15 August 2009

Scenes from the fair

My family spends a lot of time at the state fair each year. Here are a few glimpses into this annual tradition (click on the collage to enlarge).

* Baby animals abound at the fair -- ostriches, calves, ducklings, and more. Once a year, I remember that I'm an Iowa girl and allow a calf to suck on my finger. :-)

* You'll find beautiful flowers throughout the fairgrounds, but especially in the gardens just outside the Agriculture Building.

* August in Iowa is HOT. It's so hot that I'm even willing to put my hair at risk by walking through the misting fountain on the Pella Plaza.

* The granite plaque and lamp post in memory of my mom were installed over the summer, marked "Best Grandma" -- a title she wore proudly.

* The butter cow tradition lives on. While Iowans have supported a butter Tiger Woods, a butter Harry Potter, and even a butter Last Supper in years past, they rose up against the notion of a butter Michael Jackson.
So this year, a rather benign butter Neil Armstrong astronaut accompanies the cow, along with a butter television and a butter American flag.

Watch for tomorrow's post: Fair Fashions.


2 comments:

Connie said...

Yay! I love your fair pictures. As I've mentioned to you, our country fair isn't "all that," so I'm glad you posted these. How nice to have the memorial to your mom there!

Jill said...

Ok now I not only had to consider keeping up with sheep fashions, but also who is and isn't appropriate to make a likeness of in butter! I saw this while looking around - "Michael Jackson is whipping up a storm in the US state of Iowa over whether or not to immortalise him in butter."

I hate to be all picky and stuff, but butter is so not immortalizing! :-) ;-0

Very neat pictures and the butter statues do have a certain appeal, even if they don't last through eternity. :-0 :-)