Photos from the Fair

Sunday, July 29, 2012. This has been a dry summer. America hasn't been this dry, I've read, since the 1950s and 1930s. Someone I talked to, who had been working on a well in this area, said that water in the major aquifer in this part of the state starts 61 feet lower than it usually does.

The good news is that Earth isn't running out of water: it's just being distributed a bit differently this year. A normal season or so of rain should percolate down to that aquifer and get water levels back to what we're used to: but right now, a whole lot of water isn't there.

I don't have numbers, but it seemed to me that there weren't quite as many folks at the Stearns County Fair this year. Which isn't to say that the fairgrounds looked empty.


These folks drove by the corner of Ash Street and 9th Street South Saturday morning. July 28, 2012.


I started taking photos on my way to the Knights of Columbus Bingo booth. This was about 6:00 p.m.. July 28, 2012.


Saturday at the Stearns County Fair. Lots of families. July 28, 2012.


The midway: this is the 'amusement park' end of the fair. July 19, 2012.


Same place, a minute or so later. July 28, 2012.


Looking back the way I came, near the ticket booth. July 28, 2012.


"Bingo:" That's where I called numbers for two hours. I like doing that: it's a way I can help. July 28, 2012.


Inside the 'Bingo booth.' There in the lower right of the photo is the board where we keep track of which numbers have been called in each game. July 28, 2012.


About two hours later, my shift is over and I take a look at some of the exhibits. July 28, 2012.


4H does a lot more than model rocketry: but that's one of my favorite stops in their building. July 28, 2012.


This is part of the 'real' fair: agricultural machinery on display. July 28, 2012.

I've got almost two dozen photos of the fair, and am half-done.

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Sunday, July 29, 2012: Still more photos. 11 photos down, 11 to go. This next set is inside the Conservation Club building.


Ducks, gadwall and otherwise. July 28, 2012.


Some of the critters in the Conservation Club building are native to Minnesota. Others, like the golden pheasant there, aren't. That Chinese bird certainly is colorful, though. July 28, 2012.


The three-section aquarium that's built into the floor. July 28, 2012.


Whitetail deer, like this fawn, live here in central Minnesota. July 28.


Wallabies, not so much. July 28, 2012.


A family and a horse at one of the livestock barns. July 28, 2012.


Pigs are big in this part of Minnesota: a big part of agribusiness, anyway. You can see a horse's ears, inside the building. July 28, 2012.


Other buildings have commercial exhibits. This is where the arts and crafts are shown. July 28, 2012.


The Ferris  wheel. 'It just wouldn't be a fair without the Ferris wheel.' July 28, 2012.


Daylight is just about done. Whole families are still on the midway, and now groups of teens. July 28, 2012.


An old standard of the midway: a merry-go-round. July 28, 2012.

That's all for this week. Summer is more than half-over. Next big transition on the calendar is the end of harvest, and the start of school.