The story of the ridiculously late night is a longish one that had Rob crying with laughter this morning when I recapped the wee hour adventures he missed out on thanks to earplugs. Unfortunately I wasn’t trying to be funny in my recap, although I do admit…now with some distance…the circumstances were sort of humorous.
Suffice it to say, the adventure included intermittent internet service, botched uploads, and fingers that couldn’t spell well enough for spell check to have a clue how to help.
When I was finally done and uploaded, I was so exhausted I managed to walk into the side of our bed, a wall, and a lamp before finally collapsing onto our couch in the living room because I was afraid our bedroom might kill me.
I wasn’t convinced I was going to have a fun day today with so little sleep and a knee slightly on fire. But after some food and beverage…and slightly cooler temps than yesterday…my Fair worked its magic and turned it into a fantastic day.
I apologize for getting all sappy
Maybe it was the lack of sleep making my emotions a bit raw. Or maybe it’s because I know tomorrow is the last day of My Fair and I’m getting sad. Whatever the reason, I found myself feeling rather sentimental today and being on the verge of happy tears for the most unexpected reasons.
The first tear-prompt was as we approached the arena for the Junior Livestock auction. It’s a very popular annual event where 4H kids sell their animal projects to the highest bidder. As a suburban girl, I still can’t imagine being emotionally strong enough to raise and bond with an animal only to bid it farewell to someone’s freezer. But it’s the reality of livestock and surprisingly not the source of the lump in my throat this afternoon.
Instead, as we got close to the arena we heard the announcer explaining why there were a couple dozen 4H’ers in the ring with one little lamb.
The lamb belonged to a young woman who raised it as her final 4H project; after this year she will be too old to participate in the program. She’s been a 4H’er for years and years and is a beloved and well-established member of the family.
A few days ago, the young woman developed some mysterious health problems that landed her in the hospital. She’s still there and is still undiagnosed.
Her 4H brothers and sisters decided to show their support and love the best way they knew how: they all gathered in the ring to present her lamb for auction.
Seeing all those kids in matching t-shirts standing in for their friend touched my heart. What happened next melted it.
The auctioneer did his rapid-fire sing thing and sold the lamb for a pretty good price. As soon as it was sold, the new owner said he wanted to donate the lamb back so it could be auctioned a second time.
Again the auctioneer found a buyer and again that buyer said they would like to donate the animal back.
The young woman’s lamb was sold three times. The mother was in tears, the announcer was in tears, the auctioneer had to clear his throat, and I was chewing on my straw to fight back the waterworks.
The selflessness of the kids to show a “competitor’s” lamb, and the generosity of the community members who bought it over and over and over again made me want to wrap my arms around the entire arena and give it an awe-filled hug. It was an honor to witness this family support each other in a time of crisis.
This is what a county fair should be about.
Sap #2
It was unpleasantly warm in the grandstands again for today’s Tuff Trucks event. I decided the name is a misnomer as most of the “trucks” are actually Jeep Grand Cherokees of the ‘80s or ‘90s era. Plus one minivan that did better than anyone expected and whose flapping rear door provided extra entertainment.
Although I did a better job today of drinking more water and eating less carbs in the heat, I was still fanning myself and wishing I had remembered to bring a bandanna to delicately dab at the sweat gushing down my face and back.
A grandma in front of us enviously had a motorized fan mister thing that she sprayed her three grandkids with to keep them cool and moderately well behaved. She must have seen the longing in my eyes because several times she smiled and blasted me with her magical Minnie Mouse Mister.
What a simple yet powerful random act of kindness.
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| Thank you, Tie Dye Grandma! You rock! |
Sap #3
Another happy heart moment at the Tuff Trucks event: By coincidence, the family of the local guy who won the amateur division was sitting a few rows in front of us. To see the father’s pride and the family’s pure joy at the son’s safe and fast run made me want to join in the high-fives. Instead I took a picture.
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| It was an awesome run. I would have been cheering anyway. |
Sap #4
On our way out for the night, we decided to swing through the Llama Greenway because that’s what we do.
We ended up lingering for at least a half-hour, chatting up unsuspecting fair-goers about llamas and alpacas, answering all the typical questions (no, they won’t spit at you), encouraging people to give Rojo a great big hug, offering to take photos they will love and cherish forever. Or at least they should.
This is what we do when we volunteer with Rojo and his buddies and yet it had been so long since we had done it.
My knee has sort of gotten in the way the past year. I haven’t felt confidently stable enough to handle a large animal and pivot and twist as crowds gather around him. Because they ALWAYS gather. It wasn’t until today that I realized how deeply I miss being with those amazing animals and their humans.
