Mercifully, the oppressive heat and humidity has abated and we are heading into the nicest time of the year. The warm clear days and cool nights of September are not far off and the crops are beginning to mature for the harvest season. The Minonk area has had adequate and timely rains this season and it looks like a bumper crop for the farmers this year. My lawn is still green whereas when I travel to Bloomington or Chicago I notice that the lawns are brown which is normal for this time of the year.

The tomatoes are ripe and for a period of perhaps three weeks we will be able to enjoy the true flavor of tomatoes unlike the rest of the year when they have no taste at all. My potato crop was real good this year. Dug about 3 bushels and then uncovered another half bushel when I tilled the garden afterwards.

The cicadas are in full chorus every evening. Sometimes I go to sleep with the sound of their incessant chant echoing in my ear even though they are then quiet. I always wondered how that sound stays in my ear. Its like a snail capturing the sound of the ocean in its shell.

The Minonk area has been reverberating with the tapping of hammers on rooftops this summer. The hail storm on April 10 damaged over 200 houses and the area carpenters have been kept busy reroofing houses all summer.

It also looks like a bumper apple crop this year. The apple trees in my orchard are groaning with the weight of apples bending the branches all the way to the ground. It looks like the best year ever with a potential of over 100 bushels of apples.

Someone dumped a young kitten on my property in the country again. I now have four cats, all of which have been donated to me by anonymous donors after dark. The poor thing was starving to death and so I fed it. She devoured the food like a growling monster. So I named her Yum Yum.

I went to the State Fair this past weekend for about the 27th year in a row. I really enjoy looking at the animals. Years ago if I wanted to see a cow or a horse, I would look out in the pasture or go to my neighbors. Now I have to drive 100 miles to see a farm animal since all the farmers in this area raise nothing but grain. I take that back. My neighbor Dick Moritz still raises ponies and has some cattle.

I ran out of gas going down to the fair. Luckily, I was near an exit and walked to the nearest gas station while my passenger sat smoldering in the car. On the way back a guy in a pickup truck gave me a ride. He told me that the next time I run out of gas to swerve the car back and forth since that will cause the gas to slosh in the tank and allow the pump to get the very last drops. He said that he got an extra 5 miles that way when he ran out of gas. I don't know if I want to take a chance swerving down I-55 just to keep from running out of gas.

The fair has all types of animals and produce on display. I always wondered how they can pick out the winner of the best acorn squash or the best heavy breed chicken. They look all the same to me. One of the more impressive sights is to see the Hereford bulls close up. They are huge. You see an awful lot of cattlemen bringing in their cattle with these huge cattle trailers and $50,000 pickup trucks with the names of towns that I never heard of painted on the side. Do you remember when all the farmers had their name on the driver side door of their pickup that read "John Smith and son"? I wonder why they no longer do that.

As a community service you can view some pictures of my trip to the State Fair by clicking here.

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