State Fair time!!!!!!

My husband and I took our daughters to the Indiana State Fair last week.  We try to go every year.  I guess it has become a tradition of sort for us to ride the rides, view the livestock, and consume 4,000 calories each in one afternoon.  This year's fair trip was especially nice because it was not 103 degrees with 85% humidity (which is not uncommon for Indiana in August).  It was cloudy for most of the day, but we had no more than a few raindrops before the skies started to clear.  And, since the public and township schools had already started back, the crowds did not show up until nearly 5:00 p.m.  Comfortable weather, little waiting in lines, and food on a stick...could it get any better?  The answer was, "Yes."  It was also,"$2 day," so admission was just $2 each and the fair was full of food specials for only $2 each.  Great day for all.

For those of you who may not live in Indiana, we do not all own a pig or live on a farm.  I am aware that Indiana is viewed by most as a corn-growing, cow-milking, tractor-driving kind of place.  If you want to grow corn, milk a cow, or drive a tractor, that can easily be accommodated.  But, I do not know the first thing about being a farmer.  I am happy that I have picked four tomatoes out of my garden this year.  When I walk through the fair, especially the livestock barns, I am jealous of those that do live that stereotypical, "Indiana life."

My daughters love animals, and I admit that I, too, adore the animals at the fair.  Every barn we walked through, my daughters could be heard gasping then saying, "It's sooooo cute!"  It could have been a cow, a goat, a donkey, anything with fur, feathers, or wool.  Looking at the sheep and goats, I got to thinking, "How hard would it be to own a goat?  That one over there is no bigger than my dog!"  It could walk around my back yard, eat the grass so we wouldn't have to mow it, and I could learn how to make goat's milk cheese.  If not a goat, maybe I could raise some chicken.  We could convert the mini-barn into a chicken coop.  Fresh eggs every day and fried chicken when they quit laying.  I can just see myself churning butter, plucking chicken carcasses, scooping goat poop off my shoes....maybe not.  The lifestyle of a farmer is hard.  Those of us who are really only exposed to it at the fair cannot grasp the real blood, sweat, and tears these people give to live this, "simple life."  Raising cows and pigs is not a hobby.  I have been known to tell a bird to, "Shut up!" because it was outside chirping before my alarm had gone off.  I do appreciate the people at the fair that answer the silly questions we ask and let my daughters pet their animals.  The sight that always shows me the commitment these people have to their lifestyle is when you see a person sleeping in a stall meant for an animal.  Early mornings, long days, cold nights, sore muscles, and manure.  I'm not embarassed to say I could not hack it.

If you have not visited the fair, try to get out there before it is gone.  After you take a ride on the ferris wheel, eat a deep fried Oreo, and try to win a goldfish, show your kids how the other half lives.  Teach them to appreciate and respect the people that still live the, "easy life."

I still want a goat.