Please read this...Magical moments unfold during ColorFest

Oh, the places we went...

...at first, when yours truly sat down at the old keyboard (and it really is old, in terms of technology), the idea was to create a masterpiece in the style of famed writer Theodor S. Geisel.

What, you say. Never heard of Theodor S. Geisel? Here's a hint: The "S"stands for Seuss. As in Dr. 

After struggling with a few sentences in what seemed like a "Seuss-ical" style, it occurred to me that some things are better left alone. Maybe next time.

So, instead of attempting to be Dr. Seuss, we'll just stick with what we know...

At some point last week, I sat down, looked at what was coming up in Union County, as in ColorFest. And about 12,347 other events, too.

I'm not sure how it happened, but the Gods of Scheduling Special Events must have sat down sometime during the summer and determined that October 13 and October 14, in the year of our Lord 2017, would be great days to do whatever they wanted to do. All at once. All at the same time. 

With that in mind, I figured that by the end of the day on Saturday, my cranky, old, squeaky, but very reliable, camera would have been used to take about 300 photographs. Turned out the guess was spot on.

The photographic adventures began with a visit, or two, to Pumpkin Town on the grounds of the Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center in Anna. 

This year's Pumpkin Town featured the magical creations of aforementioned author Dr. Seuss. As has been the tradition for the many years of Pumpkin Town, folks did a wonderful job of creating special displays. If you haven't seen Pumpkin Town, it's worth a visit. I believe it continues through this weekend. 

When you go to Pumpkin Town, you'll see The Cat in the Hat, the Grinch, Max,Thing 1, Thing 2, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish...and other old friends.

My ColorFest adventures also included, but were not limited to:

Music in Jonesboro, along with an offer to have some chicken and dumplings. Sadly, had to pass on the offer.

Multiple stops on Saturday. Had to do a bit of a double take when it came to the weather on Saturday. Bright. Sunny. Very warm. Make that hot. Might have been record heat. I think I saw that somewhere. Doesn't seem like it should be 90 degrees in the middle of October, even in Southern Illinois.

A journey to Pickin' in the Patch at Rendleman Orchards near Alto Pass to start out the day's adventures on Saturday. Lots and lots of folks. Met a very nice young lady who was looking for just the right pumpkin to take home from the pumpkin patch. Asked if we could take a picture of the young lady and her pumpkin. No. But she was very nice about it.  

Worth noting: while at Rendleman Orchards, I also met a Pumpkin Princess. Or, maybe, the Pumpkin Princess. How many Pumpkin Princesses can there be? 

Saturday afternoon. Downtown Cobden. Still hot. Very strange. Got to meet Jerry Jack. Jerry Jack is a kitty at the Union County animal control shelter. Jerry Jack, it seems, is about to become a celebrity. Cats are insufferable to begin with. I can't imagine what a celebrity cat will be like. Jerry Jack was OK with having a picture taken. Well, as OK as a cat can get.

After meeting the celebrity cat, it was off to Anna to watch wiener dogs running crazy at the park. My favorite was a wiener dog dressed like a lobster. As warm as it was on Saturday, I'm guessing that the wiener dogs could have been hot dogs, too. 

One of the highlights of my visit to the Anna City Park came when I was strolling to see the hot wiener dogs. Suddenly, out of the blue, a voice shouted: "Go Cubs, go. Go Cubs, go." Sigh. Cubs fans are as insufferable as Jerry Jack the soon-to-be-celebrity cat.

Also on Saturday, I had an opportunity to meet some alpacas which paid a visit to Cobden for ColorFest. Alpacas are kind of like llamas. I think. Alpacas have very cute, big, brown eyes. During the visit, had a chance to learn about alpaca poop. What a day...