Another Trophy for my Bumble-Boy

Gizzy placed third in the category of "pet/owner look-alike" because the judges liked the fact that I was the beekeeper (with my mosquito net and gardening gloves) and he was the bee. Aside from Gizzy, there were four other dogs dressed in bee costumes, only my boy looked the cutest (but I'm sure all dog owners are saying that today.) I had him in the "best costume" category when the lady asked me to switch to the "dog/owner look alike" since there were so many bee costumes. There were a total of three categories: "best costume", dog/owner look-alike" and "agility" with an obstacle course. It wasn't till I got home that I saw Gizzy's trophy had the wrong category on it, because it says "Agility", but who cares? Gizzy has another trophy! Now he has two on his trophy wall, one from the Honey Bee Festival in 2007 (because we did not go last year.) All the contestants received a goody bag containing information, coupons and samples. Before the actual dog show started, we had a demonstration from some Special Forces dogs, one of which was with President Obama recently to "protect and serve." I was so impressed! There were several Airforce men explaining and demonstrating attack and hold, search and seize maneuvers...it was very interesting! Then they let two dogs loose on that poor fella in that big "bad guy" suit. It actually looked like these dogs and the trainers were having fun. Look on the very lower left hand corner and you'll see that young spectator dog paying very close attention. I bet he was taking notes! Gizzy barked when the chase was on, because he wanted a piece of the action. He could have dangled from that guy's pants leg like an aligator clip, because when we play tug-o-war with Miss Piggy, he's got a grip on her so strong that I can pick him up off the ground and he won't let go...he's mucho macho! He thinks he's a German Shepherd trapped in a Pekingese body ;-) I had to stand back a little, so I could not hear everything that was explained to us, but from what I saw, these dogs really know their business. Here's Gizzy and I in front of the judges...one of them took this picture of us. If Gizzy hadn't been looking up at me so adoringly, I would have cropped myself right out of that photo. I'm as big as a house! I'm also crouching down a little, which does not help, but only makes me look like I'm sitting on the toilet (how embarrassing!) This is what the judges saw, because someone in their tent snapped this endearing photo of my bumble-boy! Looks like the antennae are growing right out of his head, doesn't it? This is Gizzy sitting on his "rig" which is nothing but my rollator walker and a basket full of necessities when going out with the boy. It's just like going out with a baby - you have to be sure you've got enough water, a water bowl, paper towels, disinfectant wet wipes (especially now), some snacks in case he gets hungry, a camera for those "oh so cute" photos and a little money for my fried green tomatoes. I know, I needed those like a hole in the head, but since I was so disappointed with my last batch at the Flatlanders Arts & Crafts Fair, I was determined to get my fried green tomatoes fix here. Then I spotted these two Southern ladies who looked to me like they knew how to cook. Sure enough, they fixed me up with the tastiest batch of fried green tomatoes I've ever had. Cooked through and through, crunchy and seasoned just right. Since life's a trade off, I decided that eating these will be worth the inevitable heartburn later. I also bought a batch of fresh tomatoes to take home and some local honey. There was a climbing rock and pony rides away from Main Street where all the vendors lined the sidewalks. I did not get a chance to take any photos of vendor booths (nor did I find my friend's booth who sells the reborn baby dolls) as it was next to impossible to stop with my rig. I was being sucked into the flow of pedestrian traffic. It reminded me of being on one of Southern California's freeways again when nobody would let me over and I ended up somewhere I didn't want to be. There were so many people that you could barely see all the vendor booths and since the pedestrians had to share the street with the traffic, it got to be very tricky at times. I read on the Honey Bee Festival website that there are over 20,000 people visiting this annual festival in a city that's 2.2 sqaure miles with a population of approximately 2,465. The Fire Department was there - love those firefighters! When the clouds started to look a bit dark, I decided it was a good time to go home. Besides, it was very, very hot and the parade was about to start that was announced would last about two hours - there was no way we would have lasted that long, since Gizzy was beginning to pant and there was no shade to be found as many people lined the streets early to save a good spot. Here's one more silly picture of Gizzy. You would not believe how many people walked up to us asking me if they could photograph my bumble-boy and, of course, I said yes, feeling very, very proud! This is what it looked like driving home. The dark clouds disappeared and it didn't rain on the parade. Gizzy was snoozing on the passenger seat - and is sleeping still. Being cute is so very, very exhausting (not that I would know!) Hope you enjoyed our little trip to Hahira!