state fair

One good thing we did on Saturday was go to the fair. We saw the baby animals in the barn, the rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens, the sheep and goats, and the 4H cows. We had corn dogs and icees along the street, and a frito pie with green and red chile in the Hispanic Village, listening to music from the stage. We visited the exhibition hall and we looked for Lauren and Nicholas' lego entries. The weather was pleasant, cloudy when we started and sunny when we sat to eat. It was busy, lots of sideshows and street shows, people walking about from all the corners of the state. It's a good place to see what makes up New Mexico, the mix of native, Hispanic and Anglo, the people from the towns outside Albuquerque, from farms and from the pueblos and rez. The trio of ten-year-old boys in their boots, jeans, pearl-buttoned western shirts, and cowboy hats. The teenaged girls with big belt buckles. Lots of families with strollers. Nothing is cheap--the parking fees and gate fees, the hot dogs and sodas and Navajo tacos, a souvenir or two, add up--yet they come to spend their hard-earned money at the fall's big show.

Rylee soaked it in. He walked, holding his dad's or his mom's hand. Jackson brought his bag and desperately wanted to buy something, but he didn't. We kept it simple.

There was talk of rain this weekend. It is cooler today.