From the Dutchess County Fair

I'm always finding something new at the Dutchess County Fair. This is the first time I ever visited the Dressage Competition. Great to see these young kids atop these huge horses. Absolutely fearless. The kids in the 4-H cattle showing were also impressive. One boy got smacked in the jaw by the head of his cow and he toughed it out until the end of the show. Poor guy didn't even place, but he received a nice round of applause when he exited the ring.

I got a quick glimpse of some Food Network Chefs giving a live demonstration and even got to have a sample of what they were cooking. The pesto-stuffed salmon with a fresh corn & tomato relish was quite delicious, even at 10:34am, though the pairing with my morning coffee was an unfortunate choice. They had tough competition noise-wise from the Mad Science demonstrators across the building who were busy making kids' hair stand on end with static electricity. Stuck halfway between the salmon odors and the Mad Scientists were the Bake-Off competition volunteers. They were dutifully guarding the blue ribboned entries of (now two-day old and sprayed for preservation) pies, cakes cookies and scones. You can't make this stuff up. Only at the fair!

A few booths down, I was intrigued by the local wood carving association's demonstration of basswood carving. If I wasn't holding so much stuff (greek food, an apple cider, peanuts from the fresh-roasted peanut guy), I could've taken more photos of their carvings. They tried to recruit me for their Monday night carving club, but I think they might have been flirting. I might send my dad in my place. ;-) I did end up buying a "wood spirit" carving, the face of which looked oddly Ent-like. One carver said every time he tried to carve a face, it looked evil. The other carver said, "You gotta get the good wood." Uh huh. I exited stage right.

I'll be back up to the Fair this weekend with the kids. I'm sure I'll have another memory card full of blury from the kiddie side of the park. Brace yourselves. ;-)