First Fair

Cows are big!

I experienced that first hand last week when Nora and I took Bemma to the Clark County fair with their pal Macy and our good friend Kristy. We live in a semi-rural area and many of our drives are choreographed around farms that have a few roaming cows. The
four-legged grazers give Bemma something to marvel at as Barney's melodies fill the car and burrow deep into my subconscious (seriously, every time I run, do the dishes, eat, use the bathroom, wash the car, check the mail, etc., I have one of that purple monster's songs rattling through my head..."look both ways when you cross the street...").

My role is usually that of a spotter, identifying the cows and then providing direction as to which side of the car Bemma can direct their focus, although they have a great cow radar and have memorized each spot at which the cows should be located. As the spotter, and usually the driver, I haven't taken a lot of time to really appreciate the sheer mass of a cow until I was at the fair, standing within a few feet of one. Suddenly that grazing giant didn't seem serene and his black and white spots seemed like some kind of psychoanalytical puzzle designed to distract me long enough to gobble up Ben's right arm and slowly digest it in one of his four stomachs. I was wary of the cow, and I'm pretty sure he was wary of me, but Ben thought it was great.

And don't even get me started on the sheep. Those are some creepy animals whose noises sound nothing like the innocent, "Baa," Old MacDonald would lead us to believe. As we walked past their bleating cries and pitch black eyes that looked at nothing--and yet everything--I felt the maze of pens closing in on me, and when Emma said, "Bye, Bye", with her sad lower lip protruding, I gladly scooped her up and retreated.

To my relief, the bunnies were soft and harmless, and the chicks were so cute I wanted to put one in my shirt pocket to take home, but I refuse to accept that a full grown chicken is an animal to be trusted. Chickens are shiftier than a mobster at an FBI gala. The way they claw the ground and peck the air makes them look like they're about to burst, ready to cross over from sanity to insanity. It's like they just watched the colonel stroll by with a bucket of finger lickin' goodness and they were pretty sure that extra crispy wing looked a lot like their uncle Freddy who vanished without a word from the farm last week.

And on that note, I found it either very ironic or well-planned, and a little bit messed up, that the stall of beef cows opened onto a huge sign of a giant burger. Maybe it's the budding vegan in me, but really? I mean it's one thing to eat the cows, but do we have to make them look at a picture of it all day long? I'm just saying...

Even though I'm apparently suffering some kind of PTSD from the fair (seriously, my unsettled feelings about farm animals has tumbled out of me while writing this blog) Bemma seemed to love all the animals. When they saw the cows they reacted a lot like I would if I'd seen Ken Griffey Jr. or Michael Jordan when I was 12. I would've jumped up and down, shouted an exclamation, and peed my pants a little. That's pretty much what they did when they got to stand next to a cow.

As you might be able to infer, the farm animals were the biggest hit for Bemma, but they also got to ride on a Tea Cup and Emma and Macy rode on the carousel. Ben is still building up his courage for that one, but I think he's watched Emma ride it enough times with no ill consequences that maybe he'll be excited to ride the "horsey" the next time the opportunity presents itself.

Our stay was short (only a couple of hours), the rides were overpriced (they always are), and I'm pretty sure I will never be able to visit a real life animal farm, but going to the fair was a great day.

I'm realizing more and more that it's local events and features -- the fairs, the farmer's market (Vancouver and Camas), library events, movies and concerts in the parks, the parks themselves, and countless other things -- that are the bright patches on the quilts of Bemma's childhood. I'm so grateful that we live a community that values these things. In an economy where budgets are being scoured as carefully as job postings, these events provide some much needed relief and allows parents like me to give their kids a memorable summer.

I'm getting excited for the Puyallup fair, but I'll be sure to bring a decoy Ben and a decoy Emma in case the cows or sheep try and get too frisky. And the next time we drive by a cow I will pause Barney out of respect for the giant creature and his four stomachs.