Going trainriding tomorrow
Jun. 5th, 2009 09:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoToday was a beautiful, clear day, with moderate warm temperatures. Of course, since we're planning to do the railroad museum tomorrow, and that's mostly outdoors, the weather forecast calls for a 60% chance of thundershowers. Oh well. We'll see if the carbarn roofs leak, and it should be dry as long as we keep riding the trains. Rain will cut down on the crowds, which is kinda nice sometimes too, as you get to chat more with the conductors and drivers/engineers.
It's Milk Days in Harvard, where I work. The library will be closed tomorrow, and could have been closed today, as it was mostly deserted all day. Harvard still proclaims itself as the "Milk Capital" and it's true that there was a time in the middle of the 20th century when there were more dairy cows than humans in McHenry County. No more. Now most of the county's rich farmland is either covered by developments or scheduled to be converted to more developments. I wouldn't be surprised if the dairy cow population is down to just a couple hundred on two or three farms. I know of one that is still producing milk, and one that still produced purebred stock for sale but doesn't actually do any milking. The horse population of the county has been rising for the last ten years though, which helps to make sure that we'll keep some open land for a while.
Anyway, the Milk Days stuff started a week ago and will continue through Sunday. There's a parade, of course, and a Milk Queen (and in recent years, King.) There's a carnival setup, and a lot of silly events like a bed race down Harvard's main street (what this has to do with milk or cows I'm not at all sure.) It attracts huge crowds, which for me is a definite "stay away" signal.
Since we're going to the museum tomorrow, we went grocery shopping tonight. Normally I do that on Saturday morning. Spent more than I like, but it was a big load. Last week we only spent half as much, but didn't buy as much either. Some was stocking up on things that were on sale and could be frozen or would keep. We went to WalMart, which I really don't like much but it's necessary now at least half the time because prices have gone so high. The trouble with WalMart is that it becomes difficult to find the real food buried amidst all the junk and convenience crap. And, as I've said before, I don't like their produce department at all. I'm getting used to the layout and having to dodge spacy people who are lost and towing a half dozen screaming kids, but it's disorienting and requires serious concentration. WalMart has good prices for some things, but not so good prices for others. We wouldn't save much if we just bought everything there all the time.
It's Milk Days in Harvard, where I work. The library will be closed tomorrow, and could have been closed today, as it was mostly deserted all day. Harvard still proclaims itself as the "Milk Capital" and it's true that there was a time in the middle of the 20th century when there were more dairy cows than humans in McHenry County. No more. Now most of the county's rich farmland is either covered by developments or scheduled to be converted to more developments. I wouldn't be surprised if the dairy cow population is down to just a couple hundred on two or three farms. I know of one that is still producing milk, and one that still produced purebred stock for sale but doesn't actually do any milking. The horse population of the county has been rising for the last ten years though, which helps to make sure that we'll keep some open land for a while.
Anyway, the Milk Days stuff started a week ago and will continue through Sunday. There's a parade, of course, and a Milk Queen (and in recent years, King.) There's a carnival setup, and a lot of silly events like a bed race down Harvard's main street (what this has to do with milk or cows I'm not at all sure.) It attracts huge crowds, which for me is a definite "stay away" signal.
Since we're going to the museum tomorrow, we went grocery shopping tonight. Normally I do that on Saturday morning. Spent more than I like, but it was a big load. Last week we only spent half as much, but didn't buy as much either. Some was stocking up on things that were on sale and could be frozen or would keep. We went to WalMart, which I really don't like much but it's necessary now at least half the time because prices have gone so high. The trouble with WalMart is that it becomes difficult to find the real food buried amidst all the junk and convenience crap. And, as I've said before, I don't like their produce department at all. I'm getting used to the layout and having to dodge spacy people who are lost and towing a half dozen screaming kids, but it's disorienting and requires serious concentration. WalMart has good prices for some things, but not so good prices for others. We wouldn't save much if we just bought everything there all the time.
