Our bus driver was a sociable 47-year-old guy, and he made sure we all had a safe and carefree drive. He brought his teenage daughter along with him. There's something reassuring about anything that hints of a close family. The two of them teased, and obviously she was her daddy's little girl. Of course, that's something that's super easy for me to recognize when I see it!
When we got to the fairgrounds at 10 a.m., the two of us oriented ourselves and chose a place to meet by the grandstand at 5 o'clock. We had our cell-phones along to touch base in between time. We like going our separate ways at such events, simply because our interests don't necessarily match. Where one of us would like to spend more time, well, maybe the other one doesn't. It just makes more sense to toddle along solo.
Food on a stick is a popular state fair treat, and we each had a pork chop on a stick. It was good, but all day I had meat stuck in my teeth and no toothpick. Maybe I should have been more adventurous with my other food choices, but I simply had to satisfy my passion for real-squeezed lemonade and a root beer float.
So many strollers and so many miserable little kids at the fair. Their faces beet red from the hot sun and their hair matted and sweaty wet. One young mother carried a baby in her hands that couldn't have been more than two weeks old. When and how did our maternal instincts change so much!
About 4 o'clock I began feeling drop-dead weary and called it quits. The park bench in the shade felt mighty fine, and that's where I stayed until we rejoined forces at 5 o'clock. I took off my crocks to be barefoot and did nothing else but watch the people. We humans are a real bunch of bananas, you know that? So many tattoos....covering entire upper arms. I couldn't help but laugh at the gulf between me and them.........there I sat trying to hide the old-age spots on my skin, and there they were showing off their tats proud as peacocks. But, heck, we go around this race track only once, so why not each do what we want. If I was younger, I actually think I'd have a ring tattooed on my hand. Oh, I could still have it done, but nah, not anymore.
The best part of going to the state fair is....today....being able to do absolutely nothing but rest my tuckered-out body. The fuzzy one spent a long day alone here yesterday, but she welcomed us home in her bouncy happy way. Such a dear. My husband is still snoozing upstairs, so I'm thinking his body feels like mine. There's a sweet solace in growing old together. We know how the other feels, and we keep our medication in the same drawer!
What was my favorite thing at the fair? I'd have to say the tiny horses and the miniature farmers who proudly paraded them before the judges. One little guy was all decked out in black, wearing a black cowboy hat, and his head came to the top of the little horse's head. That was one of those unforgettable awwwwwwwwww moments!
Life is the darndest thing. We take ourselves so seriously, yet when we get among huge crowds, we see that we're no more important than lint. I've always thought it would be fun to sit on a cloud in the sky and look down at the people scurrying around like a bunch of ants on heroine. Maybe the one thing I brought home with me from the fair is the awareness that I wouldn't change places with anyone. If we're comfortable in our own skin and with the way we live our life, then that's as good as it's ever going to get. And, when I get to feel like life isn't being fair to me, well, I'm simply going to make myself a root beer float, sit under a shade tree, and be content. It's so simple.