Today is Mom & Dad’s wedding Anniversary.  When I woke up this morning, the thought that brought me a little joy, is that in 56 years, they never spent an anniversary without each other.  This photo was taken the moment we surprised them with their bench in 2012. The Pioneer Press photographer happened upon our gathering and captured a very special moment for all of us.  Photo credit: Scott Takushi Pioneer Press August 25, 2012

Celebrate the moments with those you love, those moments will never come again.  I’m glad we didn’t wait to get the bench.  I love the fact that they got to enjoy it!  There were opportunities to connect with people over the annual bench hunt and all the photos shared showing Mom & Dad how much they were loved and respected by the people who took the time to find it!  Now, instead of only being able to mourn on the bench, we can reflect, remember and rejoice in the joy we all found there!

Today, the first one to find & share photos of the bench was my cousin Thane!  Today is his birthday, so he shares a special bond with them too.

It is also Boston Scientific Day at the fair , so I donned my official shirt and headed to Simpson Street at about 8:30 am.  I arrived and very shortly, found myself surrounded by loving and supportive neighbors.  Everybody on the street is missing Mom & Dad this year.  Stories were shared and tears were shed, and as we stood there a truck pulled up and asked how much to park, and I had no idea what the corner neighbors were charging, but I must have underbid them by a little when I said $20.  The people didn’t bat an eye and pulled right up.  I’m not parking cars this year as I’m not there to manage the property, but there are two spots in front, that I told the neighbors to fill if they want. I ended up with company as Sonja was heading over too.  I offered to buy her a beer with the parking money and toast Mom & Dad.

The plan was to stick close to the East side and get through Eco, Fine Art, Education and Creative Activities.  That was the plan….

We skirted through the edge of Creative Activities and the buildings were already quite crowded. I grabbed today’s recipe card for the round-up.  (There will be a recipe blog page later).  I stopped by on our way out last night and realized I’d missed the first card, but luckily I asked at the desk and was able to pick it up that one too. We headed to the street (a fair professional never wants to be stuck on a sidewalk) and as we walked I told Sonja that if at any point she wanted to peel off and leave me, just give me a wave and run.  Every day, I run into people and get engaged sharing stories, tears and hugs and some conversations are longer than others.  Shocking, I know.  I had yet to stop the Alphabet Forest this year.  I knew it would be a time-consuming and emotional visit.  I also knew that both Debra Frasier (the creator & founder of this amazing place) and David LaRochelle (author of some of my favorite toddler tales) would be there.  Sonja didn’t wait too long before peeling off to accomplish her goals for the morning!

I stopped to say an emotional hello to David, as he was engaged with kids helping them “adopt a dragon”!  This moment absolutely reinforced my decision to decline volunteering here this year.  As much as I want to see families, play with children and plant the seeds of early literacy, the Alphabet Forest is not a platform for my emotional needs right now.  I’m a detractor from the goal, and the stuff going on here is not about me.

I got more hugs, tears and support from my friends in the forest and had to check out the special event tent that Debra created this year.  She returned for a limited engagement as “The Queen of Letters” with her sidekick Alpabetini. 

What Debra does in this space is magical. Just like the entirety of the Alphabet Forest, it is fun for all ages!  I got a hug from Debra and she invited me to sit down with her and discover my “Word of Power”.  She reminded me there are only 26 letters in the English language, every book, every email, every text, ~every word~, we use is made up from only these ~26~ amazing letters.  I was entranced. It was just the two of us in this ethereal space, completely tuned out of the chaos surrounding us and after choosing cards, and pointing to letters in her enchanting letter book, the three words were chosen. 

 

I know that meaning could be found in just about any word that Debra pulled out of her magic book, but these were pretty spot on.  Once the three words are selected, discussed and defined, The Queen of Letters asked me to choose the one that is the most powerful for me. A word I respond to or one I need to work on. “Adaptable” is the word that I chose for my power word.  In the coming year of firsts & lasts, remembering and clinging to the “way things have always been” and trying to make things stay the same, when they never will be again, adaptability will be critical.   Debra told me the companion word to this is “flexible”, a word I had already heard that day when talking to moms neighbor Megheen.  They both used the exact same phrase with me, within the hour…”if you aren’t flexible, you will break.”

Choosing a power word, summons Alphabetini, and she dances, but only to one tune…”A,B,C, D…”  I sang along, swept up in the moment.  

