Cows
mooing. Flashing lights. The aroma of french fries, cotton candy, and
pizza floating through the air. Whirring rides. Shouting children.
Laughter. Smiles. Tractors. Concerts blaring. Quilts. Giant
squash. Perfect pies. Pristine art work. Vendors. Shiny 4-H
ribbons. An old-fashioned, country fair. The Coshocton County
Fair, which is the fair that I grew up going to year after year. We
took the kids on Sunday, and we had a great time.
The
kids rode all of the kiddie rides. Lukas was exactly short enough to
still be allowed to ride them, and he was exactly tall enough to ride
the bigger rides as well. We let him choose three of the bigger rides.
He spent half the day begging to ride the giant Ferris wheel, which Ava
was tall enough to ride with a grown-up but terrified to even try. I
ended up snuggling on a bench (which was very hard to find with all
those people around) while Ava snoozed on my shoulder for about 45
minutes while Eric and Lukas rode a few rides. It was a nice break in
the day.
I
was able to visit with several old friends, which was so nice. My
friend, Mandy, or actually Amanda these days, was there with her entire
family, and by that I mean her parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews
were with her as well as her husband and children. I hadn't seen most
of them since Mandy's wedding in 1997, which I sang and played flute
for, so it was a blessing to see them all.
I
also saw a few of my teachers from high school. There is this teacher
(you know, THAT teacher) named Mrs. Carey that everyone had for Honors
English sophomore year. Well, not everyone, those less brave souls took
general English that year to avoid her and then took Honors again in
11th grade. Scary Mary Carey...that's how she was known. It was either
that or Dragon Lady. It was her goal to make us work harder than any
other teacher to ever cross our paths. Her class was not fun, and you
are reading the ramblings of a literature reading grammar fanatic who
has been writing short stories and poetry since the third grade. When I
say that an English class wasn't fun, you can safely assume that it
wasn't because I generally love that type of class(of course, you could
do your own investigation. I have other eye witnesses...ha!).
At
any rate, I saw Mary Carey at the fair. Did I want to say hello? Not
really. She told my parents I was backward and two years later ate her
words when she asked me to speak at a school assembly (do backwards
people do that?). So, no, I didn't want to say hello, but in the spirit
of forgiveness, I happily said "Hello, Mrs. Carey!" The woman looked
away, said hi in an "oh-my-goodness-you-did-NOT-just speak-to-me" tone
of voice and dashed out of the building as quickly as humanly possible.
It was very strange, to say the least. I am certain that she
recognized me because she attends church with my sister (who she also
recognizes and chooses not to acknowledge). I don't understand it,
really.
The
experience reminds me that when God brings people from our past to
mind, and he has brought Mary Carey to mind several times over the
years, we need to pray for them, especially if we are out of touch or
if we have no idea why God would bring them to mind. Who knows what
they are going through these days? God surely has a purpose for
reminding us of the people who have crossed our paths.
So
that was our fair experience this year. Oh, I can't forget to mention
that Lukas refused dinner that evening, which never happens. It sent a
red warning flag up, but only a small one. I should have taken it as a
huge warning sign because about two hours later, he totally lost his
lunch on a spinning ride kind of like the tea cups at Disney World.
Yuck. We left after that. He actually had a bug that lasted for about
24 hours. If you want all of the juicy details, ask Ava. She is
totally fascinated by the event and is willingly sharing with everyone
she sees that her brother threw up on the spinning dragon ride.
Overall, the day was a great one. Even Lukas is hoping to go back next
year!
No comments:
Post a Comment