A love that might have been

I had a GREAT time at the fair on Saturday. It was really all that it should be. There were plenty of hysterical friends, including John & Amanda who came all the way from the Frozen North. I almost ran away with a baby pot belly pig. I tried the deep fried Smore (yeah, it was okay, but it needed less batter and more graham cracker. And it needed to be on a stick. Everything should be on a stick at the fair.) I won a stuffed animal by popping a balloon with a dart (I named him Steve after the carny who ran the game.) And even though it rained it only added to the adventure. At one point we were caught in a sudden down pour and it was just like in a movie, everyone screaming and running for cover (Note: this never happens here. Certainly not in September. Oh, California, you are so tricky!). Had it been a romantic comedy starring Kirsten Dunst and Luke Wilson it would have been the tail end of a fun fair montage chronicling the first date of Suzy, a klutzy dog groomer who has trouble finding non-jerks to date, and Mike, a sensitive but commitment-phobic gym teacher. They would have spent the whole day laughing and falling in love. He would have acted silly by making a beard out of her cotton candy. She would have tripped over one of those giant wagons that parents pull their kids around in and looked adorably frazzled by it. Then the down pour would come and they'd scramble under the grand stand cover and and he'd make his move by putting his arm around her shivering shoulders and go in for the kiss. (Even though I'm a sucker for the romantic comedy I would not see this one because Kirsten Dunst generally ruins movies for me. I haven't cared for her ever since Little Women, where she played Young Amy the Tramp.)

But the rain did ruin one thing. There was a break in the storm and we decided to run over to the Big Yellow Slide only to find that it was closed. Closed! As in, no slide for us. And then the rain started up again and made the whole thing really pathetic. We all just stood there in giant puddles, hoods up, blinking back tears and sighing heavily. Heather was able to collect herself and convince us all to get under the tiki hut awning but it didn't ease the pain. We were certainly in the depths of despair.

That's how I ended up on the Cyclone. Yes, my friends, I broke my rule of not going on carny rides and went on one with Laura and Cindy. We needed some serious cheering up and nothing does that better than challenging death and winning. It was one of those spinny rides where you actually have to work, like the tea cups, only it's attached to this arm that's flings you around in the air. I could completely visualize the arm detaching from the ride and the three of us flying into the duck ring toss booth. I thought, "Well, at least it would be something to write about. Especially if I throw up." You see, in my wild youth I would have loved a ride like this but since I turned 80 the old gut can't handle much more than a merry-go-round. And yet I was totally fine. No death or vomitting at all. I looked Death and Old Age in the face and laughed!

It was a good day at the fair.