County Fair

This week is our annual Clearfield County Fair at our county seat about 40 minutes from here.  Tom took us to the festivities for a while tonight so we could look around and eat fair food!  We hit the exhibits and wondered why we don't take some of our crafts, artwork or herbs over for the judging.  Seems like we'd have a shot at some of the prizes money.  It's always fun to see what's new and how things have changed.  And of course we look at the silly chickens and the cute little bunnies, the horses and sheep are always favorites.  My family looks for John the Greek so they can have gyros!  I like so many foods at the fair but unfortunately they don't like me so I have to go easy.  I had cactus fries and they were yummy!  I would have tried a blooming onion but I know someone who makes the absolute best blooming onions ever and she wasn't there so I figured I'd wait a few weeks for a little ag fair about 5 minutes from home.  She's usually there and I'll have my last blooming onion of the season.  The other one was at our local Community Days back in June. 
Some things at the fair never change and others seem to follow trends, ebbing and flowing like waves as their popularity fluctuates.  The midway is always interesting because of all the "colorful" folks who work the rides and game booths.  It's funny to hear them call out to my pretty girls, trying to get them to come to their booth to play.  Ahhh...I live vicariously though them sometimes thinking about the old days when I was just a girl!  There's something comforting in going to the fair but its also a reminder of how our culture has changed.  In some ways things are more safe and yet more worldly at the same time but I remember from my childhood days that there were some pretty risque things to be seen on the midway at our little county fair.  I can see it all now...families walking down the midway...respectable moms and dads with children in tow and then, there it was for all the world to see.  Scantily clad ladies trying to entice the fellows to come inside for the "show."  The fellows in their jackets and fadoras would be gawking, knowing very well that they'd never set foot inside that tent but unabashedly taking in as much as they could from their familial position in the crowd while the ladies, wearing modest dresses with cardigans, were trying to hurry them along and cover the children's eyes at the same time!  Haha, my, how times have changed!  Now, some of the folks in the crowd are nearly as scantily clad as those dancers were and the "show" is free.  Yep, the memories of our youth!