My friend Mary and I went to the Saline Community Fair last week. I love fairs.
I love looking at the animals and interacting with them, when they’re so inclined. Petting llamas, for instance, is a treat. You pet them on their necks, and their wool is so long and fluffy that you don’t feel their bones. Cows, on the other hand, are all bone, and horses, mostly muscle. Petting a sheep makes you suddenly aware of lanolin, and rabbits are amazingly soft.
Then there are the non-animal exhibits. Giant sunflowers. Purple kohlrabi so beautiful it could be used in flower arrangements. Needlework. Baked goods. Jams and jellies. Tractors, new and old, small and large and in between.
An elderly man in the tractor barn told us he collects the small ones. He had restored that one, he said, pointing, and that one over there, and he’s thinking about whether or not he wants to restore this one here. Where do you find parts for the old machines, we asked. Oh, I go on eBay, he said. The parts are available.
I managed to get my husband to a tractor pull at the fair once. It started with tots on pedal tractors. Then came the main event. I’d had no idea that tractors could be so souped-up and powerful, not to mention loud and potentially dangerous. Some of the tractor engines blew up. A tractor pull is not an event where folks want a front seat. Better to be out of range of flying debris.
With luck, you may find yourself at the fair during a judging. This happened once when our youngest was about four. The judge was one of those generous persons who instructs as he goes along. He was judging rabbits that day, and discussed not only breed standards but how each rabbit compared to the standards. We kept asking our child if she were ready to go, and she kept saying she wanted to watch. Home again, she pulled out all her stuffed toy rabbits and announced which one was best, and why.
The vendors are interesting, too. One woman this year was selling little doodads she’d crocheted, which turned out to be diabolical variations on water balloons. Soak one of the doodads in water, throw it like a missile, and whatever or whoever it hits gets soaked. The fiendish objects were selling fast.
Mary and I caught the end of a magic act aimed to delight children. I’ve marveled before at how vocal children are at puppet shows on British TV. The children at the fair were every bit as vocal in response to the magician. They absolutely clamored at him at one point, trying to get him to show the back of a picture. One child stood and illustrated bodily how to perform the desired turnaround. The wound-up kids were the best part of the show.
We’ve seen other memorable events at other fairs. My all-time favorite was a pig obstacle course at a 4-H fair. The many obstacles included a cloth-draped card table and a row of folding chairs with spaces in between. Each child competitor was allowed one friend and a sheet of plywood with which to guide his or her beast. This was to be a timed event. It turned out that the pigs had no intention of walking under the table, which they soon sent flying, or between the chairs, which they scattered, or completing most of the other obstacles either. Prizes ended up being awarded according to how many obstacles a pig had, indeed, completed.
Another 4-H fair had a leaping llamas event–high jump for llamas. All the animals were happy to step over the bar when it was low. Before too long, it was high enough that many llamas tried to demonstrate for their child handlers that it really would be easier to walk under it. A child-llama team got three tries each time the bar was raised. Finally, all the llamas had used up their chances at the new higher setting except for one. That last one waited till it had everyone’s eye. Its thought bubble said, I will now show you how this is done. Then it soared over the bar. That llama liked to jump, and the teamwork between the young girl and her animal was an honor to behold.
Autumn fairs celebrate God’s abundance and the fruits of one’s labor. Each fair is an echo of fairs past and will echo in fairs yet to come. I love fairs.
10 September 2021