There is something exciting about the fair. I love the smells, the sounds, the laughter, the tired cranky kids. I love the FairShitShop kiosks, the special villages, the critters. Suddenly cows are interesting to me! Sheep! Goats! Chickens, even! I love to see what the kids were doing in their 4H groups, what the scouts were doing this year. I want to know about dogs they trained, the cat houses they built, and the art they created. And I love to stick my face through holes of character faces and become something else...like compost worms :)
The Oregon State Fair is a nice one. Lots of commercial buildings and rides and cows. It has great fair food--who doesn't like over-fried Twinkie-dipped Oreo-gooped food? Curly fries, fresh-squeezed lemonade, roasted corn. And the only time I like those squares of ice cream dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts is at the fair.
Mom told me she liked to go to the fair and just sit and watch people when I was young. As a kid, I thought that was crazy. Why would you go to just sit around? Then I became a middle-aged adult and found I loved going to the fair on a week day and , after traipsing through the commercial buildings (I love the commercial buildings!), I would end up sitting in the fun zone just watching parents with their little ones on the rides.
My favorite fair in this area is the Clark County Fair in Washington. It's a smaller fair but packed full of good times. As you enter, there is the dog leaping and swimming show where you can cheer on Poco. It is noted, "[the Clark County Fair is] So delightfully tacky that you just can’t stay away. Chock full of
amusement park rides, farm animals galore, and the unhealthiest food on
the planet, and yet always a TON of fun." Plus you can become compost worms :)This fair is the best because you can go through it all and still have energy for rides. My grandboy always loved going to the fair with us, from the time he was just a lil thang to this year going on his own with friends. Gawd I hate he wants to go to the fair without us! But to be fair, if I had been in town and asked, he would have said yes PLUS gone with friends :) Gawd I hate I was out of town when the fair was going!
But...the overall best fair is the Los Angeles County Fair. Hands down. It's the biggest. It's the happiest. It's my fair.
When my sister and I were old enough to attend the fair without supervision, we were handed a five dollar bill as Mom dropped us off at the entrance and told when she would come pick us up. Sister and I always had different desires with our $5. I would always buy a heart shaped necklace with a ruby tacked on and my name etched across the heart ($1), have my handwriting analyzed (50 cents), buy a hot dog on a stick ($1) and a hand squeezed lemonade ($1). My sister would buy something to eat and then rides some rides. 
And then we were out of money and had the rest of the day to do things. One of the things we did was travel through the three commercial buildings and gather pamphlets. We would get one of those great bags with handles and gather pamphlets as we walked through the aisles. We made it a contest: she who gathered the most pamphlets was the winner! No duplicates. And it was always interesting to me that, while walking side-by-side, we would have a few pamphlets that were different from each other. And sometimes as we walked, we would sign up for something with our mom's name and they would call her later when the fair was over. What? She didn't want Encyclopedia Britannica? What? She didn't want new siding? New windows? 
I love the fair. Any fair. Any size. I loved the tiny Josephine County fair that was two aisles of fair stuff. I loved the fair in Splendora, Texas with its young cowboys and cowgirls, spinning rides, and Texas fair food. I love the sounds. The smells. Roasted corn on the cob. Now fall is almost upon us. Leaves are turning and rain is falling. The pride and joys of what the community has reaped are over and done. So until next year~~
And so it goes
peace~~~
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