. I am grateful to those who set them off responsibly.
 How about you? What is it you are grateful for? 
Yes I ask that question a lot here. But, I think it is easy to get jealous. It is easy to look over there and see something you wish could happen. 
The truth is some things are gone in our lives. I will not likely have the energy of my daughter. But what CAN I do with what I have? 
 Gratitude and focus on the here and now. Work to find the good. This world has too much finger pointing. What if everyone just focused on making their little piece of the world better? 
There is a place for you. And as long as there is breath in your body, you can make a difference.