Random thoughts from the State Fair

The family and I went to the State Fair yesterday... and once again my observation skills and off-kilter mind gathered these random inane thoughts to scattershoot..

• One of my pet peeves (and I know it shouldn't be) is people who really struggle to work electronic devices in public areas.  For example, I get kind of frustrated at grocery stores when people use the self-checkout, and don't really know how to... I want to tell them:  "They have lanes over there... with these people who will check out your groceries.  That's the ticket for you, trust me" :)  So, we're at the Dart train station, and it is taking *forever* to get our day passes from the vending machine because people can't figure out the instructions.  They kept trying to put their cash in first.  What part of "1.  Select your fare /  2.  Insert your payment" is unclear?


• So, when I finally get up to the machine, I'm getting our tickets, and I here someone behind me say "I'm going to watch this guy... he seems to know how to work this thing"  LOL


• Allison spent most of the train ride turned around in the seat because the backwards-orientation of the train was giving her motion sickness.  Benefit?  I got to see her pretty face the whole way :)


• There's a passage in the Laura Ingalls Wilder book "Farmer Boy", where the dad gives Almanzo a 50-cent piece, but only after explaining how much farming work is represented by that coin; as a result, Almanzo begins to value money better and spends it wisely.  Had a similar incident with Matthew yesterday...  when I told him that the drinks we bought to go with our sack lunch cost $20 in coupons... I thought I was going to have scrape his jaw off the floor.  It was a great teaching moment, and he understood for the first time why we control the spending at the State Fair so rigorously.


• Matthew loves cooking, and wanted to sit through one of the "chef sessions", so he and I watched Chef Chris Vogelsing from III Forks make Chateaubriand.  Towards the end of these sessions, they bring out little sample plates of the food, one for everyone who is sitting in the roped area.  They also have these mirrors and video screens that show the cooking area from a "top-down" view.  I got tickled at something I noticed:  here we have a chef from one of the top restaurants in Dallas, making a classic French dish... and they are bringing the samples out on a Dickeys BBQ tray.  Only at the State Fair of Texas!


• The Killdares were magnificent, as usual.  Heard two new songs today.  One instrumental and one vocal.  Very nice.


• Took Matthew to the climbing wall in the Jeep section of the auto show.  He asked for the harder path.  It took him less time to climb than it took to fill out the waiver and stand in line.


• Matthew loves Dodge cars... and when he sat in the gray Dodge challenger, I told him one of The Killdares has one just like that.  He thought that was pretty cool....


• Funny thing about my boys:  one likes Ford, one likes Chevy, and the other likes Dodge.  We've got the American car scene pretty well covered.


• During the Marine Drum and Bugle Corp performance, we got to see one member receive a promotion to Master Sergeant... that was quite a thrill.  His wife was also honored with flowers from the CO, since they were celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary this month....


• After Ryan finished his deep fried chocolate strawberry, I was really wondering if they just decided to roll him in the confectioner's sugar, rather than the actual dessert....


• The twilight State Fair parade:  the same exact floats and participants every year... and I wouldn't have it any other way.


• At the "Birds of the World" show... an absolutely delicious and hilarious moment.. Groucho the talking parrot was singing for us, and one of the songs he sang was the French children's song "Alouette".  Why is this funny?  Because the song is about plucking the feathers out of a little bird.  I'm laughing my fool head off and people are giving me some funny looks :D


• Speaking of the bird show... this was the first time we arrived early enough to it to get a good spot... 2nd row, right in the middle.  Had a great time watching Allison freak out when the birds flew right over her head or dragged their feet almost into her hair :)


• The things we do as Dads:  as we were waiting for the train so we could leave, Logan announced that he had lost his little pumpkin that he painted.  So he and I went back and convinced them to let us back in long enough to look at the last place we were at, when the boys bought Dippin' Dots.  Pumpkin was nowhere to be seen.   Interviewed a man eating a chicken leg on the bench, and he had seen the pumpkin, but said it was gone when he came back from purchasing the poultry.  Tracked it down to a State Fair worker who had been cleaning, and she had swept it up;  we recovered it from her dustpan, wiped it off, and finally got to leave with a much happier little boy.


• I managed to lose my sunglasses during the day.  For some reason, that is a quirk of mine... I lose/break/scratch so many sunglasses that it is not even funny....

This year, thanks to the generosity of some friends, we will be going to the fair twice.... I look forward to doing it all over again, enjoying the sights and sounds of this grand brotherhood we call the human race at a great festival gathering....

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