It is such a joy to help bring joy. I’m grateful for tonight’s reminder.
And am now even more committed to doing all that I can to heal this knee properly so I can get back to helping Rojo spread llama llove.
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| Rojo is a magnet. Out of his pen for 30 seconds and people start showing up. It's all sorts of wonderful. |
Sap #5
There’s a certain time in the evening here when the setting sunlight is at an angle that bathes everything in an intense golden light. I call it My Light even though I am very happy to share it.
My Light is different than the evening sun I grew up with much further south. There’s something about living above the 45th parallel that makes both the sunrises and the sunsets different than those around San Francisco.
When My Light is glowing, the many different greens of the trees and grass are more vibrant and the darkening sky looks bluish grey. My Light doesn’t last more than a few minutes but those minutes always fill me with peace and gratitude for living in such a beautiful spot.
Tonight we exited the Green Gate shortly before sunset. As we went in search of our car, I suddenly noticed that My Light was setting over the fairgrounds. I stopped and tried to soak in the moment of two of my favorite things combining. Knowing it was futile, I took a picture anyway, fully aware that the memory is already better.
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| I wish you could see it in person. |
The Final Sap (for today)
On our way home, closer to Woodhaven than the Fairgrounds, we had to slow down to a crawl because this guy was in front of us.
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| Those round discs fluff the hay. Why, I don't know. I'll get to Googling next week. |
I don’t know what the official term is for that piece of farming equipment. We just call it The Hay Fluffer. Folks around us have been cutting, fluffing, baling, and selling their hay for about a month so it wasn’t terribly surprising to find this guy sharing the road with us.
But coming home from the Fair…My Fair…on a day filled with so many unexpectedly sweet and emotion-filled moments, following a hay fluffer for a spell was simply perfect.
STATS:
Walked: 6,038 steps or 2.5 miles. I’m very happy with this reduced mileage; it’s more what I have been hoping for the entire Fair. It would have been about a quarter-mile less if we hadn’t lost our car.
Yes, for the first time EVER in our history of Fairing (or anywhere else, actually), Rob and I could not find our car tonight. We both remembered exactly where it was…and we both remembered wrong.
Just as I was starting to vacillate between knowing for sure our car was stolen and wondering how I could summon the Horsey Patrol to help us locate it in the pasture (their most oft-performed duty, I’m told), I spotted Rob slowly driving our car now in search of me.
I have no recollection of us parking in the area he finally found our car. However, we have concluded that where we thought the car was was yesterday’s spot. Tired much? Oy.
Re-entry animal: Rooster on the top of the right hand, stamped with accompanying sound effects. (By the gate guard, not me. Although I now wish I had cock-a-doodle-dood back.)
Tums: Just 1 today about 2 hours after my Italian Grilled Cheese sandwich. I suddenly remembered why I don’t often eat pepperoni. 'Scuse me.
Knee Scar Band-Aid:
Earrings:
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| Llama! |
FAIR FOOD FEAST PARADE:
Today’s slightly cooler temps brought a slightly larger appetite. Thank goodness, cuz time is running out on my free pass to eat all the crappy food I want! I think I’ve had just about all of my favorites now, except for a couple. That’s what tomorrow is for.
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| Today's Smasher was another combo, this one recommended by a friend. The Strawberry-Mango ROCKED! I think it's my new favorite. I will be seeing Stan the Smashers Man for the last time tomorrow. Sad face. |
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| The Italian Grilled Cheese featuring pepperoni, marinara sauce, and mozzarella on garlic sourdough bread. While it was very good, it felt like it needed to be thicker, maybe with some onions or sausage or ham or something. And I re-enjoyed the pepperoni for a few hours. Lovely. This was good but not one I'll get again. |
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| Still working on my Spree box! |
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| Watermelon and peach. I hadn't tried peach before. It was very peachy, in the expectedly artificial way. It wasn't good enough to circle on my flavor score sheet so it will instead get crossed off. Sure made for a pretty color combo though. |
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| Dinner: The Works Baked Potato with lots of stuff I rarely let myself eat. Butter, cheese sauce, sausage, sour cream, bacon, and chives. OMG. So many rules broken on one potato! I finished most of it. I was disappointed that the sausage tasted different from prior years. Usually it's those wonderful fennel sausage balls you sometimes find on pizza. Today I didn't detect any fennel. Boo. |
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| Dessert before calling it a day: vanilla ice cream bar dipped in chocolate and sprinkles while I watched. Exactly what I was craving. Mmmm! |
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