County Fair

I took a little trip to my hometown because one of my best friends had a baby.  More on that later.  My parents and I decided to go to the county fair to walk around, get something to eat, and see what there was to see.
Here's K at the beginning of the night:

and at the end:

I like this picture because there are cows in the background.

The Houston County Fair is a HUGE part of my life.  Not really as much now, but growing up.  I would spend every minute from Wednesday until Sunday at the fair.  I had horses there, as well as entering projects in things like photography, arts and crafts, pets, and I think once I took a birdhouse.

True story- once I took my horse in the Pets category.  You had to bring your pet in, talk about how you take care of them, what's great about them, all of that.  I got reserve champion.  Do you know what got grand champion?  A HERMIT CRAB.  

My friends all showed at the fair too.  It was so much fun.  We'd walk through the cow barns looking for cute boys that went to other schools.  The boys that brought cattle also brought friends, and were usually good ol' country boys that wore shirts that said things like "Here I am, what are your next two wishes?"  and "Farmers work it round the clock"  No, I don't remember exact shirts... the same type of boys were in the cow barns today, looking for girls from other schools wearing shirts with phrases meant to get a conversation started.

And then there were the horse shows.  I didn't miss a year after I got my own horse.  I would dream about the fair year round, and plan out what I'd wear, what my stall decorations would look like, and of course, how we'd do.  One year I was SO excited to show, I had a new horse and we'd done really well the whole year at local shows.   I fell off 3 times.  Yes, 3.  It was muddy.  Unrelated to me falling off, there was also this huge tree branch that grew out and reached over the rail, so when you rode, you had to either duck, or kind of move your body sideways to get out of the way.

A lot has changed about the fair-  they got a new horse arena, cut down the branch, and everyone looks super young.  But, its fun to see that another group of kids are having the same experiences and loving it like I did.

At the horse barn tonight, I saw Lena and her girls Avrie and Emma.

Lena gave me riding lessons when I was just starting out.  I thought she was the coolest person in the world.  I remembered everything she said and would think about lessons long after I got off the horse.  One time she called a horse a name under her breath, not meaning for me to hear. I went home and repeated that name because if Lena said it, I repeated it.  : )

To make me feel really old, her oldest daughter was born right around the time I started taking lessons.  Here's her baby, holding my baby.

Instead of feeling sad, or old, or wishing I lived closer, it made me happy and so thankful for the experiences I had growing up.  I hope K gets the chance to show at the fair, both horses and maybe even pets... if I ever get over the bitterness.   She just can't chase the boys from the cow barn : )