With all the decks cleared and in the process of being cleaned, it’s time to reflect a bit on this (Lord willing) once in a lifetime pandemic-necessitated Fair At Home adventure.
Escaping at home
Going into this, I had all sorts of ideas and notes and a schedule and recipes and emails and texts and all sorts of things with an adorable little masked cow on it. But I had no idea how anything would turn out.
Would my Facebook friends actually participate in my contests? Would my neighbors really show up for the events? Would Zooming with 4-H kids give any real sense of raising animals? Would the food I cooked actually be edible? Would I have anything to write about?
Would it feel like the Fair? At all?
I am so grateful to say, without a hint of hesitation, YES! To all of it.
Not everything happened like I envisioned it. Some things were disappointing (deep fried booze). Some things fell flat (livestock cheese carving contest). Some things were even better than I had hoped (interviewing friends). Some things surprised the heck out of me (the swelling of my happy heart to gather with my neighbors for goofy fun).
But each day, I wore my Fair clothes and avoided reading the news and did my best to allow my life and focus to be consumed by the Fair. And for the most part, the great escape worked! HALLELUJAH!
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| As a surprise to nobody, all 6 Smashers have already been consumed. The addiction is real. |
Contest Winners!
You can’t have a Fair without contests, so I held a few on Facebook in my best attempt to capture the 4-H exhibits I was desperately missing in the Big Air Conditioned Building.
The Facebook contests rules were pretty simple. I started a thread for each contest. If you wanted to enter, you posted a photo of your entry (sometimes with a few details). Other friends could then “Like” or “Love” your entry as a vote. People could vote for as many entries as they wanted. The winner would be whomever received the most cumulative “Likes” and “Loves” with ties being broken by “Love.” The contests started on different days but all ended on the last night of the Fair.
Having never run a contest before, I hoped I covered all the bases. And then prayed my friends would participate.
THEY DID! Well, except for the cheese carving.
The most popular contest was the Amateur Photography Contest. There were over 60 entries! I absolutely loved seeing the photos my friends took. I loved seeing their kids and their vacations and their gardens. It was honestly better than the photography contest at the real Fair because I knew all the photographers. And I got to learn some of the stories behind the photos.
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| WINNER! This phenomenal photo was taken by my friend, Arden. It is a cactus flower that his wife, Janet, discovered blooming while she was on an early-morning run. She rushed to find Arden so he could take a photo before it closed up again for the day. |
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| HONORABLE MENTION! This stunning photo was taken by my friend Andilee. The photo tied with Arden's in cumulative votes, so Andilee lost by a Love. But the photo is too beautiful not to share. Andilee took this photo of Rosario Beach a few weeks ago at Deception Pass State Park in northern Washington state. |
The Kid Art Contest took a few days to warm up. I suspect it had something to do with parents being a tad busy being parents. But once entries started being posted, more paintings and drawings and other creations by kids 18 or younger started appearing. It was so fun!! All the masterpieces were fabulous. I’m greedy and wished there had been 100 more to Love (I adore kid art). Like the Photography contest, I was seriously blown away by how much talent lurks behind the posts and memes and comments of my friends on Facebook.
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| WINNER! This spectacular piece was painted by my niece Erilyn when she was in 3rd grade. Yes, EIGHT years old! Erilyn is now 11 and continues to produce fantastic art beyond her years. Such talent!! |
Inspired by the First-Day-of-the-Fair tradition of the Chicken Dress Up contest amongst the fowl 4-H kids, I asked friends to post photos of their fur kids wearing costumes. Most of the entries were dogs – apparently they are the most compliant pet type. We also had two horses and one exceptionally patient cat. Disappointingly…but not surprisingly…no chickens.
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| WINNER! My sister-in-law Beth took this adorable photo of her only-slightly-spoiled girls MacKenzie and Sierra. SO CUTE!! And definitely Christmas card material. |
Hoping to replicate the iconic Butter Cow tradition of the Iowa State Fair, I asked my friends to carve a Fair-oriented animal in a block of cheese (see Day 6’s blog). Although there was a LOT of enthusiasm and energy and encouragement for the idea, I was the only one silly enough to actually buy a block of cheddar and chisel it into livestock. It’s really too bad nobody else participated. Not only for the laughs but because carving my llama was actually a lot of fun and very relaxing…and tasty. Highly recommended when you want to give your brain a little rest AND jazz up your Garnish Game.
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| I think this would be ridiculously fun on a cheese plate or hors d'oeuvres platter. Perhaps with some kale. Because then it would be safe from being eaten. |
Newly appreciated Fine Fair Folks
Fairing at home brought all sorts of new insights. Like how much work actually goes into putting on a Fair. Goodness!
Over the years, I have justifiably called out the Fine Fair Folks on areas where I felt the Clark County Fair could stand some attention and improvement. I always have suggestions for making my beloved Fair even better.
