Note: the dates on the nostalgic poster are NOT the dates this year! This year, the fair is held from 9/27/24 until 10/20/24.
The ninja is in the midst of his annual gig at the Texas State Fair. (If you visit, be sure to ride the Skyway. At the opposite end of the Skyway from the Cotton Bowl, wave to the guy in charge. That's him!)
I'm NOT there this weekend. I will eventually go. I'm holding out for the Dairy Goat Show on the 11th.
Instead, I'm at the homestead. Keeping the home fires burning... more like keeping the AC going if we're truthful here! But I'm taking care of the beasties and the growing things - in his absence.
The State Fair meanwhile is suffering through hotter than seasonal Temps and no guns.
Seriously, this year they made concealed carry unwelcome on the fairgrounds. I'm caught in the middle on this one. Here in the USA, we can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. Guns abound. If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns. That is dangerous.
Still, I would like to live in a world where going to a fair didn't require a firearm...I don't. And so I stay up-to-date with my own handgun and I have target practice and keep it clean. I would take it - concealed - to an event where it was legal to do so - and I thought it would be wise to have it. Those events are very few and far between. (Thank God!) But I have legally carried concealed in the past and I will likely do so again at some point in my life - that is my hunch, anyway.
But guns aren't the subject of this post. There are good opinion pieces on both sides of the issue if you're interested:
The State Fair of Texas gun ban is a misguided policy (dallasnews.com)
oops, I actually can't find an opinion piece in favor. My bad.
The fair is sparsely attended so far. It's hard to tell if it's because of the gun policy or if it's the heat. I don't think either is helping. But I honestly don't know which has the greater effect.
That is sad! The Fair is a magical place! It is intertwined in my own life and the life of millions of Texans. For me, the intertwining starts before I was even a gleam in Daddy's eye! My parents' first date was to the Texas State Fair!
I remember attending on school trips. I also remember attending with Daddy as a tween. I had a good time. But the biggest memory from that afternoon was when we watched a college band exiting from the Cotton Bowl and they were chanting, "we beat the hell outta Tech [bass drumbeat]. we beat the hell outta Tech [bass drumbeat]" And Daddy got MAD! He herded and quick-marched us away from the Cotton Bowl thoroughfare where we were at the time. He couldn't stomach crude talk in the presence of children!
My next memory is from my wedding day! We scheduled our wedding based on Winter Park Ski Resort's opening day - where we both worked. But we scheduled it in North Texas in the country church where I grew up. In the middle of the Texas State Fair. On Texas-OU weekend as a matter of fact
We wandered into several restaurants in Dallas trying to get a table before we went to our honeymoon suite at the Anatole. There was not a seat to be had without a waiting list a mile long - of Texas and OU fans! Restaurant waiting lists and honeymoon suites are not a good mix! As I recall, we had burgers at a Bennigans - seated at the bar. The honeymoon suite at the Anatole- and the rest of the honeymoon trip - to the Hill Country - was a dream!
Fast forward 20 years! We moved back to Texas in 2014. Well, for me it was "back," for the ninja it was his first time. After being in Texas - and one winter back in Boston at a ski resort - he was still trolling the Ski Area Magazine that he still trolls to this day! And, at some point, he looked up and said, "they need a Ski Lift Operator at the Texas State Fair!" I said "do it! do it!" and the rest is history. He's been "doing it" since 2016. It's been a great run.
But I miss him when he's gone.
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