A Day At The Fair

Late August is not complete without a visit to the Maryland State Fair, and Saturday’s weather lent itself exceptionally well to such a venture. Normally, I spend a day at the fair dressed in my Volunteer Ranger uniform, working a shift for the Park Service in the Maryland Department of Natural Resources building, representing Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area, a unique wildland habitat down the road from my house on whose board of directors I am quite active.

This year, however, the Maryland Park Service chose not to have a table for Soldiers Delight NEA, so I was spared from having to wear a uniform on what is typically an insufferably hot summer day. Instead, I was "off-duty" while at the fairgrounds, so I got to wear civilian clothes for my day at the fair, which was a real treat!

Jan and I are about to embark on a haunted-house ride at the Fair

I chose cute lavender summer shorts by Play It Again, which I’ve owned since I was a teenager in the early 1970s, and a comfortable purple tank top by St. John's Bay for JCPenney, which I purchased last year. I tied the look together with a stretchy belt fastened by a resin buckle in purples and pinks which was a recent gift from my best friend’s mother, Joyce, in Spokane, and added gold gladiator sandals by Rampage for Macy's, some vintage amethyst drop earrings, an equally vintage amethyst ear cuff and a stretchy bracelet of purple wooden disks to complete my summer look.

I grabbed my girlfriend, Jan, and we set out for a few hours of bovine-petting, 4-H talent appreciation, southern-barbecue consumption, arts and crafts perusal and carnival-ride enjoyment. In the cow palace we posed with a pair of adorable twin calves who simply would not look toward the camera, bought some fresh produce in the farm-bureau building and scared ourselves silly on a haunted-house ride along the fair’s midway.

Although rain had threatened, the considerable cloud-cover served to keep us pleasantly cool as we walked the width and breadth of the massive fairgrounds. And to our great relief, the rain held off until we were safely back at our respective homes later that afternoon. What a great day!

Cheers,

Lynell