Yes sir, life in the country is sweet. The scent of perfume mingles with the smell of alfalfa, barnyard dung and cigarettes. The midway dazzles with the sights and sounds of brightly lit, multi-tentacled rides, slinging screaming teens into paroxysms of uncontrollable laughter. If nothing else, the fair's a great place to people watch. Since I don't have kids, I never tire of watching parents trying to negotiate a child's full-on fair tantrum.
People watching is also a good way to pick up on current fair fashions.
Ken Griffey Jr. attire is still in and, as you might expect, the coif de rigeur at the county fair is still the Mullet. Sweet smellin' mullet. Having visited fairs in Clermont, Butler and Warren counties over the past couple of weeks, I'm awash in county fair memories. I'm also resolute about never again standing behind a cow. In preparing to write this piece, I felt it was my obligation as an investigative journalist to experience the flavor of the fair firsthand.