Slice of Americana

Ah – the adventures of small town living – they give me something to write about. Last night James said we were going to the Delta County Fair. Mention the word “fair” and I have visions of food – the yummy greasy kind, the yummy sugary kind, the yummy pastry kind, and on and on. I grabbed some much needed cash and we (Granddad, James, Kaylin and I) were off to enjoy and partake of the Delta County Fair. Turns out my mental visions were much bigger than what my eyes actually saw. My fairground experiences come from large state fairs such as the Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas state fairs. I had never been to a county fair. So this was definitely a new experience for me. It was much, much smaller. We didn’t even have to pay to get in. I love that!! First things were first (no – not the food – that came second) we went to check out the poultry. Who knew there were so many different kinds of chickens? And can you believe there were some that I actually thought were pretty. And – the roosters – who knew they cock-a-doodle-doo’d all the time and not just in the morning? Well, I suppose farmers knew that. I didn’t linger too long with the chickens once I saw the bunnies. I have a thing for soft, furry, cuddly creatures. Some of them were so cute I thought for a minute about getting one of my own – I mean - one for Kaylin. My mind spoke quickly. “Wait! Snap out of it! That would me more pet responsibility. Don’t let their cuteness fool you. That’s how they reel you in. Walk away from the bunny barn.” The trance was broken and dinner was calling me. I went to get my obligatory corn dog. Let me input some advice here: when one stand says a corn dog is $2.50, another says $3.00 and another says $4.00 – go with the most expensive one. I started off at the $2.50 stand because I’m frugal. They told me there it would be 8 minutes for a corn dog because they were frozen. Are you kidding me?? I don’t want a frozen corn dog at a fair! That’s like anti-fair protocol. Please!!! Thankfully they told me. I politely excused myself and made my way to the stand where they were $3.00. It was fine but clearly not their specialty as the breading was more like bread than corn. Later on James had a corn dog from the $4.00 stand and that looked the best. So there is my advice. Time to move on – we grabbed our food and headed for the main event. Yep! I’m sure you guessed it. It was the tractor pull. In all my life I have never seen a tractor pull event. And I must say – I was strangely into it (well – for at least the first 15 or so tractors - after that it was a little repetitive). Maybe it was the excitement of the crowd around me in the stands. Or maybe it was the revving of the motors and manly testosterone seeping through the air. Or maybe it was the cute cowboys that drew my attention. It was all a little bit (to use an old favorite word of my husband) “sexy”. Again – I go back to - maybe it was the cowboys. Relax honey bun – one cowboy who had me at the first “rev” was probably 85ish. The other that tried to win me over was about 10. The second was closer to my age (thankfully) but still no match for the cowboy I already have at home. Besides – give James another year and I can totally see him competing in the next tractor pull. Oh! Oh! Oh! Moving on again – we finished out our evening with a little bit of the “team roping” competition in the rodeo arena. I loved the horses but wasn’t so big on watching the roping of the bulls. Not really my thing (you know – like the tractor pull). We finished out our evening with a funnel cake and sno-cone. Yummy!! Friday we will go back to watch our neighbors compete in the “team penning” event. Naturally, I had to get a lesson on what that is. I have been sufficiently persuaded by our neighbors that it is, indeed, quite the event. As long as they have the 85 year old cowboy showing the young’uns how it’s done – I’ll be there. The biggest observation I had of the night was this: whether or not fairs or rodeos are your thing – there is no denying that they do represent a definite slice of Americana. It’s a slice that plainly just makes you feel good! So go out there and experience a little bit of Americana. It’ll do your heart good!