A friend recently gave us tickets to our local county fair and rodeo. So, we ate breakfast for dinner last night, threw on our boots, braided our hair, put on our cowboy hats and headed out the door.
I think I'm getting old...
I miss the days when livestock, handmade and homemade goods were the central theme of a local county fair. These days it's pretty commercialized and the things they are selling are not unique to a fair-much less locally made.
I didn't see one fresh piece of produce last night. Nor did I see anything homemade. The food court has been reduced to all those fast food booths that sell the same stuff: corny dogs, french fries, funnel cakes...
We did enjoy the rodeo, however. And a rodeo is a rodeo after all...right? Ok, I'll confess that even during the rodeo I asked Fr. what had happened to country music? Now, I'm not fan of modern country music. And I don't even listen to classic country music. But wouldn't a nice dose of Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson be an appropriate touch for a fair? How about some bluegrass? Instead every time the bull riders came barreling out of the shoot we heard AC/DC or Aerosmith. Seriously! (Sorry to all you rock fans. I'm feeling a little melancholy right now.)
It kinda made me sad. I grew up with old country fairs, and they were way more fun, beautiful, and interesting. We thought it was something to buy a slice of homemade pie, find a soft spot on the grass and listen to some old guys pckin' on their banjos. We loved seeing who's tomatoes would win a blue ribbon, who's pig was the fattest...
Nonetheless! The girls had a blast. Of course they love all the rides and gross food. They don't care about homemade pies and cakes, or hearing banjos and fiddles. And they couldn't care less that the cowgirls no longer wear jeans with their boots but tiny little remnants of what was once a pair of jeans.
So, I eventually found my joy, as it usually happens, with watching my girls have fun. They love those fast crazy rides that make my back hurt just watching them. They even talked me into riding the roller coaster with them at the end and I swore off roller coasters years ago!
