Dear George,
Having grown up in a rural area, fairs and carnivals were among the most exciting places of my youth, and I still have that attitude, even after many decades in the big city. I can’t think of a more pleasant outing than going off to a county fair, and you can imagine my excitement when we travelled last week to Columbus for the Ohio State Fair. Here are a few pics and thoughts.
The State Fair is huge, maybe a mile long by a quarter mile wide. The SkyGlide was one of the first attractions we came to, and we plunked down three dollars to travel from our entry point to the opposite end. Heights make me uneasy, but the panoramic views were a treat.
We went straight to the “Poultry and Rabbits” barn, the latter being our fair favorite creatures on earth. I’m going to estimate that there were roughly 300 poultry and 10 rabbits on display. We were impressed by the variety of chickens in the world, but our hearts still belonged to the rabbits. Later, cows, pigs, goats, sheep, horses.
I think I like the arts and crafts building the best. The amateur art is always inspiring, even though I don’t seem to take action by the time I get home. We like the veggies and the flowers too.
There’s lots of high quality entertainment scattered about the fair. We enjoyed the country rock band, break dancers, and a doo-wop quartet. The very best, though, was the professional hypnotist who put 19 volunteers from the audience into a trance. They went deep sea fishing, turned into butterflies from their cocoons, had steel rods implanted in their hands which bound them to the magnets in their knees, and circulated through an audience in which all the people had become animals in a petting zoo.
We were determined to have a Bloomin’ Onion for supper, and we looked for the food stand all the way back to our entry gate. When the Information lady told us that Bloomin’ Onions were back at the opposite end of the fair, Katja insisted that we should walk back. So we did. The Bloomin’ Onion was worth it.
All in all, our adventure was a success. Ever since 2016, I’ve been fed up with the Heartland, and the fair did make me feel a little better about living in Ohio. In particular, I’ve been infuriated with rural Trump voters, and it was encouraging to watch farm folk working with their livestock — a more immediate and pervasive part of their lives than politics. We spend most of our social time with well-educated, upper-middle class, predominantly white people, and it was a treat to be out among the bigger community. “Real people.” Mostly the fair was a testament to things people value in their lives — art, quilting, raising animals, gardening, baking, canning, quilting, woodworking, collectibles, hobbies. Fairs make me feel good.
Love,
Dave
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