In bloom: Fields of lupine, goldenrod, and Queen Anne's lace. Green apples are weighing down branches of apple trees.

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Ace of Space

At the Fair

The highlight of the Maine trip every year, as far as the boys are concerned, is our visit to the fair. The Skowhegan State Fair is the oldest continuous state fair in the country, having been held every year since 1819, before Maine was even a state. Earlier this year, it looked like Skowhegan would not be able to maintain this boast (one of the town's few claims to fame): in late March an arsonist set a disastrous fire which burned down the old wooden grandstand and Constitution Hall, one of the main exhibition buildings.

The fire was devastating not only to the town in general but to the many townspeople who had stored boats and vintage cars in Constitution Hall for the winter. My sister Lori and her husband lost their Corvette, their boat, and boat trailer. Losses in the fire were estimated to be in the millions of dollars.

In less than four months, however, the town rebuilt the grandstand and Constitution Hall, and the fair opened as scheduled on August 12. We had planned our visit to the fair for the middle of the week, but decided to switch from Wednesday to Tuesday after hearing the weather forecast.

The fair has its own distinctive odor, which we could smell before we even entered the grounds: a combination of fried food and manure, with an occasional whiff of diesel fuel. Mom accompanied us, and we met Lori and her kids at 11:15 in front of the petting zoo. The midway wasn't due to open until noon, so in the meantime we wandered around the agricultural and 4-H exhibits. The boys liked petting the animals, and I always enjoy looking at the chickens, in particular. Some of them are so exotic looking, with cascading, plume-like feathers in vibrant shades.

At noon we headed for the rides. The sounds of the midway was a siren song to the boys. Music blared from the speakers, a strange mix of current pop music and 80s classics. Backstreet Boys and ZZ Top. Britney Spears and Blondie. Thrilled screams emanated from kids on the rides, and the loud drone of the generators drowned out all other noise in their immediate vicinity. From the exhibition buildings came the occasional baaing of sheep and crowing of roosters.

Unlimited ride bracelets were $8 this year, in addition to the $5 each we'd paid for the fair admission. We bought bracelets for each of the boys, and we were determined to get our money's worth. Fortunately, the boys were only too happy to oblige, and there were plenty of kiddy rides to keep them busy.

One of Daniel's favorite rides is the giant sliding board. The twins were not allowed on it by themselves, so I took Stephen up and Mom took Matthew. I don't like heights, so I tried not to look around as I mounted the long, narrow stairway, the burlap sack clutched in my hand. When we arrived at the top, I had no choice but to look down as the attendant spread the burlap for me to sit on. I lifted Stephen onto my lap, and we were away!

"Is it scary?" Mom asked from the steps as we flew by her.

"Yessss!" I screamed. [A day later, looking at the video Tab took, I was abashed to see that we weren't actually traveling at sublight speed as I had thought.]

The twins' favorite ride was one that looked like little Jet Skis, which traveled around and around a hub. They liked it best because each seat had a loud buzzer button they could press. Despite enjoying himself, Matthew rarely cracks a smile on rides. He always looks very serious.

When the ride ended, the carny helped the boys out. She was missing some teeth and had a cigarette dangling from her lips. "Heah ya ah, deah," she rasped in a whiskey voice, unbelting Stephen from the ride.

While we were waiting for the kids on the merry-go-round, Lori looked around at the milling crowd. "I know almost everyone in Skowhegan, and I don't recognize anyone here," she remarked. "They must be coming out of the woods. Maybe the Smithfleld Hermit is here." Just then we caught sight of a man with wild, bushy hair and a long beard the color and texture of a steel wool pad. "That's him!" we yelled together.

We found my sister Monica, who was manning the Democrats' table. It's just one of many public relations tasks she ends up doing as a state representative. She walked around with us for a little while, but the boys were getting hungry and tired. Fair food consists mostly of overpriced junk food; stands sell fried dough, Italian sausage. French fries, ice cream, and cotton candy. We decided instead to go back to Mom's house at about two thirty for a late lunch and a nap.

In the evening we returned to the fair. I love fairs at twilight when the darkening sky causes the lights on the ferris wheels and the other rides to shine out brightly. Hardly noticeable during the day, the names of the rides are illuminated at night in sparkling, shimmering colors of gold, crimson, green, blue and orange. Pharoah's Fury! Flying Bobs! The Inverter! Dragon Wagon! Sizzle! Cobra! Screamboat!

At 8 o'clock we attended the "Star-Spangled Circus," which included a clown with a bad magic act, acrobats, and a dog show. A circus groupie sitting behind us had evidently seen the show a number of times already and was enamored of Natasha, one of the acrobats. "Hey, Natasha," he kept calling her. One of the acrobats slipped and almost fell while he was trying to jump rope on a spinning wheel (The Wheel of Death!) 40 feet up in the air. After that, I refused to watch the high acts.

On our walk back to the midway, we passed booths selling all kinds of knicknacks. The sign on one booth offered to make a wax impression of your hand holding a wax rose. I can't imagine who would want such a creepy decoration, but we did see some people walking around with them.

The boys rode many more rides before we finally left the fair. "Say `Good-bye, fair,' " I told the boys. "We'll see you again next year."

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