"Howdy folks, this is Big Tex. Welcome to the great State Fair of Texas" Through my sixty years of life I have only missed my yearly visit to the State Fair during my Army tour in Germany. My first and favorite stop in my visit is the livestock pavilion. My wife does not share my rural romance for the aroma of manure, chicken feed and hay so she walks on the outside of the building while I stroll and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of the barn.

    Another stop I always make is the Children’s Medical Center petting zoo. I always buy many cups of grain to feed the animals and give them to passing kids. Generally I am not in favor of petting zoos because of risks to animals and people. This one seems to have solved some of those problems. To avoid nipped fingers, there are little shovels attached to the fence for use when offering food. The animals are housed in a way that they only get fondled if they choose to. There are feed bins in every stall so the animals are not drawn to the people offering food because they are hungry.

    There are goats, sheep, pigs, ostriches, emus, rheas, camels, llamas, but my favorite animal over the past few years is the giraffe. He’s the biggest ruminant (cud chewer) and the tallest mammal. This one measures ten feet if he’s an inch. I offered him the little cup of feed. He latched onto it with flexible lips. His eighteen-inch prehensile tongue quickly emptied the cup and then ptui! He returned the cup to me. This is better than the midway any day.