That's our Fair.

I went to see MercyMe and the Newsboys the other night in concert at the Iowa State Fair. I’m really please that the fair continues to bring in Christian acts and love to see that they are well attended. I hope they continue to bring them in. We got to the fair a little early so I could check out the photography that is in one of the buildings. A friend of mine had submitted a few shots and I wanted to see them in a “art show” format with a bunch of other photos. She is very talented and actually sells her stuff on the Internet, here. My favorite picture is Morning Glory Bee, check that one out. She also has pictures hanging in the WDM library, so I check them out whenever I go. Anyway, I saw two of her shots, one won Honorable Mention, so that was cool. I was amazed at some of the youth photos and art, I hope their parents are encouraging them because there was some really cool stuff. The best thing about the fair is people watching, which we were able to do as I ate my $5.00 walking taco that had $1.50 worth of ingredients, at best. The girl asked me what I wanted on it, and since it was $5.00 no matter what, I said to put it all on. A second girl brought it over, which the order taker girl looked at it and told her to put jalapenos on it as well. I guess the second girl thought she said “Put ALL of our jalapenos on it” because I got a Doritos bag full of peppers. I didn’t notice it until I got to my people viewing spot and sat down to eat. I LOVE jalapenos, but this was too much, even for me, so I had a small pile at one end of the bag when I was done. I hope everyone knows what a walking taco is, or I’ve just confused you with my Doritos talk. I could have been a salesman for walking tacos that night, because everyone that walked by said, “Ooh, walking taco.” Back to people watching. My favorite game is, “What were they thinking when they chose their outfit for the day?” Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for being who you are, but a bit of modesty or intelligence, ok. For example, I’m way past my 155 pound days, I’m in the 220 pound days, which means that no shirt, no service, no appetite. I’m well aware that I no longer have the body to walk around in public with either no shirt or very little shirt. No, my wardrobe now consists of shirts that are long enough to cover my gut, and, I wear a belt that keeps my pants up high enough so you can’t see my underwear, or worse, my ass crack. This brain cell has been lost on a number of my fellow Iowans. The 20 something girls with their bellies, live it up girls, show it off, cause it won’t last. But the 30 something and even 40 something ladies, let’s try to keep the gut covered, with a second shirt if you have to. I know it’s hot, but if it is so hot for you that you can’t keep your clothes on, perhaps you should stay home today. Now, if you have the belly to show, think about whether others even WANT to see it. Another thing. If your breasts are double D’s, perhaps a bathing suit top, short shorts and flip-flops isn’t the best outfit for a family event. I’m not a prude, in fact these are the subjects of my favorite time at the fair, just think you might want to tone it down a bit in a family setting. On top of that, there are a lot of drunks there and you are setting yourself up for some cat calls, but perhaps that is the goal. I know those Luggs boots, I think that is what they are called, are popular, but they look like they would be really hot on a 110 degree day. I saw a bunch of teenage girls wearing them out there, made my feet sweat just looking at them. (Man, that sounds bad out of context) Don’t think I’m just picking on the ladies, the dudes had a lot to be desired as well. There were several guys with no shirt on. I’m not offended by a shirtless guy, but a shirtless sweaty guy walking in a crowd is worse, to me, than a shirted sweaty guy walking through that same crowd. You get too close and you got sweaty guy sweat all over you and that ain’t good at any time, let alone while you’re trying to eat a walking jalapeno taco. I mentioned that I wear a belt, which a lot of the guys at the fair do as well, but the gut causes the belt to be completely ineffective. My understanding is, that a belt is supposed to hold your pants up, but 98% of the large guys wearing belts are also showing 98% of their ass. I’d rather see a 40 year old belly, than a 50 year old crack. Maybe it’s just me. My boss had called me and told me he saw a picture of me at the fair. I instantly wondered if it was in one of the barns, but he said it was in the Varied Industries building in a booth for Blessman Ministries, the organization I went to South Africa with. Since we were there early, Marcy and I headed over and found the booth. We were looking at the pictures when a guy who was manning the booth came over and asked if we knew someone in the photo. Little bit. We were fortunate to be in the booth when Doc Blessman and his wife, Beth, came by. He told us about the next project and how they were going to try and use the bricks I've talked about before. The machine that makes the bricks was outside, so we were able to see that as well. It was really cool, I wish I could go to help them with the building, but I think a trip of that size is a bit out of my price range at this point. It would be cool to be on the first crew that built the Abods and the first crew to build with the bricks. Maybe I start playing the lottery.