The County Fair

I love old-fashioned county fairs. Ours is tiny with no fancy commercially-scented buildings or toxic anything. Lots of natural air mixed with the farm-fresh scent of cow shit. If one takes their time, seeing the whole thing every booth and barn takes about thirty minutes. It's definitely small.

The art building is often nearly empty every year which is disturbing. I have in the past entered artworks, but truthfully, I don't like being judged as if I'm in grade school. This year I dabbled in two new art forms: glass-on-glass mosaics and painted rocks. I like displaying them for fun. I didn't realize one could enter the fair under a Q category and not get judged.

Due to my ignorance of the process, I thought I'd get clever and volunteer at the fair. I offered to be an art judge. This way I could enter and not be judged! Then I discovered painted rocks aren't considered art, they are "hobbies" so I ended up being judged anyway. My one mosaic I entered was a challenge to hang, but it did end up in the art building and not judged.

Judging was fairly non-toxic since it takes place the day before the fair. I checked to see if the building superintendent wore perfumes or if there was another judge. I realized they had no idea what I was talking about so I prepared myself with an escape route just in case.

No one is supposed to be in the building while the judge is judging, but people were milling about, looking, talking. At one point I kept passing a table and smelling something not-so-good. Finally I took a closer look and someone laid an opened bag of moth balls on it. Eeeww! I definitely have a keen nose for chemicals! I threw it in the garbage and placed plastic over it. Near the end of my tenure, the superintendent invited a herd of children to help her post the ribbons and the stench of toxic stink permeated the air. I couldn't wait to get out of there and survived with only migraines and nausea.

Still, it was a very interesting learning experience. I'd like to do it again only next time I'll request the building is closed during judging.

And I also won blue and purple ribbons for my painted rocks!

Hooray for Fair Day!

I went to the fair last week with my best friend from high school. We both grew up in the neighboring town, but since neither of us had attended this event for years, we thought it would be a fun, nostalgic outing and worth driving over two hours for the experience.

We saw warehouse buildings full of salespeople, farm animals, carnival rides, and JUNK FOOD. Where did all that junk food come from? In the "old days" there were onion burgers, scones, ice cream, French fries and cotton candy. These were foods we waited to eat once a year. We were living dangerously.

Times have changed. I saw every manner of junk food a person could imagine and some unimaginable, booths of various poisons lined up and down the walkways with long lines of eager consumers.

There was even a "History of Candy" tent for the sole purpose of advertising the wonders of candy. I toured it. Lots of videos on candy production. Displays and photos of history. The propaganda was scary, like a bad movie. It made the viewer want to run to the nearest junk food booth and gorge on some candy. No mention of how it will rot your teeth, make you obese, and contribute to any number of diseases as it rots you from the inside out. I stayed for about five minutes before I realized the tent smelled like chocolate. CHOCOLATE? It took me a minute, then I looked around. There wasn't any chocolate in the tent to be bought or eaten! AIR FRESHENERS! I panicked and ran for the nearest exit! It's amazing how subtle it was, but enough to scare the life out of me.

The absolutely worse food booth was the one called TOTALLY FRIED where they deep fry anything that might be edible, or in my case, not edible. There was a t-shirt one could buy to advertise these bad dietary habits: "If They Fry It, I Will Try It". I was tempted to buy it. Here is a photo my friend took although, unfortunately, she didn't get the whole booth:

Please notice the bottom of the menu list:

SPAM AND VELVEETA CORN DOGS

 

almost as bad as

 

DEEP FRIED PEANUT BUTTER AND JAM

 

or

 

Deep Fried Snickers

 

 

Really? Why would anyone want to eat that?  I am so sheltered in my healthy, secluded lifestyle that I forget there are people out there who eat like this on a daily basis. It amazes me there were lines for these food booths and people walking around gorging on large tubs of twice-fried junk food.

 

It was like a trip to Hell...

 

 

I purposely word my posts so I can find ways to use my devils as illustrations.
They bring me much joy.

 

 

And then there were the little piglets that reminded me everything was right in the world:

 

 

 

It was fun, interesting, educational, shocking, and mostly outdoors in somewhat fresh air. Even with the candy tent poisoning, some perfume exposure, and eating ice cream from the dairy barn (!), I survived with little if any health consequences.

 

Hooray for Fair Day!



