Mississippi summer found us! We have been enduring the typical heat of the season. Though the temperatures are not as high as some years, the humidity is producing enough stifling heat to steam some fish. Perhaps, I exaggerate, but not much. The heat index was 110° yesterday.The heat arrived just in time for The Neshoba County Fair. We attended just to prove how tough we were and because seeing antique trucks, steers getting a bath, jockeys hanging onto rickety pieces of aluminum while being towed around a red clay track at alarming speeds, coveted,
rickety-crickety cabins, and brightly colored carnival tents on the midway is excitement that just can't be missed. Ever!The fair draws huge numbers of people despite typical hot, humid weather, raging thunderstorms, red clay dust infiltrating every pore and ruining clothes, or on those rainy days, mud slick enough to need ice skates. People come from all over the state - really, several states - and make a week of it.
We go, but we are not "fair people."
We only attend a couple of days each year to let the children compete, eat, wrangle with carnies, and ride. Of course, I like to watch people and look at the brightly painted cabins. I think there is a competition to see who can push the limits of taste using the brightest paint colors available.This year, I didn't eat a thing. It was just too hot to eat anything fried. I did drink some Lindsey's Lemonade.
I also ordered a glass of tea, sweet tea. They only had sweet tea. I haven't drunk sweet tea in years and I suppose during that time I forgot what drinking sickeningly sweet syrup was like. I pitched the tea and risked dehydration and heat exhaustion.I guess I'm not as southern as I thought I was.
But, I still enjoyed the fair. The children did, too. They hauled home blue ribbons and cash winnings for their projects, rode every ride except the ring of fire (the circle thing in the background), and wandered around the grounds with the confidence of regulars. I guess you get a taste of red clay at an early age and then you are willing to sacrifice comfort, tolerate heat, and cabins packed with relatives, while finding a sense of your childhood at The Neshoba County Fair.
4 comments:
How fun. Fairs are just the best thing -- even in the nasty heat.
Congrast to your kids for their ribbons and prizes!
I am not a tea drinker at all, I just don't care for it. I did try sweet tea in South Carolina and even though I like a Coke now and then, I didn't care for all the sugar in the tea, either.
I think it's okay to still call yourself a southerner even though you don't like sweet tea. Um, you do like grits, don't you? lol
I do love grits! Maybe it isn't as bad as I feared.
110° heat index would have me prostrate on the porch swing!
I love those brightly colored cabins. They go nicely with the midway colors.
My favorite part of any fair is the cotton candy, which is odd for a person who doesn't care for sweet drinks, I suppose. I love the way the thick, sweet fragrance of cotton candy hangs on the air. I love to watch the sugar being spun and would jump at the opportunity to try to spin it myself. I actually skipped Cherry Festival this year, though, so no cotton candy for me!
We need the blue ribbon report -- unless the kids have grown reticent to be bragged about? (You could send me a boastful e-mail ... I won't tell!)
I prefer my iced tea to be "unsweetened" too.
We are going to try to make our County Fair this week...for the cotton candy of course! ;-)
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