And it’s a wrap!
To be honest I have a love/hate relationship with the fair—as I am sure many mothers do.
We can’t help it. The fair consumes our lives the week before, the week of, and the week after.
When you break it down it is a week that goes like this:
It’s dealing with very tired, dirty children for the 7-day duration, turning the show clothes around in the wash super fast, and smelling dirty wet shoes and boots every time you get in the car—you know they are somewhere!
It’s not being able to find anything, living in a hot, dusty, tin barn with the public walking through, and eating too much junk!
It’s driving a filthy, disorganized car to and from the fairgrounds multiple times a day, misplacing the fair pass and car pass, and forgetting the belt at home on show day.
The fair is about watching the cows tear down the display one minute after it goes up and having to jerry-rig it for the rest of the week.
It’s being out of touch with the rest of the world, in touch with the ag world, and wondering how is it possible for one to exist in both at the same time!
It’s bleeding money to the kids, finding money in the washer, and spending too much money on food.
It’s figuring out how to bring a hot supper over to a crowd of 30 without spilling it in the car, getting burned on the hot pan, and wondering if anyone is going to see your text to come out to the exhibitor parking area to help you carry it all in!
But what makes up for all of that chaos is that the fair is about a relationship and bond with a group of people, a place, and a time. Priceless.
It’s old friends, new friends, and tradition.
And when you put it in perspective, you realize, just how important that 1 week before, the 1 week of, and the 1 week after the fair are.
The fair is a canvas, painted with Washington County agriculture for one week, every August.
It is special, and it is right, in its own little way. I think it’s the glue, that binds us all together.
And cheers to the moms for managing it!
With love,
Kate
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