We visited the Pacific National Exhibition on Tuesday. Lots of people I know "pooh, pooh" the P.N.E. and say, "oh, it's the same thing every year" which is true, and that's it's hokey and tawdry, which is true, but I guess that's why I like it. It's predictable but it is excellent value for a day with a variety of fun in it. There are the rides, of course, and now that the lads are older, they're willing to try more of them and get scared or exhilarated or a bit of both. There are all the games of chance -- both lads tried a couple in the hopes of winning an ipad or a Go Pro or whatever the latest technology is called. I am sure some people win, but they didn't. I remember at the Weyburn Fair long ago when I was a girl (talk about hokey and tawdry), my parents played some game of this sort and ended up losing what was then a huge amount of money (probably thirty dollars or something, which at that time was a sizable sum) hoping to win some sort of electrical appliance and walking away with a pink stuffed rabbit (which I still have).
We saw the Super Dogs show (always great -- "there's nothing like a dog, nothing in this world" to misquote Rogers and Hammerstein) and ate food that isn't good for us at all, and went through the barns and saw the baby chicks and pigs and calves and rabbits and goats and bees and all the amazing creatures we exploit. (No negativity there.) There was a dairy farmer there describing how cows give birth and how they take the calves away immediately "for safety". I know he's the expert and everything, but I just don't buy it. He said the cows and calves aren't emotionally attached to each other at all and it's all for the best. They feed the calves with their own mother's milk from bottles. I wanted to hear another perspective on this and so I looked it up on line and found a source I trust (The Manchester Guardian newspaper) which said that although the idea that the calves need to be protected from infection may have some validity, it is also likely that there is an attachment between mother cow and calf, that neither animal is isolated from the other without emotional and social problems and that, once again, the separation is more a matter of money than any animal's well-being. I remember seeing a you tube video of a herd of dairy cows which had been confined in the barn over the winter. It was the first day they had been able to get outside in spring. They clopped out on the cobblestones outside of the barn and made their way across the yard to the green field beyond. Once they got to the field, they were so excited and happy (I suppose the dairy farmer at the PNE would say I was anthropomorphizing, but it was clear to me that they were happy) that they were kicking up their back feet and running and playing, like dogs or horses or other mammals like us. My conclusion is that we don't know enough about other animals' emotional states to make the judgement that they don't feel things. And so I must say, "baloney" to that farmer.
Anyway, there is never enough time to see and do everything that the PNE has to offer. They have free concerts in the evening (we saw Great Big Sea last year, if you were reading my blog then) and there is a Game of Thrones exhibit (very popular, you have to book a time to see it because there are so many people wanting to -- I don't watch the show, so I wasn't willing to make the effort) and an animation show and of course, the merchandise building (we walked through this year and saw all the accomplished salespeople plying their trade) and street performers and the horse races and there really is literally something for everyone! There are two and a half more days to enjoy the fun, so check it out!
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