I love the fair. As a child it was an honor to have a project selected or to have an animal good enough to show at the fair. It was time with family, tending the cattle, and spending time together exploring all the state fair had to offer. And there's something special about working at the fair. As though you have a backstage pass, you know all the ins and outs, the best foods, the shortest lines, the secret don't miss activities. And how to plan a day around the crowds. Seeing the fair day in and day out from the inside is a different experience, and it's the best way to experience the fair. For several summers in and just after high school, I spent the majority (or all) of the fair working for 4-H. Two years ago I worked the whole fair for the Blue Ribbon Foundation with my sister and relived the glory of being an insider (and this time with my own golf car!). And this year I will volunteer (as I have every year for the past 12 years, minus that year in Hawaii) and get my little sliver of belonging, my sense of oneness with the fair. It breathes, it lives, it pulses. And I love being there, smelling, tasting, seeing, feeling, hearing my way through its wonders.
It's true. Nothing compares.
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