Traditionally I attend the State Fair in Capital City on the first Sunday after the Fair opens. Not being one to mess with tradition I drove over there this morning.
I attempted to take more pictures than I usually do, but the ones from the hike from the parking lot to the Fair entrance were not good - it was overcast and the lighting failed to do justice to the throng of people streaming into the gates. This year, for the first time, beer and wine will be sold, but this being the Solid South, that does not happen on a Sunday morning. Another new thing is increased security - I noticed that same reality of modern life when I attended a bluegrass festival over there a few weeks ago, and this was no different - the entire mob is funneled through an array of metal detectors to weed out the random machete, machine gun or mace. Knowing that, I left mine at home.
First stop, as always, is a visit with my turning teacher in the Village of Yesteryear. He and his wife set up there every year, and have done so for close to two decades. He always makes amazing things and I like spending time talking with them. This year was no different - he carved a self portrait out of alabaster.
I saw a possible upgrade for my John Deere riding mower outside, and wondered if AllenS has one of these:
Healthy foodstuffs:
And soothing rides upon which you could revisit your gustatory selections:
This is what I had for lunch:
I like the giant squash cultivars:
That one was over 1,400 pounds, and the berries of the trailing vine Citrullus lanatus were there in a show of inclusivity and a nod to diversity:
Did someone mention cookies? Cookies!
Lastly, a picture of the waterfall - it is said that if you stand by the waterfall you will see someone you know.
All in all I had a great day out.
25 comments:
I thought that was sit by the river, you will see your enemies float by.
Or is that another parable?
Or whatever.
Tarheels eat like cheeseheads.
Indeed they do, but as someone who hates UNC, I object to the word "Tarheel". Sure, it goes back to that recent unpleasantness between the states, but today it has been usurped by those illiterate commies in Chapel Hill.
I read recently that fair food up north has to be on a stick for it to be popular. Guess what I saw today - everything was being offered on a stick. Bacon on a stick. Fried dough on a stick. Corn on a stick. You really can't parody such things.
As for the waterfall, that is a central place in the fairgrounds where people arrange to meet. I was thinking of the Spanish Steps in Rome, where it is said that if you stand there long enough you will see someone you know. I saw my girlfriend last time I was there so I didn't test the theory any further. But of course the word "steps" didn't work in Dylan's rhyme scheme, so he went with "stairs". Who am I to complain - he won a Nobel, not me.
But everything tastes better on a stick.
...sailin' round the world in a dirty gondola, oh to be back in the land of Coca Cola...
I put it down to Dylan seeing Europe when too young. Which is why I didn't appreciate it either.
A rather common disillusionment. Thomas Wolfe has a passage in Of Time And The River (I think) in which a young American, just returned home, bitches about the rancid steak au poivre and vinegary wine he had to endure in Paris bistros while dreaming of a big fat juicy hamburger. But there's a sense in Wolfe as well that the young returnee has missed it, missed the whole point. Wolfe's a much more complex writer than assumed.
Wasn't there a video of a band playing a Dylan song attached to this post? Either that or I'm losing my mind.
Or you're longing for the muse of TOP.
It is under the words "but there you go" at the end of the post. And it wasn't just a band, it was The Band. Levon. The man.
I am now listening to McCabe's 4th symphony based on ricpic's mention of "Of Time and the River." I am more of a fan of the work of my close personal friend Tom Wolfe than of Thomas Wolfe.
Haven't ever made it to our state fair. We're closer to five other states' capitals than our own. Saw Levon's daughter in concert last year. Talented gal. Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers (Here they are with another Dylan cover). With 80 degree weather still hanging around, maybe they should have delayed the fair, until it feels more fall-like?
Amy is good - I had no idea who she was. Imagine the pressure she could face were she to try to emulate her late father - he had a career that lasted over 50 years. I wish her well, seeking success in that field is daunting.
That alabaster carving has kind of a Boris Artzybasheff vibe. Like this or this.
I wondered if I'd met a cultivar I'd liked before, and sure enough...nothing quite as large as the one pictured, but a wide variety of others.
Hadn't met Artzybasheff before in a memorable way either, or would certainly have remembered his name if not the images. http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2014/01/machines-alive-whimsical-art-of-boris.html
Thanks for that link, MamaM. Like much of his work, an odd combination of nightmarish and fun.
Great post.
The tractor pull a black spew contest. Win.
Wow! Sixty at the State Fair. Superb post. As you might imagine, dairy is the theme of the Wisconsin State Fair. They have a yuuge building dedicated to just making and consuming cream puffs. It was the biggest collection of 300lb plus people I've ever seen.
We took our granddaughter to the Minnesota State Fair in August. No dairy theme..just Minnesota Nice. All these state fairs have the deep fried stuff. But, at the Wisconsin fair and Minnesota fair you can find good food. In Minnesota the Hamline Methodist Church has a building w/ just good, church food. Hearty egg and bacon breakfasts, meatloaf lunch, baked chicken supper. They've been doing it for over a century. Growing up in the northeast, we didn't have this tradition. Connecticut didn't have a state fair. There were some county fairs. I have family in Texas. I want to hit that fair some time.
I don't have one of those tractors, but I had to build something else to haul large cut pieces of wood out of the woods. When I finally hook it up to my Farmall Super M, I'll send you some pictures. The front part that hooks up to the drawbar. is from a John Deere #5 hay mower, and the back wheels set up is from a Minnesota hay mower. Can't remember what the hydraulic cylinder came off of.
There were plenty of animal barns, cows, bulls, chickens, rabbits, goats, you name it. I skip all of those. The show chickens really are beautiful, and the angora rabbits are a treat. But I can no longer take the time to visit them - I can only be away from home for a limited amount of time.
There are also plenty of regular food joints too - church run places with home made food, civic and affinity groups selling sausages, ham biscuit sandwiches, the usual. My profound food allergies limit me to one small order of French fries cooked in peanut oil. The Co-cola is a once-a-year treat. That shit will kill ya.
If you want fair, this is about the only place you will find it.
Not only fair, but a strange kind of diversity as well.
I leave those types of experiences (in person or blog photos) convinced there are a million different ways to live--a conclusion often follows the first thought, "Who does this?"
Allen, We went to all the animal barns. The baby LOVES animals, particularly horses and sheep.
This was the 150th anniversary of that fair. One time I went to the Maryland State Fair in Timonium - it was okay, but the site was odd.
County fairs are a big deal up there, too. Went to the Montgomery County fair back in the late '50s and early '60s, that one even had side shows and the like.
The Frederick County fair was famous for its hoochy-coochy shows, or so I am told.
The best county fair I ever attended was Santa Clara County Fair out in CA. That was a huge fair. There were flat track motorcycle races, great music acts, a surprising amount of agricultural exhibits, great crafts and all sorts of amazing things. It's been over 30 years since I have attended that one but I am sure it has changed beyond recognition.
Sixty, The oddest fair/festival I ever visited was the Indio Date Festival in SoCal. We had taken the kids to Palm Springs and my bride read about it, so we went. I could not help but think of my grandma. She was born outside Naples and LOVED figs and dates. There was all sorts of ways to consume dates, including the ubiquitous date shakes. There were a few carnival rides but the big attraction was monster truck rides. Our son LOVED it. Just a couple years earlier he had chosen a monster truck show INDOORS in January! Loud and fumes is all I remember. But he and his buds loved it.
Our county fair is the last in the state without a midway. No rides, just food, businesses showing off their merchandise, animal shows, displays of produce and canned goods, and ample amounts of schmoozing. When the kids were little, we'd take them to see the bunnies and to pet the lambs. Some would dismiss it derisively as quaint, but we see it as preferable.
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