Saturday was Haymarket Day, here in our little burg. It's a parade down Washington Street, vendors with booths, and a pile of politicos working the crowd. It was a gorgeous day, fair and dry, and we enjoyed it a lot. My daughter marched with her school in the parade, flag-waving and smiling.

The streets were closed long after the parade, so people were able to mill around and enjoy the booths and their neighbors.

Some observations:

• The floats threw lots of candy. We came home with a Halloween-sized load.
• Why does Bob Marshall always ride alone in the parade?
• People, leave your dogs at home, please. They don't enjoy it.
• It was good to see Bruce, as always.
• We're getting an Old Towne Centre. Yes, with the faux Olde Englishe dorkspellinge.
• The Kena Shriners were great, with a band and some wicked little go-karts.
• This seems to be McCain Country, given the stickers, applause, and t-shirts I witnessed.
• The folks from Evergreen had the engines polished and they looked great.
• Cool weather or not, the Mosby Players hoop skirts and wool clothing made me sweat just looking at them.
• ROTC was well-represented, with plenty of young men and women marching.

Links and dates for this year's farm tours and festivals:

• Prince William Co. (VA): Sep 20 - Haymarket Day, parade starts at 10am
• Prince William Co. (VA): Sep 27-28 - Western Prince William County Farm Tour, 9 stops, very kid-friendly.
• Culpeper Co. (VA): Oct 4-5 - Culpeper Harvest Days Farm Tour
• Fauquier Co. (VA): Oct 11 - 13th Annual Farm Tour, focus seems to be southern Fauquier.
• Page Co. (VA): Oct 11-12 - Heritage Festival, live music, great food, and plenty of tractors.
• Loudoun Co. (VA): Oct 18-19 - Annual Farm Color Tour, 23 farms, 14 wineries.
• Frederick Co. (MD): Oct 18-19 - Family Festival @ The Farm, 20 farms. Couple that with the Loudoun Co. tour and you've got quite a weekend!

Life and times on the Mountain:

The yellow plane came this morning, for the second time this spring to spray for gypsy moths. We live in Spray Block 1 and the county mailed us a notice a few months back, so we knew it was coming. The surprise was the second pass at it, but it has been raining a lot lately. The plane came to spray, starting at 6:30am and was quite a spectacle buzzing impossibly low over the house as we listened, still in bed.

From the WaPo story in 2007:

The county has 15 target areas, or blocks, where it's spraying an Environmental Protection Agency-approved insecticide from a low-flying, yellow crop-duster-style plane. Residents living in and around the areas have been notified by mail, with advisories that people and pets should remain indoors for 30 to 45 minutes after the spraying is complete and planes are no longer buzzing overhead. The spraying will not occur during times when children are walking to school or waiting for school buses.

Check out some defoliation numbers over the years.

Oh, and we pay for the entertainment, cough, I mean moth control, some $ .0025 per $100 valuation added onto our real estate tax bill.

US 15, north of I-66, is being widened to a 4-lane divided highway. You can read the PWC Project Report.

This project was divided into two sections, a northern section and southern section. Both sections will create a four-lane divided facility with median that will widen approximately 19,639 linear feet of Route 15. The northern section will widen Route 15 north of Dominion Valley to the intersection of Route 234. This section will include the realignment of Route 234 & Waterfall Road to create one intersection with Route 15. The southern section will widen Route 15 from north of Route 66 to north of Utterback Lane. Improvements will also include extending Heathcote Blvd. from its intersection with Rt. 15 east to its existing intersection with Old Carolina Rd, and widening Old Carolina Rd. from Heathcote Blvd. north to the existing Old Carolina widened section.

Thanks to Supervisor Stirrup's office for sending this out.

The latest addition to the You'll Love Lufkin! series is up.

Eddie Bryant over at luftex.com, has a pile of old Lufkin photos and postcards. We even have some of the same ones.

Enjoy a weekend in the country experiencing modern farm life and the rich rural history of western Prince William County at the seventh annual Prince William County Farm Tour.

Seven locations are open to the public with fun and educational activities for the whole family. Visit as many of the tour stops as you like, traveling in the comfort of your own vehicle. You can follow the farm tour map and look for bright yellow directional signs along the way. Parking areas are designated at each stop. Thanks to our generous sponsors, this is a free event for all.

Oak Dale Baptist Church's Outreach Team will feed Farm Tour visitors at 11:30 am to 2:30 pm on Saturday, and 12 noon to 3 pm Sunday. Lunch fare will include hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, cookies, and drinks. There is no fee, although cost-covering voluntary donations will be welcomed.

Check out the site for a map to the seven stops and an activity book for the kids.