But I never really appreciated the hours and planning and scheduling and flexibility required for organizing a Fair until I tried to do it myself. Yes, of course….Woodhaven’s Fair At Home was teensy tiny compared to…well, just about any other Fair you’ve ever been to. But it was big enough to have a lot of moving parts. Interviews, events, food, contests, awards, announcements. Not to mention the cleaning. So much cleaning.
While I will continue to have all sorts of unsolicited advice about how to amp up Summer’s Best Party, it will now come with a better understanding and appreciation of all the hard work and love that are behind the scenes.
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| Tentative plans were in pencil, firm plans were in purple. Until they changed and needed to be crossed out. And yes, I branded EVERYTHING with Molly's cow. |
So many dishes
One thing I did not anticipate about Fairing at home was all the dirty dishes that would result. So many dirty dishes. Our dishwasher got such a workout, we had to bust open a new bucket of detergent pods. Those buckets typically last us a few years.
During a normal Fair, there are no dirty dishes to do, other than rinsing out the plastic Dairy Women Milkshake cups or cleaning the cap to my refillable water bottle. It is glorious.
But Fairing at home…with all the Pickle Dogs and Tater Nachos and Navajo Tacos and Elephant Ears and corn experiments and deep fried adventures…the kitchen got more use in the past two weeks than it has in two years. And that includes all the stupid cooking Rob and I have had to do in quarantine (thank goodness for Lean Cuisines and tortilla chips).
Soooo tired of doing dishes. And unloading the dishwasher. Really, just tired of the kitchen.
Fair commerce is alive and well
Every Fair, somehow I manage to get inspired to do a little shopping. The year of the special exhibit about music, I decided I needed an 8-track tape of my favorite Captain & Tennille album as a decoration in our bookcase. Another year, I salivated when the lady manning the canning displays revealed the magic of using an ELECTRIC canner for making jam. Last year, I spent a lot of post-Fair couch time on etsy expanding my Fair-themed earrings collection.
Without intending to, I managed to keep my Fair Shopping tradition alive during Fair At Home. WHOO! Yesterday, Rob hunted down a small metal container of Chipotle Chili Pepper because I am now all sorts of intrigued by what I’m supposed to do with it. And, inspired by the seemingly endless time I spent in front of the kitchen sink washing dishes, Amazon kindly delivered this today:
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| Squishy floor mat!! My physical therapist was surprised I didn't already have one for my back. I had to explain I much prefer avoiding the kitchen than trying to make it less painful. Nevertheless, this Comfort Mat already feels soooo much better. |
Technology CAN be my friend
I relied a LOT on technology to help me Fair At Home. Without it, my Fair would have been very lonely.
Facebook was critical, allowing me to Fair with friends all over the country. It was SO MUCH FUN! I loved having friends participate in contests and comment on photos and offer suggestions. It filled my heart to see friends who might only have me in common joining together as a community of commenters and voters and entrants. Friends are a HUGE part of Fairing and I am grateful Facebook allowed me the means to Fair with so many of my favorite people.
Zoom was also key, providing a way to virtually hang out in pastures with 4-H kids and a living room talking quilts with an amazingly talented friend. On the fly, I learned how to record a Zoom meeting so that I could share it with the masses (or 34 people, whichever). I also learned how to set up a YouTube Channel to give my Fair videos a more permanent and easily located home. And I did a Facebook Live for the first time when Rob masterfully demonstrated how to cut a watermelon without requiring a trip to Urgent Care. (Click here to watch Rob not cut himself!)
As much as technology can be frustrating and give false impressions about what is real, I am grateful that so many creative ways exist to be with a community even if you are the only one in the room. I absolutely did not Fair alone this year. THANK YOU, FRIENDS!
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| Attempting to stream our Watermelon Cutting demonstration on Zoom to Facebook Live. My hope was to host the eventually-cancelled Watermelon Eating Contest on Zoom and live stream it to Facebook so my Facebook friends could be a live audience. See how much I tried to learn?!? All the settings were there. But the internet speed was not. |
Rediscovering old friends and neighbors
As much as I desperately wanted to wake up from the bad dream of the past five months to find the world and my beloved Fair back to normal, there were some huge and unexpected blessings that came from having to rethink how to Fair.
And they were all about the people.
Rob and I have lived at Woodhaven for 16 years. Over those years, we have met our neighbors, chatted on driveways, commiserated about the sucky internet speed (2.0 Mbps, not even kidding), checked in about power outages and road conditions, shared bobcat and cougar sightings, and combined our checkbooks to have our private road paved.
But until the past week and a half, we had never gathered together as a community.
