Last week, Sept. 22 was the official, astronomical beginning of autumn. Otherwise, in practical terms, Labor Day marked the last big hooray of the summer season.

The signs that summer is gone have now sunk in, even with those of us who like to hang onto summer as long as possible. Some signs are pretty obvious. Others are more subtle.

Sanpete’s schools, of course, have begun. The elementary school kids are walking around in new school clothes. They’re wearing jeans that are a size too big so that they’ll have room to grow. Many of those kids will wear those pants out before they’ve grown into them.

It takes a while for both students and teachers to get in the swing of things again. You’ve heard the story about the woman who calls to the bedroom saying, “Get up – it’s time to get ready for school.” The response from the bed is, “I don’t want to go to school. Why can’t I just stay home and make the summer last longer? The woman sighs and calls back, “Because you’re the principal, that’s why.”

The 2021version of the Sanpete County Fair has come and gone. That’s a sign that summer has faded. I gather that it was a big success. I didn’t get to enjoy the fair this year. My COVID-19 experience kept me stuck at home learning how to “binge watch” television. I’ve been trying to go easy with my new-found addiction to television. But I must say, that I’ve added a new show to my viewing compulsion. In addition to “Friday Night Lights,” I’ve gotten hooked on “Madame Secretary.”

For some time, I’ve admired the actress Tea Leoni, who stars as the United States Secretary of State in the TV show. She’s had some ups and downs in her personal life. I like this quote from her, “I’ve always appreciated what it feels like to try to hold your head up and maintain your grace when you are faced with something completely not what you had in mind.”

Anyway, I missed being able to attend events at the county fair. I usually make an appearance at the rodeo. It’s one of the few times of the year that I wear my cowboy boots and a western shirt.

I’ve owned my boots since a year or two before I moved to Sanpete. I recognize that I’m still a Sanpete newcomer and a move-in. My Tony Lama boots will soon be 40 years old.

Sometimes we’ll go to a rodeo in other places. One of my early dates in the courtship of my wife, while living in Provo, was to the Strawberry Days rodeo in Pleasant Grove. Salina puts on a good rodeo on the nights around the 4th of July.

It was there when I heard my niece, Lisa, tell this rodeo riddle: Question: “What do picking your nose and barrel racing have in common?” Answer: “They’re both fun to do, but no one wants to watch you do it.” That’s a mean (and not really true – but pretty funny) joke.

Lisa and her family are from Richfield. She and the kids followed her cowboy husband around for years from rodeo to rodeo during the season. Chet grew up rodeo’ing. He’s pretty much retired now from being a bullfighter, which he did for a lot of years.

Those guys risk their own lives while protecting cowboys. Their job is to get in between the bulls and the riders when the inevitable “klunk” to the ground happens. Chet is still involved in the business of providing bucking bulls to the rodeo world.

And about those fine young ladies who run barrels at the rodeo. From my point of view, they truly are fun to watch. (But keep your nose picking to yourself)

The Demolition Derby at the fair continues to be a big deal and people love it. My brother once called the derby a “celebration of the decline of civilization.”

In other summer fading news, my meager, little garden, is all done. Jack Frost pretty much finished it. The makeshift fence I put around it this year discouraged most of the neighborhood deer, for a change.

And for some reason, the skunks and raccoons spared me this season. I didn’t plant corn. That may be the reason. I have seen quite a few skunks as road kill on Sanpete’s highways and byways. Maybe that’s keeping the population down.

If I were you though, I wouldn’t hit a skunk on purpose. I’ve accidentally done that a couple of times. I really wanted to park my stinky car at an enemy’s home for a couple of weeks after those events. But then I couldn’t think of any enemies that deserved that kind of treatment. (Most of my enemies are radical dictators of countries bent on America’s destruction anyway.)

Enjoy what’s left of the warmish part of the year. It won’t be long before the temperatures won’t be comfortable for running outside in your underwear in the night to turn off the tap that you left running with a hose to keep a tree watered.

Some of you still have gardens producing. A kind woman was offering tomatoes to any takers in church on Sunday. If your garden is a success, keep those tomatoes and zucchinis harvested and share them with your less fortunate neighbors. Enjoy the last of September! — Merrill

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