This Fair Makes Me Sad:

Yesterday afternoon, after we were tired of working in the yard, we went downtown to the little 4th of July fair in the park. A storm was on it's way in and I began taking pictures of the clouds.



There is the end of the little train ride. A few years ago, Cary had to report the old man who was driving to fair officials as a drunk train driver. Seriously! A teenage girl was the conductor yesterday. She did not look like she had even had on O'douls.



There are a lot of food booths, some are better hidden than others. We ate some of Ken and Vic's Pork Butt Sandwiches. They were good, and a good deal. Ken and Vic's booth is in a good spot and easy to find. The soup kitchen booth is tucked way back by some wood art and was kind of hard to find. I might eat there today after the parade.



See those group of teens? They are friends of Austin, who was hit by lightening last month. He is my neighbor and I got to talk to him yesterday. He is doing well. A really sweet boy, and we are so glad that his is fine. I told him that if they moved and ever needed a home for Bandit, we would love to adopt him.



See the Ferris Wheel? The other rides are The Big Slide, The Hammer and The Tilt-a-Whirl. This is a small fair, with a low budget. I grew up behind the fairgrounds in Eugene, and am used to more rides. But I get dizzy on rides these days (actually since I hit the ripe old age of 18) so it doesn't really matter to me. Rides cost a lot of money to bring in, and I think it is nice that Anne and the others budget for them. There are a lot of kids that live here that don't venture very far from La Pine, and it may be years before they know what they are missing. Just enjoy the moment, Kathy.

Look at those clouds! Is that man using that walking stick or is he selling them? They have a lot of nice ones there. My Dad bought one last year and really likes his.

As we were walking around, I just felt sad. It was the first day, and not many people were there yet. There were not nearly as many booths as the years before. A sign of this economy? Everybody was competing for our dollars, and I found myself walking right down the middle so that nobody could make eye contact from the booths. I actually had $21.00 in my pocket, but I held onto it. Today I am going to break that $20.00 into $1.00's so that it is easier to make everybody a little happier. Cary and I both said, we are just looking today ... we'll come back tomorrow and buy. The popcorn lady and the raffle people were a tad bit disappointed in that line.

We went inside the art show building and I was looking at this neat globe and the man wanted me to buy it so bad. He had printed info off the internet with how much it was going for online ... $350.00. If you were in Alaska, I was told, it would cost you $1,000.00. He would let it go for $125.00 or any decent offer close. It was inlaid with stone and pretty cool. But I don't have $125.00 for a globe right now, sorry, fella. I kind of want these little plastic Charlie Brown and Linus toys, but I don't want you to know that I have $20.00, because I have a feeling that the price will go up.

Cary wanted to buy me some jewelry, but I couldn't even do that. What if I went to a booth and the lady or man got their hopes up for a sale and then I didn't find anything I liked? I just couldn't deal with the whole thing yesterday, there was desperation in the air. I longed for the anonymity of Bi-Mart, where nobody really cared if you bought or not. They know you'll be back and buy again soon, if you don't buy today ... that is not the case with the people at this little fair.



We stopped and talked to the guys at the Democrat booth. They were nice, but kind of seemed out of touch; like it was the old days or something. They were doing a poll, where you put stickers on a chart on what you think should be done with health care, and what you think the biggest current issue is: education, environment, etc. They were trying, but I kept thinking there were too many issues to choose just one. I decided that I will make up a list of my worries and give it to them today ... but I am not going to sign my name!

We are going back today and watch the parade and visit with my Dad and Jill while we wait for our friend Nancy to come from Portland. I hope I am better emotionally prepared today ... at least there will be more people there, so I can hide in the large crowd of 300 people.