Once you’ve been bestowed with your power word, the scribe of letters writes it down for you and places it in one of the Queen’s embossed envelopes and you’re instructed to take it home and put it with all your really important things and to take it out and read it when you need to be reminded of your power. 

I was given a gift in those magical moments.  Experience it if you can, she is only there through Aug 30th (next Thursday)

I turned around to attempt to reconnect with Sonja, when who do I find, but my coworker and her beautiful girls that I have had and currently have the pleasure of teaching!  Seeing them delight in this space, is why I love it here!

 

I left the Alphabet Forest, confirmed in my choice to take a year off from my volunteering and made a promise to return for the Tenth Anniversary year in 2019!

I headed over to the Fine Art building, where I was going to try to find Sonja and actually get inside a building to see something.  Who do I run into outside, but this wonderful couple!  The Berge’s are life long friends of our family and one of the loveliest couples I know!

I talked their ears off and they graciously listened and shared stories.  Grateful they had a bench to sit on, this already very busy fair day at 11 am!

Sonja emerged from the Fine Art building, sure that I had moved on….but no.  We decided to head into the Eco Building and see if there’s anything new.

On our way in, I literally bump into, Steve & Karla!  They were on the second to the last punch of the walking tour!  Something they had never done before!  I almost forgot to get a picture!  

Outside there is this huge solar flower!  It folds up at night and “blooms” during the day.   If only I had the space!

I took a quick picture of the coolest kids pay area on the fairgrounds. Free and mostly shady, eco friendly play yard! 

The water bar is there again this year, but there was a line and I had to remind myself…It’s ~Saturday~ at the fair.  These are activities that can wait until a less crowded week day.

We saw the BINGO cards. 

Sonja and I decided to play. It’s a fun, fact filled adventure with trivia and games to play.  Many people playing near us were going for the BINGO coverall, but we were going for efficiency and straight line BINGO.  Paul Bunyon is still there, lots of family friendly scientific experiences, hands on interactive exhibits and photo ops, We accomplished the task in less than 15 minutes, which included time to fill, empty and fill out water bottles.  We collected our prize, a cooling wrap, and moved on.

 

Neither of us had eaten yet, so I grabbed a Foot Long and Sonja got a malt and we made our way to Creative Activities.

The kitchen in the Creative Activities got a complete makeover by Cambria and it’s beautiful.  Today TeaSource was there and as you ~can’t see~ on the big screen monitors, there’s a rotating demonstration schedule.

The kitchen is 180 degrees from last year and the reconfigured space is not conducive to the cookie display functionality.  I hope there is some improvement in this area in years to come.  I was disappointed to find there are no decorative or stamped cookies in the cases this year.  Andrea…you need to enter your Springerle next year!!!  You’ll win a blue ribbon, with our without competition!  There were cookies on a stick

 

Which reminded me to look up the 4-H Llama show schedule.  I did get there last year, but never got the blog post done.  I’ll see if I can get there again this year.  It’s Wednesday @ 6 pm.

The prize-winning cookie entries all share similarities, uniformity, color and size must all be judging criteria.

There were some impressive entries, but I keep thinking , I can do this!  Maybe next year I need to make it happen. 

The cake competition is always fun.  This year a tribute to our national parks.

There is so much to see in this space, but today there are too many people to get close and take time to enjoy it.  A few shiny things caught our eyes as we made our way out to return another time.  And talk about upping the game on a Granny Square blanket!

and this needlepoint was spectacular.

I set my thoughts to Pie and I still needed to buy Sonja a beverage to toast Mom & Dad with this $20 parking bill in my pocket! 

Pie #4 was purchased

and Sonja informed me of the new Pronto Pup BUILDING.  I had no idea they built a permanent structure, but then again, this is not one my State Fair food groups.  We had to stop by and check it out.

There is Pronto Garden and viewing windows to see the behind the scenes operation.  There were bags and bags of pronto pup batter mix inside.  You don’t always think about the time and transport efforts this saves having all the supplies for your satellite locations on the grounds.  

We ran into another wonderful work family hanging out in front too. They had obviously had a great morning so far.

 

We finally made it to Cafe Caribe for a margarita!

So refreshing on a humid, sticky day.  I got word that family was saving a parade bench, so we made our way back up near the Space Tower and Sonja headed for home while I stayed to hang out with all the Espe cousins!  I went inside and renewed my foundation membership. 

