Meanwhile, at the Montgomery County Fair ...

Chicken Corner flew in to Maryland for a visit and found some farm animals on display in Gaithersburg. There was a Nubian goat and her kid, both of whom I wished I could take home to Los Angeles to become family members. But the mom was a prize-winner and wasn't for sale. Besides, a ticket in the passenger area of our return flight might have been tricky.

The fair displayed no giant cucumbers, not that I saw, but there was an enormous horse. And there was possible evidence of discrimination in rabbit judging. The bunny in question, named Coffee Bean, was DQ'd for being the "wrong sex," never mind that both females and males were being compared and judged. Others were DQ'd for having a "white toenail," a white spot behind the ear, or "not enough color." Are you serious? Chicken Corner clucked. A white spot? I guess it's the people who are, in fact, being judged, including their ability to fill out competition forms correctly. So, never mind, Coffee Bean, you're just a bystander.

It was an uneasy pleasure touring the animal sheds. The whole business of confining, enslaving, displaying, and judging the animals is so wrong. But I was captivated by a sow with her piglets, even as I didn't want to consider their future.

On Monday, we tour the U.S. Bureau of Engraving.