Humanity Overload

Saturday I went to the Fremont Solstice Fair, or what I like to call The Naked Festival. I've always wanted to go and see naked people riding bikes, the crafts, and the Art Car Show. It's outdoors and fresh air is a really good thing for events that attract the masses. As you can see from the photo below, masses is an understatement.

 

 

Waiting for the parade to start....

I went with a friend who was saturated in smelly laundry detergent. I know she tried really hard to be fragrance-free and I sacrificed my health in order not to make her feel self-conscious. I know that was stupid, but I didn't have too much reaction: respiratory system burning and uncontrollable coughing. I tried keeping the growing irritability under control and ended up exhausted and in pain all night with the exhaustion lasting for days. I only encountered one truly toxic smelly person that made me dash so I say it was a good day.

I enjoy seeing naked people riding bikes. Most of them were painted so although the photo below looks like they have clothes or costumes on, most of it is painted on to look like clothing.

Others didn't even bother with paint, or very little of it:

The Art Car Show was fun and needless to say, it made me want to run home and decorate my van!

Dots...and dots...and dots...I really loved this car!

Shoes! Lots of shoes!

Flamingo themed!

Awesome paint job!

Another awesome paint job!

Love the colors on this one! Is that my favorite color teal?

HAPPY SOLSTICE!

Entertainment, Part Thirteen: The Fresh Outdoors

Summer is almost here! There are so many wonderful things to do in the great, fresh outdoors during good and not so good weather. The advantage to outdoor entertainment is obviously fresh air, breeze, and wind preferably blowing stink away from the chemically sensitive person, but also movement. One is able to move about freely, away from toxic smells. Granted, smelly people encounters will be the greatest risk at public events, but once you learn to sample the air with shallow breathing techniques and move fast, it's not as dangerous as indoor and confined activities. You'll become very adept at holding your breath at a moment's notice and breathing deeply when able. I was told once by a doctor reviewing my labs that I don't breathe efficiently. Well, YEAH! Welcome to my world. We do what we can to survive.

I'll briefly list some of my favorite outdoor entertainment ideas here, but I'm sure as the summer progresses I'll write about many of them in more detail.

Organic Gardening Grow your own food, flowers, herbs, bushes, trees and oxygen-enhancing greenery. If you don't have your own dirt to play in, grow a container garden or find a community garden with fragrance-free fellow gardeners. (See also blog post titled "Entertainment, Part 2: Organic Gardening" and all other gardening adventure posts.) Potential Dangers: Mold in dirt, natural pesticides made from essential oils

Up close and personal!

Organic Farm Visitations  Many organic farms invite people for visits and give tours. Some will demonstrate farm activities such as cheese making and goat and/or cow milking, offer cooking classes, or provide petting farms for children. Others will sell their organic flowers and produce on site or demonstrate specialties like candle making, flower arranging, food preservation techniques or weaving. Local organic farmers are good people to know and support, and are often very aware and passionate about society's issues with chemical poisoning. Potential Dangers: Stinky people encounters.

Berry Picking  Find organic farms that provide u-pick berries or other produce. In my area of the country, strawberries are ripe as early as June, and blueberries and raspberries in July. Depending on the type of blackberry, they are ripe in July and August and free if you are willing to hike up in the woods. Apple, cherry, pear, and peach tree orchards often provide u-pick opportunities as well and neighbors sometimes offer free windfalls or gleaning. Potential Dangers: Stinky people encounters.

Farmers' Markets Support your local, organic farmers! Farmers' Markets are like outdoor shopping malls and entertainment rolled into one with lots of air. Potential Dangers: Smelly people encounters and smelly booths like scented candles, potpourri, or essential oils. Hold your breath and walk past very fast!

County and State Fairs  I LOVE fairs! I enjoy looking at horses with braids, cows with ribbons,  pigs with manicures and well-behaved dogs. I know someone who gives her chickens baths in preparation for the fair. Fluffs them up real pretty. I also like looking at local crafts, baking contests, flower exhibitions and fruit and vegetable competitions. Although I don't partake of the carnival rides or the junk food, the sounds and smells they provide add a certain ambiance specific to a county fair. Bring your own snacks and water. Potential Dangers: Smelly people, stinky booths and displays, non-organic flowers and produce exhibits, junk food, bathrooms washed in chemicals.

