Monday, August 25, 2008

All's Fair

Did it feel like forever for you too? The Common Man was only gone for two days, but feels like ages have past since he last spoke to you. He's sorry for that, but family obligations (preparing the boyhood home to receive 60 or so guests and then travelling home last night) kept him from writing before now. In all, it was a good weekend. The Common Man reconnected with family and friends (and family friends) and ate a lot.

Not at the Fair, mind you. Yes, The Common Man and his family attended the state fair on Saturday. But it turns out that 21 month old little boys aren't as interested in food-on-a-stick as their fathers. Little boys are more interested in seeing cows, petting newborn piglets, and wondering at the biggest boar in the state. Also, The Uncommon Wife is less inclined to sit and try new and exotic brews, and more likely to want to watch The Boy ride around and around in a car on the Midway.

So while the fair impressed The Common Man with its size, the variety of activities, and how ridiculously crowded it was, The Common Man didn't feel as though he got to experience everything it had to offer. He didn't get to slide down a long plastic ramp on a gunny sack. Or eat a bucket of chocolate chip cookies and finish it off with all-you-can-drink milk for a dollar. And he didn't get to watch nearly enough fashion victims stroll through the fair with their muscleshirts and mullets.

But the experiences The Common Man had were choice. Watching his son run through the "baaaa barn" and stop at each sheep's pen to say hello. Going through the 95 year-old tunnel of love with The Uncommon Wife. And soaring through the air with The Boy in a giant metal bee, while trying to convince his son to stay seated and not try to jump out. So while incomplete, it was the best time at the Fair that The Common Man can remember. Next year, he'll insist on beer, however.

No comments: