Fair to middling
2004-08-09, Monday

This is one of those days where you feel as though you�re underwater, or trying to walk through knee-deep molasses. I�m so tired and groggy and achy from my head to my feet�not to mention sun burnt�that I just want to be stretched out on the couch in my dim, cool basement. Eyes closed, no input whatever. Sensory deprivation of a sort. Given that particular yen, I think I may be over-stimulated.

What is there to say about the State Fair? We had a lovely day for it this year, but I can�t say I enjoyed it all that much. Sure, it had its moments. And the Niece had a fairly good time. But I wouldn�t have bothered if I didn�t feel obligated to her.

High Points:

We saw a milking demonstration, and it was kind of cool to see how they do it these days. And the cow kicked the milking machine off of her teats. That got a laugh.

Checked out the new �Birthing Barn�. Saw piglets being born, and saw many new baby critters. Kind of neat for A to see, and brought back memories of helping Grandma and Grandpa J. birth a litter when I was a very small girl.

Visited the floral displays in the Horticulture building. Not only very beautiful to look at. The whole building smells intoxicating, redolent of the wondrous concentration of flowers. Like the cooler at a florists, only multiplied times 100. Spouse really enjoyed the roses, especially. One of the themes this year was �Flights of Fancy�, and someone did a floral arrangement based on an actual, full-sized gondola for a hot-air balloon. One of the most gorgeous things I�ve ever seen. A., who crews on a hot-air balloon, was pretty impressed.

A musical performance by �The Circle City Sidewalk Stompers�, , a clown band. A very impressive, talented, and entertaining clown band. I found out something.

Musical clowns are apparently not evil.

The always-fabulous food. This years, I had most of my traditional faves: roasted corn, fresh-cut fries, lemonade shakeup, apple cider from the Apple Growers booth, cotton candy, and a couple bites of cream puff. No corn dog, though. I had a pulled pork sandwich from Rupena�s instead. Since we missed PolishFest this year, I had to get my annual Rupena�s fix at the Fair.

Under the �new traditions� heading, I had a wonderful hand-dipped ice cream bar, and we brought home some of the new brownies they�ve introduced at the cream puff booth. These are round, about 5 inches across, and just sensational. Dense, chewy, chocolate-frosted heaven. Spouse and I split one last night, because they are enormous.

I was truly amazed at how much food A. managed to put away. That child was truly on her feed. She informed me that she was keeping up with her uncle. Which is saying something�he was on his feed as well.

One kind of cool thing that wasn�t exactly at the fair�the Freeway Flyer Bus has TV now! They run a loop of infotainment, with word puzzles, trivia, and movie quotes, as well as news tidbits, recipes, and time/temp info. They also display a route map that shows where you are along the route. I�m geeky, I know. But I thought it was cool.

The low points, of course, rarely change from year to year. Crowds (which I abominate), lines for the bathrooms, lack of shade and places to sit down, and the prices. Good grief, the prices.

I think we dropped a hundred and a half. Oh, well. It�s only once a year.

7:42 PM My mom called a little bit ago. My great-aunt Nellie died. She was 86. She was a lovely person, and there is a hole in the world today. I will miss her. I'm lucky to have had her in my life for the past 40 years.

'bye, Aunt Nellie