The Fair

We went to the Oklahoma State Fair this year with Emily and our neighbor's daughter, Carli. (Rachel had a football game to attend.) We knocked off work an hour early so we could get out there and still have some time to see and do most of the things we wanted to do. Emily and Carli were very excited, full of big plans to ride the big rides. Clara and me, heck, we were just looking for a good corn dog. Heard the Fair's the place to get 'em.

Off we went:

The Midway's just full of choices. And people. Every kind of people. More amusement to be had by just people watching than the rides themselves.

The Himalaya can still provide the thrills:

The turkey legs are just as big. If you don't lose it, you can work up an appetite riding the rides.

You'll get thirsty, too:

Still, there's time to contemplate your place in the universe. And plan your next move:

While we were taking a small break, there was some commotion not far away. Shouts. People hurrying along. Gathering into a crowd. Hard to tell what was going on so I raised my cell phone above the crowd to get a picture:

Dang. Let's try again:

Two horses down. Clydesdales. It looked like they were pulling a wagon and got somehow tangled up with one another and one pulled the other down. By now, the drivers had disengaged them from the wagon and pulled that back and had removed the harnesses and collars and were working on getting the horses back up on their feet. Which they eventually did, to the applause of the crowd. The horses didn't seem any worse for the wear so we moved on.

We forced the kids into some of the exhibits: the new cars, the animals. They could only take so much so we cut them loose on their own. We kept in touch by cell phone and later caught up to them.

But they had more plans. Big plans. Some us were skeptical:

But the lights of the Midway beckoned.

So, at last, the evening was capped off with some keen competition: Emily vs. the balloons. With darts.


She won a small prize and we were done for the night and for this year's edition of the Fair.

Always a great time.

Oh, did we find a good corn dog? We did! Though not as good as we remembered. Still, it was a Fair corn dog and you just can't get that anywhere else. And not with such good company.