Cow Chipping in Chatham, Illinois

Yes. Yes, it is.

The Chatham Illinois holds its annual Jaycee Sweet Corn Festival in July every year. A big draw is the Cow Chipping Contest.   (My own photos disappeared, so this are some other photos from other Cow Chipping, which is a very universal sport.)

Future chippers--not afraid to get their hands dirty

My brother Rev. Don Peck and his son Jeremy Peck are extremely involved in this annual event. Don and Jeremy know just about everyone in this town of 12,000 and their crew of friends really know their cow patties.


A team of highly trained technicians are dispatched to the field and extract the day old product with specially designed tools. The correct dimensions were determined by measurement using a toilet seat. The interior is the chosen dimension. (This was a part of my original post.)

Believe it or not, this is serious business. 

searching for cow patties serious professionals

Cow chipper technicians in training

When a pie was deemed acceptable, it was taken to the security container to prevent contamination.  Whispers of sabotage had been heard, suggesting plans to rig the pies with pellets and pieces of gravel. A security squad was in place to guard against such.

Serious business, I mean serious

As said above, this is very serious business.

examining for size requirement

"This event will take place on July 21-23 at the Chatham sports field. Any attendees wishing to participate in the cow chipping throw should attend when the event is announced.  Experience is not necessary. All should understand that participation may result in pungent particulates adhering to hands and clothing."

It's mine.

Competition is serious business.

Boy, I hope I can attend next year's Cow Chipping Contest.  

One Down

Source

Every Wednesday, Delores at Under the Porch Light tosses out six words for participants to play with, and often a sentence prompt.  

This week her words are: absent  vacant  empty  destiny  eyes  glaring,  with
her sentence prompt:

a juvenile urge to run and hide overwhelmed him

Sometimes I write my take on the words in her comments and sometimes I will use her words to create a fuller post on a Friday.

The Battle of Honey Springs

I decided to do both with these words.  

The sense of facing desolation and being alone--timeless themes throughout history present themselves.  Battle fields are scattered around the world.  Children are the ones who face the battles and who will fight them.  History remains the same. 

I did not start out to write something so dark, but somehow ended traveling there. 

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Clara gazed across the empty fields with vacant eyes.  Her scarred and calloused hand shielded her view from the glaring midday sun.  Is this my destiny? She wondered. Is this all I will ever do?

With that thought, Clara leveled her rifle at the enemy and fired another shot.  Another one down. She wondered absently.  How many more to go?

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This is let-words-flow, experimentation, whatever.  I hope you will visit her site and allow yourself to experiment.  After all, experiencing, playing with words,and writing are interchangeable.

You can access Delores' site by clicking on the peaceful flowing stream with yellow flowers in the right side bar.