Meet Me at the Fair!

Late August: the days are a bit shorter and the nights are starting to get cooler. In the mornings everything is drenched with the dew that came down overnight and every spider web drips with liquid jewels. I saw my first hint of orange leaves on a tree the other day: a harbinger of things to come. The youngsters are getting ready to head back to school. Must be time for the Grange Fair!

On a perfectly beautiful, sunny, blue-sky Tuesday afternoon and evening, one of my very best friends met me at the fair, accompanied by her daughter who had recently turned one. My friend used to work where I work, but a number of years ago, her family moved to a location a few hours away. I see her just once a year: every August, we pick a day, and she comes to meet me at the fair!

What a wonderful time we had! I took so many photos, it was hard to pick one. Here is a short list of just a few of the things we saw and did:

-Bought chances to win a gorgeous hand-stitched purple quilt.

-Enjoyed the displays of canned goods, veggies, baked goods, and crafts.

-Walked through the encampment area, where people live in tents and RVs for a week, with chairs and TVs and microwaves and sofas and flowers, and every convenience known to man (or woman); I've heard some people wait a lifetime to get a space!

-Visited the "artist in residence" (who also used to work with me) and admired his recent paintings of the fair.

-Shopped at stands and tents that sell everything you can imagine: hardware, clothing, jewelry, candles, socks, lawn ornaments, crystals, Tupperware containers, knives, entire displays of tiny multi-colored animal glass figures (the crittergators were amazed to see this! oh, and yes, I did buy a few, and promised the couple I bought them from that I'd provide them with a life of great adventure!), and more!

-Visited with friends we hadn't run into since last year at the fair.

-Ate our way through the fair (yes, friends, we call this our annual "Grange Gorge"): peach dumplings with cinnamon ice cream, a large tray of fried veggies, homemade lemonade, cinnamon buns, soft tacos.

-Admired the nearly full moon that made a special appearance above the rides later in the evening.

-Watched and cheered on a 6-year-old girl who was attempting to win $100 by climbing to the top of a rock wall and ringing a buzzer (just below the top, she turned and looked down, lost her focus to her fears, and didn't make it the rest of the way up despite our encouragement).

-Visited the goats, laughed ourselves silly over them, and agreed that we each covet a group of small goats that might hang out in our yards and entertain us with their antics and do the mowing for free.

-Spent some time just sitting and talking and catching up and enjoying each other's company. Yes, it felt so good: seeing my very close friend again, just being together, and spending a little time getting to know her beautiful, curly-haired daughter (she was just a few-weeks-old babe in arms at last year's fair; this year she had her very first-ever bite of peach dumpling with cinnamon ice cream!).

Oh, and next year? Why, of course, my dear friend, I'll meet you again at the fair!!!