The County Fair

Seen at the county fair:

• Guy in bright yellow tshirt with wording that read: You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning. (Ha! That cracked me up every time I saw him. And believe me, he took his shirt seriously.)
• The famous whirling strawberry carnival ride... with only two of four strawberries actually working.
• The biggest turkey I've ever seen, some incredibly fat bunnies, sheep dressed in what looked like Tour de France bicycling jerseys, and very smelly pigs.
• A whole bunch of people who looked familiar but whose names I couldn't remember, including a very grown-up young man who turned out to be a kid whose kindgarten round-up I assisted with when I was a senior in high school. Ouch.
• My sister and I dancing to Sawyer Brown... only slightly enhanced by a couple of beers from the 'beer garden'. (I have no idea where that name came from. Thanks mom, for being our 'designated driver'!)

My sister, mom, and I went to see Sawyer Brown at the county fair on Saturday night and boy, did we have a great time! I've seen Sawyer Brown twice before (late 80s and early 90s) and they're still great. The band started with 'Six Days on the Road', roared into another foot-stomping country tune, and then finished the opening set with 'The Race is On'. They played songs from their 26 year career, with lead singer Mark Miller wearing his Nebraska ball cap and dancing like a MUCH younger man *lol* These guys can play and sing, and they know how to get an audience made up of Midwest farmers to have fun. The crowd was large and loud, comprised of tiny babies and grandmas in wheelchairs and everyone in between. Thanks little sis, for buying me a ticket!

I'm a country girl at heart, although my dad would laugh LOUDLY, and I love our small county fair. No, I'm not big on the tractor driving (no one in their right mind would let me drive a farm vehicle worth that much money) or the hog barn cleaning (yes, I did this in my younger years and no, I don't want to do it anymore). But I do love the small town atmosphere, the familar faces, the friends I haven't seen in years, the exhibit halls with quilts and kids' artwork and veggies grown in the garden, all competing for blue ribbons. Add in a little cotton candy and you have everything a county fair is supposed to be. What a great weekend!