Photo of the Day: Petting Zoo, Fall Festival, Englewood NJ

This past Sunday, my hometown of Englewood, NJ, held what it called its “Fall Festival.” There are those—high-school students and their parents, I would guess, most prominently—who see the period immediately after Labor Day as the fall.

I still hold out for the date of the traditional autumnal equinox—i.e., tomorrow. Pushing for any earlier date ignores not only that celestial fact, but the gradual but real increase in September temperatures over the last few decades.

Well, even if my city’s sense of seasons might be a bit off, its sense of what will bring out crowds isn’t. This past summer, the festival featured roughly 50 merchants and information vendors promoting their businesses in Depot Square.

But I couldn’t help but smile at the free petting zoo. Its creatures certainly appealed to me—a big reason why I took this photograph.

Photo of the Day: Petting Zoo, Caribbean Festival, Englewood NJ

On Sunday morning, approaching the railroad tracks in my hometown of Englewood, NJ, I saw booths being set up for 50 assorted food, merchant and informational vendors for a one-day Caribbean Festival. It was a good opportunity for many people to promote their work, I thought, in a time when COVID-19 has crimped that chance.

For the families streaming through the space on Depot Square, it was also a nice way to experience a beautiful day without driving too far, with games and music also coming from the booths.

But a bit farther on, I came upon this petting zoo. More decades than I want to admit have passed in my life, but the sight of these creatures that I photographed reawakened in me a child-like sense of wonder that I thought not merely dormant, but maybe even dead at times.

Judging from the kids lining up around the enclosure in no time, I think today’s generation had a similar reaction. Who says you knew electronic games to have fun?