Good Times at the Volusia County Fair

 When you stop seeing or feeling the joy, then you succumb to the sadness (is that as sad as it sounds?…) That’s why I like to stay active (…that I’m only happy when I’m doing activities? Yes and yes). That’s why John and I went to the fair: to squeeze a little magic out of life.

We got to the Volusia County fairgrounds at 3 o clock, but the fair doesn’t start until four. So we drove to Lake Helen, looking for a lake we never found. But we did find a Circle K where I could get a coffee, and we found a small market of ten or so vendors. “Do you know about sea moss?” this guy asked us. No we didn’t. “If you’ve got cancer or diabetes, you take sea moss, it’s great.” Then he looked at me: “ if he is stressing you out (pointing to John) you can take some sea moss,” he said. Okay! He did not even have samples or the product displayed. But it was funny, and we all laughed. John and I walked through a park to a public equestrian center. There were no horses there, but lots of horse poop. We had killed enough time to drive back to Deland.

We got in line for tickets with other people and a guy who said he was just there for the food. It was four on the dot and we thought just open already! ( I don’t stand in line for stuff except when I’m at the grocery store). John paid, and we got our stubs scanned and broken, and we were off to the livestock exhibit. The sheep were being very noisy. One of them had a body suit and socks and cute fuzzy ears; John said he was the cutest. We got to the pigs and petted one and then to the cows. One cow was named Charlie and he responded to his name! 

Then we were off to see more fuzzy cuties at the petting zoo. The guy said to just grab the ice cream cone of pellets and pay him inside (he looked like a cowboy with braces). I poured some food in my hand for my first customer, but I didn’t have my cone for long before a bigger animal ate it. It was a free for all. They said don’t feed the donkey or the pig. There was a baby wallaby, and the goats, llama, some kind of cow, and the chubby pig taking a nap (we almost hit his nose on the gate going out!). We definitely came to the fair for the petting zoo, so mission accomplished.

Next we went into the exhibit center (all these buildings have names but I don’t remember them). The Republican people were there; John talked to them. A lady was selling handmade soaps and they smelled so good, especially the tobacco/amber/vanilla, but it was eight dollars a bar, and I thought that was too much. She let me try jasmine lotion and put a dab of pumpkin candle wax on my arm. “The candle wax is organic and safe for skin,” she said. Candle wax/body butter: Wow! It all smelled so good, I was hypnotized by the scents, but too cheap to buy anything. We walked around the booths selling hats and large water bottles (I have never gotten into those. I don’t drink much water anyways). The other side of the building had the 4H / school exhibits. They were crafty and artfully done; kids have a lot of imagination. 

So all we were missing was the small animal exhibit: the roosters and chickens, rabbits and a few guinea pigs. All those animals had cute and cool names, except the ones they named after restaurants, like “Zaxbys” and “Popeye”; I thought that was in bad taste. The most popular name was “Peanut,” which is cute, and I remember one was “Twilight Sparkle.” If you’re in a bad mood you can’t leave that place not being cheered up (except if you fixate on the animals being in cages). The roosters keep that place alive with their constant squawks and yelps. 

We were almost done, but we wanted to catch the “Disc-connected k9” dog frisbee show, so we went to the car first to get sweaters since the temperature was dipping (and I wore shorts!). And I got a coffee (for $5! Damn). I think we missed the beginning of the show. We took our seats on a cold bleacher. The show man was introducing the next dog; her name was Sriracha. She was young and new and very good at catching frisbees. She jumped over the man’s back and caught them. I thought it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen, and I clapped and said “yay!” These dogs were great. I was impressed. 

I think we squeezed out all the magic we could, and then we left in the freezing cold. I hope to return next year.