| Psalm 19:1 – “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” |
As the song goes “Just got home from Illinois, locked the front door, oh boy.” We just arrived home from the State Fair of Texas. My first words? “Home Sweet Home.” Sometimes home seems so much sweeter. That would be the case right now.
We were in the car and (after a prayer for God’s protection) on our way at 8:15 am. I pray before driving. I feel the need. For protection. And for me to remain calm and to not get emotional or heated over things that happen. I try to take the attitude that we will get there when we get there. No rush. There was an accident being cleared ahead of us on southbound 75. Two lanes closed. As we got up to the congestion, the barricade trucks drove off and it opened up. We breezed the rest of the way, right into the fair with no snags.
$30 for fairgrounds parking. My wife (one of the many bonus features that she came with) went and found all of our leftover coupons from previous visits to the fair in years gone by. She counted 55. That equates to $55. Cold cash. We spent them today on food. I got “Texas Fried Burnt End Bombs” from Berts. $22 for two meatballs. Tasted good, but a terrible value. Tiny bit of food for that price? It was an award winner, 5th place. Mary Linda got “The Drowning Taquitos” from Tony’s Taco Shop. I believe it was $24, two of them in a cup with jalapeno sauce. It won 2nd place of all food items. They were good, but a little too spicy for her, and I ended up eating one of them. It was not too much for my taste. Later I got a sausage on a stick, $14. A better value. At the same vendor stand, they were selling Steak kabobs. I could smell them cooking as I ordered my sausage on a stick. The steak was $26. The aroma was selling them. The guy next to me said “They are calling my name.” I felt the same way. I let him go ahead of me. I think he was actually behind me, but I was wanting to make a friend.
We met our son Grant, his wife April, and our two grandchildren there. We arrived first and were standing on a street corner inside the gate, waiting and watching. We were talking, and noticed someone behind us talking. “Hey OU! Excuse me! I was wearing an OU shirt. It was two employees of the fair in a John Deere utility cart, wanting through. She had been yelling (neighborly) at us for several seconds. We were so intent on spotting our little ones that our ears were switched off. I didn’t feel too bad. After all, we were on the sidewalk, and I am not sure they should have been driving that thing on the pedestrian way. We stepped aside and let them go by with our apologies.
There were people of all shapes and sizes, makes and models there. I like to just observe each one who passes. People watching. What kind of person? Kind, gentle, happy-go-lucky, peaceful? Or angry, bitter, depressed, sad, timid? I look at their faces and try to see inside to the heart. What is going on in there?
We were in the creative arts building. My wife won three ribbons this year, and was EXTRA excited to go for this reason. One of them I helped her with, so I felt excited too. The grandkids wanted to see what Grammy did, and they might have been a wee bit excited. The fair holds dear memories for Mary Linda. As a young girl, she got cash prizes for ribbons at the fair in Mississippi. She sewed and did crafts. So it brings her joy. And her joy brings me joy as well. She wants me to enter next year.
We had planned to go to the fair the day our oldest son was born. Our day got re-arranged at 4 am when she awakened me with “It’s time.” I knew that was not the state fair she was talking about. She nursed our youngest son at the fair one year, as she wanted to see it that bad. We took some great pictures there one year. My dad had given me a Minolta camera, and it took such good pictures (once I learned it’s ways). We struck up a conversation with a very kind lady with The Gideons International. She travels around distributing Bibles for free. I thought that sounded like a worthy venture. I talked to a man (remember my University of Oklahoma ID’d shirt) about me being brave to wear it in the heart of enemy territory. We talked about the rivalry briefly.
In the creative arts building, I saw a collection of old postcards from the Fair. One was a photo of the original State Fair entryway. I got to talking to a man who was observing it as I was. Turns out he is a Sooner fan, and we got into such a lengthy conversation that my wife had to come and break us up with a “Can you come look at this with me?”
As I get older, I have come to realize that people are people. Down deep, we all are looking for something, and we sometimes are not even sure what that is. We just know we need something. I believe it is God, and His son Jesus. So, I keep talking, and trying to become like Him, to be a road sign that says “right this way.” Father in heaven, thank You for providing the Way, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
– Jeff Beall