While we waited for the parade to start, family & friends came and went and Kiera, the most recent 21-year-old, tried some new beverage options!  She decided beer might not be her favorite thing, but her dad was happy to help her out!

 

Somewhere up near the north end, Karla found they were giving out a new product…Natural Red Vines.  They taste just like the real thing, but are made with real sugar, flavored and colored with all natural ingredients!  Radish coloring, not Red Dye!  They were delicious!

 

The parade passed by and there were big bands and little bands, dancers and jumpers, horses and wagons and the usual mascot subjects.  

My friend E,  her son and a friend from CPLC  were in the parade as a fair employee and representing First Robotics.  

…but my favorite was this guy!

I noticed they had poop scooper guys today, and I thought I recognized one.  He was scooping and finally turned around and sure enough!  It was the hardest working, smiliest, best attitude guy on the fairgrounds….and I honestly can’t remember his name.  I don’t know if I ~ever~ knew it. He’s been featured in the blog almost every year and I tried to get his attention, but he was off.  If you see him, thank him.  He’s awesome.

I made sure I got a picture of the Espe gang before they all departed, just like Carol Jo would have.  

We all parted ways and I stopped to listen to Tonic Sol Fa for a bit as I was headed back to Moms to recharge my phone and spirit. 

Leaving the grounds, there was a large police presence and I noticed they were moving barricades.  I walked out to cross the street and Snelling Avenue was bereft of traffic and as I crossed over I asked the crossing cop if a protest was on the way, or if had just passed through  He told me it had just ended, so I continued on my way home, or I might have retreated back into the fair. 

One back at Mom’s, I plugged in all my electronics and settled in to wait for the kid to arrive by bus.  Jerry stepped out and asked if I had people coming to park and I didn’t so he asked to put out his sign and in less than a minute, BAM, BAM, the two front spaces filled by people who were happy to pay $20, as the neighbors across were charging $40!!!

I walked down the street as I heard laughter coming from the Mackey House.  I was invited to have a seat at the Simpson Street wine bar and relaxed for a bit with Sonja, Bartley and Mary. 

The youth arrived and we had a plan to get to the Coliseum for the draft horse and hitch show.  All the horse shows are free now and you need to get there early for a seat.

We made a quick stop at the Space Tower to say hi to one of my former kids Eben and his family (who run this operation!)  This is a pretty awesome private view of the Tower!

I was hungry and forgot to use the bathroom before we left moms, and as we headed to the Horse Show, I decided the line for Noodles was shorter than the line filling the street for the bathroom. 

We serpentined our way through massive crowds and arrived at the coliseum, found seats and then took advantage of less crowded facilities and a little shorter lines for a burger and a lemonade for Gray.

Once settled we were joined by E and watched an amazing exhibition of majestic beasts, adorned with glorious tack and beautiful rigs.  There were 16 teams lined up in the Coliseum, my pictures don’t do them justice.  Next Monday there will be 26 teams lined up in here.  Hoping to see it.   I did pick the winner though!  Gray’s pick came in third.  

Hungry & thirsty again after the show, we grabbed a Giant Juicy turkey sandwich and the Buffalo version of the turkey ribs.  Once again I ate the ribs so fast I failed to get a picture!

We found a group of good friends hanging out at Cafe Caribe, listening to the band.

Gray & I hung out for a it, then made our way up to listen to The Bodeans and/or Ipso Facto.  So much great music, so little time and foot power remaining!

Randy wanted us to bring home cookies.  His joints are not cooperating again this year, so he’s unsure if he’ll be able to navigate the fair.  We tried….but sorry, “no cookies for you”  The lines filled the street.

We instead met up with family and friends halfway in between. Mike, Kathleen, Kevin Kopper, Karla & Steve, Kiera and Logan all converged in the same spot at the same time, like we were drawn there by unseen forces.  Gray happened to run into two former, formative teachers!  High school art teacher on the right and grade school music teacher on the left!  I was standing there in my Boston Scientific shirt and a stranger asked if I’d “been spotted” yet!  

Boston Scientific has a few employees who are designated spotters on the grounds.  If you are “spotted” wearing your official t-shirt, you win a gift card!

Prior to this day dawning, I anticipated spending the day on Mom & Dad’s bench, sad, dwelling in the past, drinking too much and crying.  Thanks to the magical, “powerful” gift I was given at the start to my fair day, I found the courage to make new memories, spend time with family, here in the moment and I didn’t even make it down to see the bench.  Mom & Dad would have wanted nothing else!