Blue Ribbon

         I was raised up to the age of twelve in Buffalo and then moved to Pittsburgh. Rare trips to the country were a big deal to me. I remember a day trip to Knox Farm near Buffalo as a kid where I bought a little set of farm animals with a barn and fence. I probably never saw a cow up to that point. Well I live well outside of the city today and love state and local fairs, one of which we were at tonight. I'm still trying to figure out what goats and pigs are all about, especially the goats. For some reason I get the feeling that they think they're smarter than me....just the way that they stare at me or something.

         Anyway, it's the simplicity of the fairs that draws me to them. I look at the people much more than the animals or the entertainment or the rides. It's America. The people are real. The smells are real. If I had to choose my favorite thing it would be when a young girl or boy leads some huge farm animal into the arena hoping to win that blue ribbon. How blessed that child is to value something like this and how blessed America has been for people like this. At one point tonight, while walking past the goats and donkeys, my mind, for a few moments anyway, was in Jerusalem two-thousand years ago, and in Bethlehem...in a similar stall.
         I bought a bush hat for five dollars! I'll never wear it but....five dollars....come on! We ate supper standing up and threw ping pong balls from a bucket towards water filled jars hoping....not...to win a gold fish that I would be obligated to feed every day. I just wanted to toss the balls. A friend's two little girls came up to me and they were thrilled as I shared the ping pong balls, their parents also rooting for the balls to bounce to the ground.
         I talked to a local pastor for a little while at his church's booth, listened to a young lady mixing country music with yodeling, and had a short talk with the man at the Republican booth. Last year at the same fair I had a tee shirt made with this blog's URL emblazoned on the back in neon green lettering. My wife loves that shirt so much that she protects it by rolling it in a tight ball and storing it safely in the back of my shorts drawer.
         When I was in Catholic grade school in Buffalo we were sometimes treated to a Hollywood movie shown on a film projector. One movie, and one movie only sticks in my mind.... Rogers and Hammerstein's State Fair....starring Pat Boone, Bobby Darin and Ann-Margret. I can even remember Pat crooning:

Our State Fair is a great State Fair...
Don't miss it, don't even be late...
It' Dollars to donuts that our state fair....
is the best state fair in our state!"