Hello, Toms!

Yesterday was the banner event, the Poultry Swap! It's held the first Sunday of May, every single year, and this was my five year anniversary at the big show. I arrived early, driving my dented Dodge pickup loaded with stuff and the last male kid I would bring for sale. I had hay bales to set saddles and tack on, a big dog crate to transport the goat there and hopefully transport something else home in. I had the radio blasting, a mug of strong tea on the dash, and I was excited. The Poultry Swap is a riot.

Behind me in a second car of friends was Tyler, Tara and Tom. None of them had ever experienced the Swap and I was excited to introduce them to the fray. WE pulled in together and I paid the casual seller's fee to a lady donning a fanny pack and a smile. She didn't even blink at Gibson, since dogs are as normal at the event as strollers. I pulled my truck into a line of other's our tailgates facing the main thoroughfare of commerce. As I got Loki out and tied on a leash to the back of the truck, I looked around at all the people setting up shop. Next to me was a cage of Sebastopol geese. On my other side were some white-crested ducks and potted plants. Across the road were some rabbits in a kiddie playpen hopping about looking adorable. I saw a craft fair in the distance, and what was that parked alongside them? Food trucks!? The Swap had grown from tailgates and chickens to a full-blown festival. There was fried dough stands, french dries, deep fried Oreos, burgers and breakfast burritos. A fair building was swamped with local businesses and crafts. It was a world away from us scrappy trucks with livestock, but a testament to the growth of the events popularity. When I started coming here when I first moved to Veryork this was a tiny event to sell backyard livestock. Now by the looks of things I wouldn't be surprised if someone with a trailer of off-track race horses pulled up aside me....

No racehorses did appear, but more and more trucks and trailers did. Within an hour of my arrival the crowd doubled and you could buy everything from piglets to puppies. There were plants, yard sales, crafts, food, and any animal under the sun. I found someone with four handsome Bourbon Red Toms and I bought one (I only had twenty five bucks cash on me) but got someone else to buy me another two in exchange for a used student fiddle I had brought along. Talk about a great deal all around! Within two hours the goat kid was sold, along with some horse stuff, and I ended up with a hundred dollars in my pocket! That was enough for gas and diesel for the whole week! I was elated, and three-turkeys richer. There they are up in the truck bed.

More photos of the big day coming up soon!