Our daughter was very interested in visiting a local county fair that comes close to town (a city of 50,000 really - that too about 30 miles east of San Francisco - so go figure) and we finally decided to do it - father and daughter. Mom is out traveling for work this week.
Now a typical fair having attended a few in the pre-daughter (as a matter of pedantic curiosity) days - was a scene etched in memory of smoky barbecues grilling recognizable and 'not so' meats, with the smoky haze rising through the screams of children spinning nearby on a Ferris wheel.
Whole lot of Chinese made, injection molded plastic contraptions that you only find at a fair and know not what to do with the moment you purchase them (for what in sensibler times might seem an outrageous purchase); cotton candy and other morsels of wretchedly sweet goodness enticing your relevant lobe; you stroll through Bombay-isque crowds that seem to not mind which direction they are going as long as they are 'in the crowd' itself.
This fair in many ways was not that different and yet it was. For starters the collection of wild fauna was immense. To me any thing that breathes and has more than 2 legs is Wild, but then I am considered that too (by those habitating near me) so who am I to label things wild?
Any rate these odd characters consisted of everything that would make the Smithsonian proud - from Clydesdale horses (these are humongous beast of a horse - easily weighing over a Ton if not more) with legs that look like they have white woolen socks and typically used as a beast of burden (pulling wagons and the like); to the miniature hamsters - tiny rodents that are outrageous to watch as they antic in their little enclosures. Then there was a whole lot of reptiles which I did not know existed (let alone that could be brought in to the county fair) from variety of pythons to lizards to exotic dragons.
Then there were pigs that raced to sheep that chased; an elephant and camels too. We watched a kid rodeo on an unfleeced sheep as well as a model railroad setup like a small town within a town. We had a great time taking it all in amidst the din of break dance and hip hop on a nearby stage to the vendors peddling locally made jams and jellies.
After few hours of walking and staring and taking pictures we decided to head home to clean up and go eat something exotic - it was Korean night!
Now a typical fair having attended a few in the pre-daughter (as a matter of pedantic curiosity) days - was a scene etched in memory of smoky barbecues grilling recognizable and 'not so' meats, with the smoky haze rising through the screams of children spinning nearby on a Ferris wheel.
Whole lot of Chinese made, injection molded plastic contraptions that you only find at a fair and know not what to do with the moment you purchase them (for what in sensibler times might seem an outrageous purchase); cotton candy and other morsels of wretchedly sweet goodness enticing your relevant lobe; you stroll through Bombay-isque crowds that seem to not mind which direction they are going as long as they are 'in the crowd' itself.
This fair in many ways was not that different and yet it was. For starters the collection of wild fauna was immense. To me any thing that breathes and has more than 2 legs is Wild, but then I am considered that too (by those habitating near me) so who am I to label things wild?
Any rate these odd characters consisted of everything that would make the Smithsonian proud - from Clydesdale horses (these are humongous beast of a horse - easily weighing over a Ton if not more) with legs that look like they have white woolen socks and typically used as a beast of burden (pulling wagons and the like); to the miniature hamsters - tiny rodents that are outrageous to watch as they antic in their little enclosures. Then there was a whole lot of reptiles which I did not know existed (let alone that could be brought in to the county fair) from variety of pythons to lizards to exotic dragons.
Then there were pigs that raced to sheep that chased; an elephant and camels too. We watched a kid rodeo on an unfleeced sheep as well as a model railroad setup like a small town within a town. We had a great time taking it all in amidst the din of break dance and hip hop on a nearby stage to the vendors peddling locally made jams and jellies.
After few hours of walking and staring and taking pictures we decided to head home to clean up and go eat something exotic - it was Korean night!
Comments
Post a Comment