Festivals Art festivals, music festivals, ethnic/cultural festivals or any combination are in abundance during the summer months. One year I went to a mule festival. Yep, a three-day mule extravaganza. The baby donkeys were delightful! Search online for "festivals in [state]" and up pops festivals for the summer, for this coming weekend, for tomorrow. I have found some of the more popular festivals can be extremely crowded. If they last Friday through Sunday, Friday right when they open is often the least populated time. During the weekend, get there again right when they open, but expect you might need to leave by early afternoon. There is one festival in my area by 1pm it's wall to wall people with little room to walk let alone breathe. Still, these events are usually outdoors and in fresh air. If it rains, consider it a blessing - everyone stays home! Potential Dangers: Smelly people, stinky booths and products, junk food, bathrooms washed in chemicals.

Medieval and Renaissance Faires Historical recreations or re-enactments are incredibly fun and provide a very entertaining escape in an outdoor setting with lots of authentic costumes and colorful people. There are often arts and crafts demonstrations, dancing lessons, food from the period and palm reading, as well as jousting, dramatic performances, and music. I once went to a war! Yep, I said war! It took place on a mountain side far away in the country. We got up early in the morning, set up our picnic on the field, and watched grown men and women in costumes pommel each other with swords and clubs. Good fun! Huzzah!! Potential Dangers: Smelly people, smelly booths of scented candles, soaps, dried flowers, pesticides, fire smoke. (I always think it's odd people participating in re-enactments will use chemical perfumes, make-up and pesticides. I think they are missing the point.)

Parks I think many of us take for granted these simple outdoor entertainment areas often right in your neighborhood, in the middle of urban areas. Because so many take them for granted, they are often deserted! Check out landscaping techniques, specialized gardens, hiking trails, and walking paths. They may be used for picnics, sports, bird watching, wildlife observations, art, or playing on the children's playground equipment. Potential Dangers: Smelly people encounters, pesticide and herbicide use

Beaches/Ocean Adventures Fresh air at its finest and miles of walking opportunities. Location selection will be important as not all beaches are created equal. Population, water quality, ground surface quality, walkability and sea life viewing are some of the variables. Potential Dangers: Secluded beaches are relatively safe in terms of stink, not in terms of lunatics and perverts. Overpopulated beaches in the sun belt will be crowded with sun tanning addicts drenched in smelly suntan oils and other stink.

Walking Go for a walk in your neighborhood or anywhere there are sidewalks or paths. Check out the houses, yards, gardens, trees. Meander, lollygag, stroll, speed walk, race walk, or even jog. Potential Dangers: Smelly people encounters, pesticides, herbicides, other neighborhood poisons.

Camping Find a nice, secluded campsite that is safe in the woods, at the ocean, in the mountains, in the country or in someone's backyard. Potential Dangers: Smelly people encounters, pesticides, campfires (See also blog post Entertainment, Part Eleven: Travel.)

Hiking If you have hiking trails in your area or close by take advantage of the fresh air and beautiful scenery of mountains and countryside. Potential Dangers: Smelly people encounters, pesticides, restroom chemicals.

Excursions, Exploration, Sightseeing Become a tourist and visit local outdoor tourist sites: historical properties, ferry rides, outdoor historic tours, architectural wonders, natural wonders, and other places of interest. Potential Dangers: Smelly people encounters, bathrooms washed in chemicals, traffic and car exhaust

Concerts Outdoor music performances offer a different listening experience with the sky above  and fresh air in surround sound. It's fun to crash on a blanket on the lawn and blanket space offers much more personal space in comparison to a seated arrangement. If there are problems with smelly people, you aren't stuck in a confined, pre-reserved spot. You can move! I really love Jazz or Blues festivals that are outdoors. Take your own food and drink so you don't have to buy at the snack bar. Potential Dangers: Smelly people encounters, bathrooms washed in chemicals, pesticides/herbicides used on lawns.

My favorite guy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-9zG4KzLHs

(Not a great video with that tag across the screen, but I couldn't get the good video to download. Hopefully, this one works!)

Solitary Sports Swimming in an ocean, lake or river. Cycling on bike paths. Roller skating on park trails. Soccer ball kicking on fields. Jogging on trails or tracks. Potential Dangers: Smelly people encounters, traffic and car exhaust, synthetic track surfaces offgassing chemicals, polluted water.

None of these activities are totally fragrance-free because so many of them involve people. Pick and choose what you're limitations allow and learn to breathe shallow and move fast!