Fall Harvest

Autumn. The third season of the year, when the seeds that were planted in the Spring are now crops that are ripe and ready to be harvested, hard work paid off. The days are getting shorter and cooler. And eating more carbs is a biological necessity to stay alive (at least that's what I tell myself. Please just play along.)


Over the weekend we were debating heading to a local annual Fall attraction called the Fresno County Fair. It is still unseasonably warm in the Central Valley of California.There are crowds that fill everywhere from parking to entering, and daily attendance is estimated at 45,000. To be honest - it sounded kind of awful and inconvenient and I wasn't even sure if my boys would enjoy themselves.

"Grey- do you want go ride the spinning swings?", I asked, remembering back to his favorite activity from the fair in the previous year. "NOOOOO!!!", he responded loudly, well, because that's his current favorite response to most questions lately.

I went to my computer and pulled up a picture of him on the swings last year, and asked him again while pointing to the image. And his response was one I've never seen or heard from him in my entire life. I sat in shock with a smile frozen on my face and my eyes open wide.

Greyson was excited. Pure, golden, liquid- excitement. Greyson's face frequently does not display what he is thinking or feeling- but this moment- it did. It's like some seeds hidden deep under the earth had finally bloomed. Grey jumped up and down and flapped all over the room, repeating, SWING!!!! SWING!!! SWING!!! while squealing in delight.


And just like that, our decision was made.



Luckily we went early and there were no lines for parking, entering and even for most rides. 




And I watched him ride the swings with a smile on my face and a huge lump in my throat. I've never seen him so calm, his body so relaxed. It's like he was born to fly. 



He rode again and again. He even waited in line until it was his turn- a task that brought yelling and tears last year. More seeds finally ripening.




We are lucky to live in Fresno County, the world’s top agricultural area. There were more than 350 different varieties of locally-grown crops on display during the 2015 Big Fresno Fair.



Sensory Heaven 






Parker preferred eating and watching from the sidelines.



Sometimes fun is hot and sweaty and dirty and crowded and inconvenient. And oftentimes the harvest is still greater than all that struggle.  





All the tiny seeds bloom in time. (I promise). You just need to wait for Fall.