State Fair

Took the day off and went to the fair today. Highlights?

• Learned that a male duck is a 'drake'. Always thought it was a mallard. Who knew? BTW, I'm always surpised by the number of ducks there. Are there that many duck farmers in Minnesota? Is there that much of a market for duck eggs? Or roast duck? Same question about geese.
• The new birthing barn looks like a huge hit. Something from my ruralish upbringing enjoys watching city folk look at farm animals. It's fun to see people stretch their horizons.
• Every year the fair features a sculpture made from debris pulled out of the Mississippi. This year it was a dragonfly. Quite impressive, and yes I don't like them either. This year's piece looked notably smaller than previous year's. I don't know if that's a good sign or just a more modest effort from the sculptor.
• Tried out the 'it' food at the fair this year. Hotdish on a stick. Yum! Looks like a lumpy corndog. They take cooked tater-tots and sausage, roll it in corn batter, fry it up and serve it with a side of cream of mushroom. Very good.
• Told the guys selling yardsticks that they should advertise them as 'numbers on a stick'. We'll see if they take my advice.
• Every year I go with the FP Gal, I find an area of the fair that I never knew existed. This year was some kind of international bazar. Her dad got some Korean egg rolls. We listened to a band (South American?) that featured bass pan pipes. Never heard them before.
• The technology building is entirely devoted to eco-technology. Some of it's interesting and all of it's good-hearted but a skeptic would have had a field day. Of special interest to me was a large section devoted to wind power. More and more farming communites are benefiting from this and that's a good thing.
  
• The fine art building was very crowded. Which is a shame because that makes it almost impossible to enjoy the paintings/pictures. Also, my feet felt like they were about to fall off. Not a good combo.
• On the way back to the car we did the Skyride. Very relaxing. A good day.