county fair

today i went to the howard county fair. it is quite a tradition where i come from. i had not been to it in years. my sister michelle talked me into going and meeting up with her, jeff, emma, sarah, and their friends the minglins and the roberts. now for those of you who have never been to a county fair...what more could you ask for than tons of people, tons of food, rides, livestock, crafts, and the ever so fresh smell of manure. and if you are one of my northern irish friends...think m&d's, but this is only set up one week in the summer each year...oh, and again add the livestock, crafts, and manure. i actually love checking out all the crafty stuff, seeing all the people, and watching my nieces and their friends on the rides with big smiles on their faces and laughter that reaches out to me. but it sure was hot this year...you know it is hot when... you feel the stream of sweat start to run down your back... your just not in the mood to eat an elephant ear...and you don't mind that your niece just put ice down your shirt!

i can't remember the first time i went to the county fair...but i do have two very vivid memories from my late elementary school/junior high years...don't remember exactly which. the first was with my old friend mike. mike and i grew up together in the neighborhood...right across the street from eachother. and we were always together, often up to a bit of mischief (riding our bikes everywhere, lighting things on fire, torturing his younger sister julia). so this year, we thought we were so cool because we were riding the rides without a parent....that was until we got onto the spider (i think that was the name...or something like it). it was this black ride with yellow lights. from the center three of four different legs branched out and within each leg there were three or four compartments coming out. mike and i stepped up into our compartment and then the man running the ride pushed it shut. but mike and i were not altogether sure that the man had done his job correctly, and we felt that he should have latched ours tighter or surely there was some way to make the gap go away....to us the gap in the compartment seemed to grow as the ride intensified in speed. mike and i were holding onto the bar for dear life....we were convinced if we did not hold on as tight as we could that our compartment would come apart and we would go flying into the air, falling down to our death. you all know that i am still alive...so is mike. we survived the ride and saw another summer trip to the county fair. which brings me to my other vivid memory of the howard county fair. another year mike and i were joined by my friend anne ( a link to her blog is in my friends section), and my cousins kevin and marshall, who had come up from florida for the summer. we had a sweet night, but it was coming to an end. everyone, except me, decided to ride one last ride...the gravitron...you know the thing that spins around so fast and then the floor drops out. all was well as we got into the car for my dad to drive us home. anne and i were in the front seat with dad, and the guys were in the back. all the windows were down, as we made our way down the country roads. and then it happened...suddenly, i see anne turn to the side and put her head out the window...yes, you guessed it....she was throwing up....not only was she throwing up, but the wind was blowing into the open back window, onto the guys. ah, the memories! i hope you all have a chance to go to a county fair someday :)