A FIRST

Nearly all my life I have heard about the Ag Fair or Farm Equipment Show or what is now what has been called since 2001 the World Ag Expo. For me this was something farmers, my dad and brothers attended. Most often I just haven't been here for the event that takes place the second week of February. This year I attended this international event which is in Tulare (30 minutes from home) and was quite amazed at all that I saw and I didn't even see it all. I went with my brother and his 3 youngest daughters. We started out at the GMC exhibition (at 9 a.m.) which is tradition for them. Here we got our caricature drawn. Hmmm. Quite fun. Then we went to one of the pavillions, first getting a bag for all the 'goodies' we'd collect. I decided any of the snack foods offered were to be eaten then and there, like chocolates, peanuts (which were to me extra large size, not Niger size), pistachios, cheese, chocolate milk, although a few of the chocolate candies did make it home with me. We did lots of walking around to other pavillions, stopping at the farm equipment to climb up for photo ops. Quite amazing to see the complexity of farming. If my Niger friends could see this they'd be so overwhelmed by the immense variety offered. One piece of equipment that I say was the most practical was the 'Optimizer'. It did it all from start to finish, it seemed. What I really appreciated seeing there was Christian organizations as exhibitors sharing the Good News with others.