Seeing neighbors emerge from houses and walk down our shared road with lawn chairs to gather for an outdoor musical almost brought me to tears. Seeing neighbors chat and discover shared hobbies made my heart happy. Overhearing many “We need to do this more often!” made my spirit soar.
Had my beloved Fair not been wisely cancelled this year, this past week of silly fun with my neighborhood might never have happened.
And then there were the interviews. The intentional and scheduled conversations with people I have known for years yet never took the time to delve a little deeper to learn about their passions. In the course of learning about pigs and goats and llamas and sheep herding and quilts, I learned about TJ and Maddie and Kristin and Alex and Allara and Pam and Ruth. I learned about dedication and curiosity and creativity and hard work and overcoming fears. I never would have thought to ask and learn and know were it not for COVID.
I am always looking for rainbows in the storms. Re-discovering my neighbors and friends through my goofy Fair At Home was a glorious double rainbow.
King of the Fair
On the last night of the Clark County Fair, the next Princess Court is announced. The coronation of the Queen comes several months later after the young ladies have had some practice being royal and on stage and televised.
Somewhere around Day 5, Rob jokingly asked me who I was going to crown Queen of the Fair At Home. Little did he know.
Rob is an incredible Fair Buddy. During typical years, Rob carries my stuff, takes endless photos of me eating deliciously bad-for-me food, finds the best seating for my cranky back and other compromised body parts, knowledgeably joins me in answering random Fairgoers’ questions about llamas and alpacas in the Llama Greenway, stays up late with me while I’m typing, and cheers on my efforts when my stamina and iron stomach begin to fade.
During Fair At Home, Rob’s support reached new heights.
Rob wisely took charge of all deep frying since we like our house unburnt. He mixed up the batter, he prepared the experiments, he kept an eye on the bubbling oil, and he cleaned up our Outdoor Fry Station.
He made the dough for the Elephant Ears. He grilled hot dogs. He drove me to Portland for a Hawaiian Shave Ice. He drove me to Patrick’s for yakisoba noodles. He made sure I had a much better second milkshake when my first one was such a disappointment. He talked me down when I was spittin’ mad at our agonizingly slow internet speed. He stayed up later than he wanted to when I was still tapping away on my laptop. He cut a very rolly watermelon into 8 slices without producing a drop of blood.
All this while also being the Answer Man for issues that came up with construction going on in Woodhaven’s living room and painting going on EVERYWHERE outside. Rob made himself available so that I could keep Fairing.
But that’s not the most impressive part.
On Day 4 of the Fair At Home, Rob started school. It has been over 30 years since Rob was a student. And he has never been a graduate student before. But on August 3, Rob jumped feet first into the deep end of his pursuit of a masters degree in Practical Theology (although intended to capture the work needed to put faith and pastoring into action, the program’s name does beg the question if a degree in Impractical Theology is offered…).
Yes. In the midst of Fairing and cooking and fielding questions and staying up late, Rob was also trying to remember how to study and decipher a syllabus and write a college paper and properly cite his sources.
I have an amazing husband. Crowning him King of the Fair At Home is not nearly enough.
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| I love this man with everything that I am |
THANK YOU
The past two weeks have been the most joy-filled of the past five months. For two weeks I didn’t pay attention to politics or social change or health statistics. A few things snuck in. I know there’s officially a vice presidential running mate. And there was a devastating storm in Iowa. And something is going on with the post office.
But taking a break from the uncertain and tense and divided world we are living in was soul soothing. Filling my days with lightness and goofiness was a much needed reminder that life is still fun. Taking the time to interview friends about their hobbies gave me deeper human connection I didn’t realize I was missing. For two weeks of blissful distraction, I almost forgot COVID exists.
The Fair At Home was therapy for me. And in ways so unexpectedly different than my 10 day escape of Fairing typically is. I loved the sense of Fairing with my friends on Facebook and having them participate instead of just observe. I loved using technology in ways I have never imagined to have conversations I should have had long ago. I loved learning the dangerous wonders of homemade Elephant Ears and deep fried York Peppermint Patties.
I didn’t love the cleaning.
Although I missed by beloved Fair tremendously, I am grateful for the opportunities its cancellation forced. I had to be more creative than I am used to being, exercising some brain cells that had gotten flabby. I discovered a new appreciation for being able to breezily show up at the Fair with anticipation for being entertained all day instead of working to arrange the entertainment myself. And I found joy in connecting in new ways with people I have known for years.
This year’s Fair season was not anything like what I expected it to be…but it was still a spirit-restoring time of fun, friends, food, and escape. My heart is full.
A deep and sincere THANK YOU for coming along the ride with me. For reading, for commenting, for laughing, for Fairing.
If we have all learned anything over the past five months, it is to not assume any plans are guaranteed. So it is with great hope and the humility that COVID has demanded that I say WE WILL FAIR LIKE IT’S 1999 in 2021!
See you next year!!
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