Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Special Exposure / Wordless Weds: County Fair

Summer county fairs are so traditional. The Sonoma County Fair was a staple of my childhood. Every year my brother, cousins, and I looked forward to the day when we'd spend a magical afternoon at the fair, whirling on rides, eating corn dogs and cotton candy, and getting up close and personal with farm animals. Through it all, the summer sun soaked into our skins and and the smell of dry, baking hay filled our noses. The best relief came from the large and echoing Hall of Flowers.

It's so much fun to be able to share this with my own kids. They are all about rides, food , and fun. My daughter, however, is really interested in the animals; we'll be starting her in 4-H this fall. James loves all the people. I love the flowers and seeing traditions that have not had to be revived for the new food-to-table movements in our society.

Here are some photos from our day:
Sombrero and bright colours help me track him in a crowd.

Got calf?

Summer in Sonoma County!

Great horned owl, found and raised by humans.

A boy and his dreams.

Looks like fun!

Okay, this is new ...

Love this and want one for the garden.

A set in the Hall of Flowers.

Don't know what this is, but I like the colours.


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               and ... Wordless Wednesday 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I love these pictures you've posted; makes me feel like I'm at the fair. That chair is so cool. I want one, too. :)

Unknown said...

The fountain shot is beautiful. I love fountains. And was that a real live cow walking around in the fair??? How funny! I'm scared of cows because when I was young, a cow tried to charge at me while I was trying to cross its path. Luckily, she was tied to a tree and I was able to run far enough that her rope didn't reach me! LOL!

SoCo mom said...

@Shelly - thanks -- the fair is one of those special annual treats that make the season for us.

@Janice - yes, that's a real cow. She's going to have a calf in September, and was really mellow. I think that's a 4-H member taking her back to her barn. They have lots of livestock at the fair because we still have a lot of agriculture in the county. As far as I know, the animals are very well behaved. Cows are big, though -- I'd not like being charged by one as an adult!