Before we moved to Carolina Preserve, Aloma and I visited our daughter in Raleigh and went to the North Carolina State Fair. We enjoyed it so after our move here, I asked Aloma if she wanted to go again. She declined. “Once is enough.”
This is my third year that I’ve gone alone. I walked most of the Fair, enjoyed watching people, especially families, looked at the exhibits and watched the judging of Black Angus cows. There didn’t seem to be as many animals this year. Maybe I was there on the wrong day or maybe the floods affected the farmers and ranchers? I saw very few chickens and ducks. I did watch the cow milking instructions but declined to stand in line to try it. When I was young, a man showed me how to milk a cow, but when I tugged on an udder, nothing happened. I noticed the largest squash was 1,090 pounds.
The food concessions never change. Every flora and fauna that starts with the letter A to Z is fried, slathered with sauce or heaped with sugar. Most people walking around were eating. I did buy ice cream churned by a John Deere engine and sat and listened to some gospel music. The ice cream was pricey but worth it because John Deere engines make it better.
When I was younger, I piloted a glider for several years. Heights from an airplane don’t bother me. But when I get on any ride in an amusement park, my stomach rolls. I decided to ride the skyway, like a ski lift, across the Fair. I was terrified. Every time it would stop or pass a tower, I thought I was falling. I’m glad I forced myself to ride on it and am glad that I will never do it again.
Will I go to the State Fair next year? You bet! It’s a tradition.
Seasoned Man
stevelem117@gmail.com
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