It starts so quietly.

6:20 am. Best time of day at the fair (I think). Only sound is seagulls. I know not to step foot in goat and swine barn at this hour. Once one pig is awake and wanting breakfast they all start yelling. In a few more minutes the trucks will roll in with replacement kegs of beer.

7:45, washing and brushing happens, again.

8:30 shows begin

between shows

Luckily, the pig barn is next door to the sheep barn because we have to be there too. This is Dotty. Elisa is showing her this year.

On trips back and forth we check and see how our friend Zoe is doing with her goats and the answer is great. Her Nubian is a champion!

Spot piglets are on display, which draws a huge crowd.

12:20 Elisa is taking a three-part exam to test her pig knowledge. Here she is having one of three interviews which is one part of the exam.

I play with the camera’s light meter while I wait.

By afternoon the fairgrounds are crowded and it is pretty darn hot.

 1:30 While Elisa is sweeping the pig barn, and Harriet sits with the sheep working on Sudoko, I walk over to the dairy barn to get a drink and check out the rotating butter sculpture.

Typical daytime scene. It is a slow walk back. Along the way someone offers to guess my weight and someone else wants to know if my windshield is cracked or chipped.

We’ve decided fried bubblegum is the strangest food for sale.

 Inside the sheep barn, after yet another grooming session, the girls are in the ring competing. (Both girls came in second in their class and were recognized positively by the judge.) The sheep shows that started at 8:30am finish up at a little after 6pm.

We are beyond tired and need showers.

our sleeping arrangements, the rows of bunks go as far as the eye can see

If I’m tired enough I can sleep, and we are all tired enough. A kid told us last night there was a scene and a woman had to be asked to leave the dorm in the middle of the night. Cops were involved. Apparently, there was cursing and yelling. We slept through the whole thing.

More along the same lines tomorrow, minus the yelling woman (I hope). Couple more days and then we get to come home.

. . . . .

part ii