This past weekend my husband, myself and two of our best friends set out to explore the Puyallup Fair.  This is “the big one”, as fairs go in this part of the country and the experience is as much about the thrill-seeking rides and packed performance schedule as it is about the exhibits.  For me?  Not so much…

It was a beautiful day - blue, blue skies and warm temperatures; just the September we deserve here in the Pacific Northwest before dark gloom and impending rain descend on us in the coming months.  None of us had visited the Fair in quite some time.  I think my son was an infant the last time I was there!  Now he has facial hair!!! 

It was with great anticipation that we set out to explore classic fair standards… Miracle creams for dry skin, cookware that just about makes dinner for you, foot soaks and teeth whitening, wondrous chamois, kitchen mops and jewelry cleaners.  Deals on new windows for your house, tractors for your lawn(?!?) and questionable appliances that will grant you every leisure.  It was all a bit much, and before long it felt like my head was going to explode.  Although I’ll admit they had me with the fancy food mill - until I saw the price!!!

As the day progressed and the crowds grew in number, things took on an even more hectic air.  I ask you -why do they even offer those noise-making horns?  What says “country fair” about their screech…and WHY do parents cave in an buy them for little ones???  They know they’re only going to blow them incessantly!!!  I’ll take the call of the “Carney” vendors any day.  That food mill was really, really cool… 

We escaped to the barns and grange exhibits and there we discovered the heart of the fair still beats warmly.  Lumbering dairy cows contentedly chewed their cud as their 4H handlers brushed them, braided their tails and refreshed their sweet hay.  Those eyelashes and big brown eyes were enough to win me over to country life…on the cows, not the 4H kids, who tended to be somewhat tough looking and well, high school-like; heavy makeup, baggy jeans and tight sweaters.  But dedicated affection and commitment to their animals shone through their worldly ennui. I adore my highly capable and responsible children but I just don’t see them maintaining the necessary and routine care of large barnyard animals!  Feeding the cat on an irregular basis is considered a chore.

My favorite moments of the day?  Well, the teeny, tiny, oh-so-pink, 2 day old, piglets were a riot and we saw some quilts that were truly humbling in their craftsmanship.  Hint: one of the titles was “OCD isn’t always a bad thing”.  We perused displays of jams, jellies, pickles and jarred meats, as well as slices of pie, cake, brownies and something called “cereal bars”.  But at the end of the day it was the vegetable displays that won my heart, closely followed by the floral exhibits.  The colors, textures and utter variety was staggering and to me represented the daily devotion and countless hours invested by honest gardeners up against whatever the season was dishing out. 

So, leaving nothing but footsteps and taking nothing but pictures (and a certain caloric load!!!) here are my snapshots from our day at the Puyallup Fair.

a veritable rainbow of veggies!

award winning flowers!!

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