Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Meet Me at the Fair

I am one of those born and raised in the country folk who cannot seem to get through the autumn months without a trip to the fair.  In the past that has always initialized visions of livestock shows, show jumping, horses, meeting the neighbours I hadn't seen last year and of course FAIR FOOD!!

Is there anything more tempting than a trip through the midway food vendors?  Nothing beats the aromas that waft out of the little concession stands.  Boiling corn, candy apples, fudge bubbling in the copper kettle, onions caramelizing on the grill with the burgers and hot dogs.  Then there is my personal favourite...the candy floss booth.

The morning I was to pick up my friend was damp and rainy.  The day had been heralded in by a night time of rain.  We dressed accordingly in big rubber boots and headed out on our adventure. It was pretty boggy in spots but that didn't dampen our spirits as we slogged across a farmer's field through the mud and trampled grass to the admission gate.  Safely installed inside with our little re-entry stamp on our hands we looked around deciding what we had missed most since last year.

It turned out to be the livestock.  What a comforting sight to see the barns in close proximity with all manner of rural sounds emanating from inside. On the way I was sidetracked by that familiar smell...the candy floss booth.  I decided that was to be my treat for the day and proceeded to buy the biggest bag they had (go big or go home as they say).I sat in the sheep barn watching the shearing demonstration contentedly munching on my precious treat.   My fingers were a little sticky and I didn't have a napkin but hey its the fair, who needs napkins anyway?

As we left the barn, I noticed the wind had come up a bit.  My hair was blowing into my face so of course I was busy brushing it away with sticky fingers which was no easy task.  The mud seemed to be getting deeper and deeper between the buildings.  I was eating my lovely pink floss in  spite of the wind and the more I brushed my hair back with sticky fingers the stiffer it seemed to become.  We made our way into one of the buildings and I was given a bit of a reprieve so I spent it buying fudge.

The crisis of the day seemed to happen around the location of the demolition derby.  Armed with floss and fudge we headed to the derby site.  It was a most popular place to be it seemed for around the bleachers the mud became gargantuan.  Attempting to ascend the bleachers was no easy task.  My feet were becoming heavier and heavier.  It was becoming almost impossible to put one foot in front of the other with the deepening mud.  And then it happened....stuck...

There I was stuck halfway up my boots in soft mucky mud.  My hair was stuck out like a brush with bits of coloured floss winding through it like a maniacal rainbow and I thought to myself that perhaps candy floss hadn't been the greatest idea after all.  After a colossal effort  I managed to extricate myself from my dilemma and get safely home with the help of my friend. In retrospect that evening while scrubbing mud off my boots and candy floss out of my hair I came to a decision.  I love the fair.  I enjoy being with my friends and taking in the sights sounds and smells of the day.  It has now occurred to me that perhaps taking a detour past the candy floss booth might be the better way to go about things in the future.  I was a bit worried about all the sugar I ate and was completely and totally surprised that I lost weight that week.

Is there a moral or a lesson to this story about the daily battle with food?  I think so.  In retrospect it was a great day.  Did the candy floss make it better?  Not really in fact it rather complicated things. Maybe next year I will learn to accept the sweetness of spending a day at the fair with good friends and accepting that sweet doesn't always mean sugar.  Sometimes its that wonderful feeling of creating fond memories.  It is the warm feeling of camaraderie and laughter.  Life is sweet.  Live it!