Well. The fair. Yes. We went. We stayed for five hours. I hit the (metaphorical) wall and required 12 hours of sleep to recover.
Maybe you would like the full story? Right.
We got to the fair grounds at 10 a.m. and immediately went to the sheep barn. The sheep judging was supposed to start at 9 a.m. When we got there, they were still on the first category of sheep to be judged. So we wandered around the dairy cow barn and the swine and goat barn while we waited for the Merinos. When we got back, the Leicesters, the breed scheduled to be judged before the Merinos, were up. We decided we might as well wait, and sat down in the bleachers.
I'm going to assume most of you have never been to a sheep show. Let me explain how it works. The sheep are divided into breeds. The breeds are divided into innumerable classes--ram, ewe, lamb (both junior and senior!), pairs (ewe and ram), flock . . . you get the idea. These are all judged separately, with the owners wrestling their sheep in and out of the ring in a headlock. They don't use halters. But in the case of the less popular breeds of sheep, such as the Leicesters that we watched, and even the Merinos, it's not unusual for there to only be one farm showing sheep of that breed. Which means you will see the same people showing the same sheep over and over and over. It's incredibly repetitive. The Groundhog Day atmosphere is only worsened by the fact that sheep showing in our county and at the state fair is dominated by one family with four or five kids that look startlingly, comically alike.
Luckily, I find it funny as well as incredibly boring.
Thankfully, we only stayed for about half an hour. Then we started to walk. We walked to the poultry building. We walked to the arts building. We walked to the horticulture building. We walked to the science building. We walked to the horse building. We walked around all the buildings to see everything. We walked and walked and walked, continually battling the noisy hordes in the bright sunshine.
By 3 p.m., I was so done, I couldn't even manage to sit in the horse building and watch the horses trot around. I just wanted to go home. In the un-air conditioned car, with the bright sunshine still beating down on me and the wind screaming through the open window, I think I entered a catatonic state. I didn't even want to speak. All I wanted to do was get home, into my quiet, cool, dark house, and never see another person or venture into the sunlight again. Complete sensory overload.
Unsurprisingly, I managed to develop what I must assume was a migraine headache. I've never had one before, but I've also never had such a painful headache before. So I sealed myself in our bedroom and slept from 6:30 until 8:30 p.m. Then I got up, put on my pajamas, and went back to bed from 9 p.m. until 7 a.m.
So! We actually had a very good time. And it only took me 12 hours of sleep to recover. Success.
12 comments:
I've managed to skip the NYS fair for the last 35 years. I hate crowds that much. I was forced to go several times in my childhood. Did not enjoy the experience. I know what you mean about sensory overload.
Aw, sorry the aftermath was so bad! But glad you had a good time while you were there - did you, in fact, get some Belgian fries? There's a little pharmacy with an old-fashioned ice cream counter here in town, and they always set up a stand at the Fair selling peach ice cream. They get fresh peaches and blend the ice cream themselves, and they only sell it for about a month each year - when it's gone, it's gone. That's always one of my must-have fair foods.
Mr. Mom and I haven't been to the Tulsa State Fair since 1991, our first year of marriage. We were there for about an hour and left. We couldn't figure out why it was so much fun when we were 15 and such a hassle when we were 29. In fairness (pun intended), we spent our hour on the midway with the crazy carnies and the girls with fair hair. (Yes, fair hair is a styling category in Oklahoma. It's sort of a cross between bad '70s leftovers and There's-something-about-Mary bangs.) Had we ventured into the animal barns, we might have had a better time. Alas, we've never been back and we've deprived our children of knowledge of the state fair. And in the mean time, we've saved a ton of money.
Okay, I'm talking too long here, but in Oklahoma, the fair is a BIG deal. So we are most definitely the odd men out. Another reason Mr. Mom and I hate the fair is because every year his business revenue used to drop considerably during fair time. Yeah. Average families spend so much money at the fair, they have nothing left over during those two weeks. Course now, they just spend it year-round at the Indian casinos that have sprung up all over Oklahoma. Don't get me started.
Mayberry Magpie, that line about the hair is priceless. Reminds me of a great carnival game a friend of ours introduced us to a while back that would work perfectly at a fair. It's basically a scavenger hunt, but of people you expect to see:
guy with mullet
girl with mullet
missing teeth
girl with tattoo (this used to be much less common [sigh])
Daisy Dukes
high heels
T-shirt with sleeves ripped off
tube top
girl taller than her boyfriend
girl way out of her boyfriend's league
overzealous pre-teen PDA
etc.
Kristin, I'm glad you've recovered, but I have a suggestion. You may already know this, but dehydration mimics the symptoms of a concussion. Walking around in the sun for one day is more than enough to put you into that state, if you don't boost your water intake a lot.
But did you have good fair food? That's really the only reason to go to the fair!
I have to agree with Drew, dehydration is a major factor in headaches, even migraines. I'm glad you had a good time though.
1 migraine is enough to last you a lifetime, innit? I get 'em....although it's been a year since my last one.
Drew: Is that tube shirt/half shirt for a guy or girl?
Sorry to hear about your migraine. I suffer from headaches - well, I did, for over 30 years! Finally said something to my doctor and she put me on a daily regime of Topamax, which really helps. I might get a migraine once every three months or so - and that's better than 4-5 headaches a week!
I've been reading your last few posts and you are pretty funny. I don't remember who had recommended your blog, but I'm glad I'm following you!
Amy, same as with the mullet, that could go either way.
Sensory overload can honestly be physically painful. You might have been dehydrated on top of it. Take care of yourself!
I would not be able to do what you do. If my husband asked me to go to a sheep contest at the fair I would treat him like the crazy person he was.
You are a lovely and wonderful woman.
He is a lucky, lucky man.
Oh my word, that sounds mind-numbingly boring.
And then, not so mind-numbing - more mind-splitting.
I had the same reaction on Saturday - only it came from attending a baby shower after my 11 mile run.
Sensory overload, indeed.
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