A Fair Is A Time When ...

Saturday night we went to the fair in Boulder, Mont. As I watched the people walking along and heard the squeals of laughter from the children, I thought back to going to the fair when I was a child.

There were games and rides galore. However, most all the games were for the big kids and adults. But then there were the rides. My favorites were the carousel and the ferris wheel. How wonderful it was to seem like I was sitting on top of the world looking down on what was happening below me.

Music from the carousel provided the background for the entire fair. And oh what fun it was to ride on a different horse every time I got on the carousel.

We never went to the fair until after supper. That was the best time to go because by then you were in a magical world filled with vibrant colors coming from all the lights.

One year, my mother asked me to go on the Tilt-A-Whirl with her. I said no several times, but finally I gave in and said I would. My mother loved that ride. However, that was the first and last time I ever got on it. Halfway through the ride, everyone standing close to where our seat came whirling by jumped back screaming as my supper came flying at them.

The perfect end, though, to a night at the fair was walking home eating a big cloud of cotton candy. To this day whenever I taste cotton candy, I hear the music from the carousel.

Fairs are a time for wandering along the midway listening to the people calling to passersby to come and try their skill at a game. It’s a time of the night being lit up by brilliant color. A time to savor caramel apples and popcorn and cotton candy.

It’s a time when you watch your children shrieking with laughter as they spin through the night on the rides.

A time of browsing through all the exhibits and checking out who got blue ribbons. And especially checking to see if what you entered won a ribbon. A time of watching young people bathing and grooming their livestock in preparation for show day.

It’s a time when all the food you buy from the food booths tastes like the most marvelous thing you ever ate.

Going to the fair is a time to leave your cares at home and just laugh and have fun.

There will be many fairs over the years that you go to, but there will always be one or maybe even a few that stand out in your memory. Those memories will surface and you’ll be taken back in time when next you hear the carousel and its unforgettable music.