Where Can I Find Family, Food, and Animals? Maybe the State Fair!

Each year around the end of summer the semi’s roll into town carrying god knows what as they head to the state fair grounds. A few days later you drive past and you see all the rides towering over the lush green fields. Before you know it the animals are corralled into their pins and lugged down and put in the fairgrounds barns. Now as you pass you can smell the smell of fresh cut grass mixed with the smell of manure. Yummy! Finally you pack the whole family into the car and head to the state fair! As you drive down that old dirt path your mind is overwhelmed with the past memories of the fair, like the salt water taffy, the freshly popped kettle corn, or the time you almost puked. As the fairs wheel spins round and round the people chatter, little boys squabble, and the corndogs boil. Now when you come not only does is feel welcoming but like home.

Not all people feel this way when it comes to the fair. In the article “Taking in the State Fair with Garrison Keillor” by Garrison Keillor, Keillor describes the fair as “A ritual carnival marking the end of summer and gardens and apple orchards and the start of school and higher algebra and the imposition of strict rules and what we in the north call the long dark times.” (Garrison 85). Keillor also discusses the top 10 things to do at the fair that range from eat until you puke and see the world’s largest swine. But noticed that as the day progresses all this fun is now turned into fatigue and an empty bank account. Keillor points out that after a long day of rides and tons of food that people are in fact shameful that they consumed all that food and seem to see it as a waste of time and money. You then go in search of your car in a parking lot larger than any car dealership and ...

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...amily and most of all just have fun! That doesn’t mean you don’t need to watch your money or what you eat but that shouldn’t hold you back from having the best experience ever at the state fair.

Later that night you leave the state fair you search and search for your car. Then you wait in the long line of cars that are all leaving the fair. But when you stare out the window you can still see the reflection of the rides on the window. Finally as you drive down the same dirt path you entered on, you sigh mostly from exhaustion and crave your nice warm bed. You pass by the fair a few days later and the rides are gone and all that is left is an empty lot until the next year.

Works Cited

Keillor, Garrison. “Take in the State Fair with Garrison Keillor.” Cultural Identity in America: National Geographic Magazine. Ed. Kate Derrik. Boston: Wadsworth, 2013. 82-89. Print.