County Fair

Fair time is fast approaching. And while my little town of residence holds the largest Independance Day parade in southern MN, my hometown, where I grew up, holds one of the largest county fairs in the state. And I am dang proud of it.
So as the time approaches, I am fondly flipping through my county fair memory Rolodex... Nobody loves the fair quite like I do. And not because of the food and the games and the rides. And not even because of the beer gardens. I havent actually even been to the beer gardens since I've been old enough to drink.
No, I love the fair because of my past there. Because literally, my happiest memories of later childhood happened right there at the county fair. I used to show livestock. And actually just 2 years ago I was still showing horses there. I grew up showing horses and my favorite, dairy. Yup, dairy cattle. I remember having to learn all of the different anatomy points, and making sure that I knew my heifer's dam and sire's name, because in showmanship, the judge would ask. And I'm sad to say that I have completely forgotten most of the anatomy points. Except for the 'pins'. Anybody, ask me where the 'pins' are on a holstein heifer. And I can tell you without hesitation!
I remember having to go in the night before the start of the fair week, decorating the stalls and the cattle barns with the farms colors. Spending all summer working with my heifers so they would walk nicely in the ring. Spending all summer working the horses I would be showing. The sweat, the blood, the grime.. The happiness. I was in 4H and FFA. I got to work the 4H food stand. No, wait, I HAD to work in the 4H food stand. I think its a requirement. Working along side my friend Brianna.. Boy me and that girl could fight! But we were best friends. Not very many people get to experience the behind the scenes of showing livestock. And while I'm not marrying the horse rancher or dairy farmer I had once thought I would be, I will be damned sure my kids exerpience 4H. My kids better not grow up as city slickers. Dreaming of flitting off to Chicago or New York to join the ballet or opera. Sure, I will raise them to be whatever they aspire to be. But I hope they take on the same passion for agriculture that I have. Because if I were given the chance to go back and live one week of the country fair that I did when I was 16, I would snap it up in a minute. The friends I made... The experiences I was given.
Thank you mom and dad for allowing me to be the hick I always was at heart. I am pretty sure they have no idea where I came from. I was kind of the country alien of the family. All of my sisters are city geeks. They love clothes and makeup and hair and all that fancy stuff. And they should, they are all beyond gorgeous! They are pretty laid back in the sense that all of them love a good weekend on the lake or a good family trip in the woods... They will get dirty with the best of them. But not one of them, to my knowledge, has a biting, scratching need to be in the dirt and the grime of farm or ranch living. I want to bail hay! In fact, I LOVE bailing hay! I love cleaning tack. I love cleaning barns. I have a deep passion for throwing around horse and cow manure. I want old, rusty trucks and big old barns. I want fields. I dont even care whats in them. I want to go to the fair. I want back what I got to have in high school. But I'm young yet, and I have a life to build. And when Red and I are ready, we will be in the country.
And then I'll stop tormenting him with dogs! Ha! And I'll replace those dogs with horses and cattle! Just a couple of beef steers or something, just to have them there. Think he'd let me do that? His momma and sister tell me about the days when they had some cattle way back when. He secretly wants that again.. Right Red? Red? RED! Dammit, he ran away again.
So anyways, come August, why do you all join us at the county fair! I can promise you the time of your life. Tonight I will scrounge my albums and post some of my pictures from a decade ago when I showed animals at the fair. You're gonna love it!
Love Em