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A few weekends ago, I convinced my little family and two friends to come with me to the Lake County Fair. I grew up going to the fair every summer. I was a serious 4-H’er and raised sheep and my sister raised goats. We were carnies in a way, living at the fair for the whole week, taking school off and lounging around with all our 4-H’ing friends. I have been teased about this little curious part of my history by many of you city kids, but I truly feel thankful for these experiences. I has made me a bit more earthy and let’s say a bit more adaptable. How many of you can say you won a sheep shearing contest where you had one hour to take the scruffiest sheep off the range and use hand shears (not electric ones) and shear the wool to showmanship standards? Clean the animal to make the wool snow white without using water, trim the hooves and even brush his teeth? And all along, this wild sheep bucking and giving us a ride where we couldn’t stop laughing. It was a blast and I will never forget doing that with my friends and actually winning first place!
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Most of my fair experiences had to do with agriculture and a little with the domestic side—quilting, wood working. Many of you don’t know this either about me, but in sincere determination to prove I was just as equal (and maybe even superior) to the boys in my class, I took 4 years of wood shop with dear Mr. Bergey. In the end, I outdid myself and made a gorgeous armoire that towered above all those boys rifle racks and jewelry boxes they were making for their moms. Mr. Bergey was so proud of all of my projects but particularly my armoire. I remember he took pictures with me by my project and put it in his special scrap book. And then he suggested I enter the armoire in the county fair. Beaming, I agreed.
It was thrilling arriving at the fair with my daughter in tow and I could feel my heart filling with nostalgia—wanting to show her all my old haunts of sorts. Explain the difference between the different breeds of goats and sheep. Let her milk a goat, if she wanted to. I took in all the smells and felt nostalgia running through my veins and washing over my skin. We saw a dad and his son in one of the stalls attending to their beloved pig and I could remember hanging out in the stalls with my sheep I had raised since they were little lambs. I had forgotten how friendly goats are and how stupid sheep are. I loved seeing my dear old suffolk sheep and the nubian goats my sister raised. It all came back to me and I was having the time of my life. It kind of felt like when I went on my honeymoon with my husband who planned a trip to Lake Tahoe and I said after a few days, “I feel like I am with my people.” A similar sensation.
Audrey was mesmerized the moment we arrived, eyes fixed on the rides. She was too excited to eat a thing and all she wanted to do was get on a ride. We had corndogs, buffalo burgers with fries and lemonade (my bowels paid for that for many days). We made our way to the rabbits and chickens and ducks. There were these huge rabbits that Audrey really enjoyed looking at. We tried out the cows but they were a little too scary as evidenced by her trembling and clinging to me like a wet cat in water. She did better with the pigs, sheep and goats. But the highlight of the evening for AA was the tractor pull. Kind of surprising since the noise was deafening and vibrated through ones lungs and internal organs giving you a sense of borderline panic. We ended the night with a ride on the ferris wheel which as you will see brought a little more panic to the two year old’s body.
Here is my dear friend, Katie, on the carousel with my daughter. Her husband Brad is the photographer. Thanks guys for being so good with Audrey Anne.
The infamous tractor pull, or in this case, big truck pull. Notice Audrey in the end giving in to her excitement.
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This one is my favorite! Never mind the blurriness. Double click on the photo and catch a glimpse of AA’s face—it’s priceless. She trembled for a good minute or two tucked in between mom and dad. And poor vanilla bean was squeezed in as well. I don’t think pregnant women with expanding tummies were supposed to ride, but alas, I did. She was sure making it clear with all her squirming in my tummy that she didn’t like being squished in there.
Thanks Ivan and Brad and Katie for amusing me by coming to the fair with me. I treasure it and AA still is talking about the fair. Surprisingly, she mostly talks about the cows and wants to bring one home and have it live in the backyard.