The Fair in Pictures

Last Friday, we visited the California State Fair. It's become an annual tradition that I look forward to each summer.


I loved seeing the animals--especially the baby animals like this calf who was just a couple of days old.


And these baby goats. Er, I mean, kids.


Oh, and this little piglet was adorable. But he didn't like having his picture taken one bit. When he heard the sound of my shutter opening and closing, he immediately ran straight toward me. (I cropped this photo down, so in reality he was much farther away from me than it appears.) I must have scared him, and he startled me, too. I was watching him through my lens as he scampered quickly toward me, thinking, "Oh no...attack of the piglet!"

Piggies remind me of a nursery rhyme that my mom recited for us when we were little.
You know the one where you gently grab a baby's toes one by one and say:
This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy went home.
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy cried, "Wee! Wee! Wee!" all the way home.

Did you know that This Little Piggy was first published in England back in 1760?!


Moving onto the adult animals now...
Several California cattle farmers brought their Texas longhorn cattle out to the fair this year. It's such fun to get right up close to these enormous animals. They remind me of my sister, Katie. Wow, did I just type that? That came out all wrong. Way to open mouth and insert foot, Jen! Let me explain. Katie hails from the great state of Texas, where these cattle are classified as the Texas State Large Mammal. Told you they were big!

Before leaving the livestock pavilion, we searched high and low for my favorite farm animal--the pygmy goat--but didn't find any mulling around. Perhaps, they were too busy at the county fairs to make an appearance at the state fair this year.


We chose to attend the fair on Friday in large part because Martina McBride was performing in concert that night. In order to score free tickets, though, we had to wait in line at 4:30 p.m. I had anticipated gobs of people and a long wait, but the line moved rather quickly and in just 20 minutes, we were proudly sporting purple wristbands. While waiting in line, though, I played with my new 50 mm lens shooting pictures of bodyguard Brian.


For dinner, we had none other than Hotdog on a Stick, my favorite fair food.




With our bellies full, we ambled over to the concert pavilion area to find seats for the event. Martina sounded great live and put on an entertaining show. She's had so many big hits, and as I sang along with her songs, I was surprised at how many of the lyrics I knew. Martina also performed a few cover songs, which seemed a bit odd considering how many songs she has recorded. But maybe when you are on the road performing night after night for as long as she has, you get tired of singing the same songs over and over again.


Note to self: When you hand your camera over to a stranger and the 50mm lens is on it, make sure to change the focus setting from manual to automatic.

And before I go, I just wanted to share a gratitude quote of the day: "Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it." Eileen Cady

J

P.S. There are still four more days to get out and enjoy the fair.