With a fresh chocolate creemee in hand, friends by my side and not a worry in the world, the ground slipped out from under me. The immense amount of rain had created a mudslide, which I didn’t intend to travel down.
The crowd turned to me for a laugh as I carefully stood up, with my right side covered in Addison County mud.
I giggled and quickly moved on. I had always loved playing in the mud but never thought to use it for a fashion statement at the fair.
Along with the high-class fashion I proudly wore that night, many of my finest moments and memories occurred on the grounds we all love and know as Addison County Fair & Field Days.
I woke up this past Monday morning to the pitter-patter of rain on my roof and I immediately thought, “Well of course it’s raining, it’s Field Days week!” Later that day, as I was headed back home from work, I saw horse and cow trailers pass by going toward the fairgrounds. I slipped into a daydream of fair rides and fair food, of the cute little kids riding the huge draft horses, fighting with cows twice their size, and over-extending their little legs to hit the throttle at the lawnmower pulls. Soon into my daydream I reminisced about my various favorite Field Days memories.
With the mudslide incident on the top of my mind, I next remembered the night my best friend and ex-boyfriend convinced me to ride “The Dreamcatcher,” a carnival ride we affectionately called “The Claw.” With an extreme fear of roller coasters and anything related to them I initially gave a resounding “No!” for an hour while we browsed through the small shops throughout the fair. When I finally realized I wouldn’t win the argument I whined, “Fine, I’ll go; but only once.”
We screamed at the top of our lungs for the entire ride, so when that was done I couldn’t speak loud enough to say no for the next round. We ended up riding and rejoining the long line for two hours straight — amazingly I don’t regret the 10 more times we rode The Claw.
Next in my time traveling daydreams came the combines (I apologize to the farmers, and security personnel at the fair for this one). Being a John Deere fan I love seeing what new tractors are around, and on my first escapade without my parents and with my dearest friends I found a brand new John Deere combine. We all got the brilliant idea to sit on the machine and simply hang out. We were on top of the world, playing truth-or-dare and hide-and-seek on a big, shiny new farm implement.
But nothing was better than the night that we all laid there watching the fireworks light the sky. The colors were brilliant, and nothing beats laying on tractors beside your friends gazing up at the sky on a warm summer night.
These memories and many more is why I return to Field Days each year. We go to create new memories, celebrate our county’s hardest workers, enjoy a mini-vacation after work hours, and many take part in various competitions that they’ve practiced all year, all in those five precious days.