Fair to Middling: The Kansas State Fair

Fair to middling is an American phrase, used as early as the 1820s. The term fair to middling originally referred to gradations of quality in cotton, sheep and other farm goods. Such goods may be designated into categories such as fine, good, fair, middling and poor. By the 1860s the phrase fair to middling evolved into common speech to mean something average or slightly above average.

Information from www.grammarist.com

I didn't get a purple ribbon during our trip to the Kansas State Fair this week ... unless you count the photo props we used. 

I didn't get a blue ribbon either ... except for the mosaic of the blue ribbon in the Oz Gallery.

But I did get a white ribbon - 3rd place - in one category in the Amateur Division of the Kansas State Fair photography contest. I suppose you could call that "fair to middling."

However, with only three places awarded per category, it was like a grand prize to me.  I entered this photo I took during a snowstorm in the "Seasonal Trees" category. As I was choosing, I debated: Is it a photo of a tree or is it a photo of a cow-calf pair?

Based on my past success in the fair photography contest - or, really, the lack thereof - I wasn't optimistic. So I was surprised (and thrilled!) when Randy and I were perusing the long aisles of mounted photos, and I found the third-place ribbon on one of my six entries. (It was the only one that placed.)

To enter the Kansas State Fair, there's a $1 processing fee. (That covers all the entries.) But the $5 I get for the third-place finish won't pay for the mounting materials or the gas I consumed to drive my entries 40 miles or so to Hutchinson.

Thankfully, Randy supports my "habit." He's just thankful for digital photography and the fact that I'm no longer paying for film and processing for every photo I shoot.

Photo by Jarrod Shafer, Wichita, KS

I think the blue-ribbon winner in the seasonal tree category also got a Best of Show runner-up designation and an extra $18. That makes even placing sweeter, doesn't it?

 

Our Tuesday visit to the fair wasn't really to see how my photos fared. That was just a bonus. We were there with our Kansas Master Farmer/Homemaker group. Both Randy and I are serving as vice-presidents this year of our respective organizations, so attendance was nonnegotiable, even with some things left undone at home.

Even though part of the day was spent in meetings, we had some time to wander around the fairgrounds for awhile, too.

I didn't take a whole lot of photos, but I couldn't leave the camera in my pocket the whole time, could I?

The Butterfly Experience was again one of my favorite spots. (I should have written down the name of this plant. The Monarch butterflies were choosing it over any of the other plant varieties. If one of my gardener friends knows what it is, please let me know.)

The Butterfly Experience is an inflatable exhibit south of the 4-H building. It's free (though we gave a donation.) It has butterflies still in cocoons and others enjoying the flowers inside.

Randy was much more adept at attracting butterflies to his sugar-soaked "feeder." Before entering the Butterfly Experience tent, each visitor is given a paint sponge dipped in diluted Gatorade. Holding the sponge in front of a butterfly allows it to step on and taste the juice with their feet. OK, truth be told, I was probably too busy clicking away with the camera to give the feeding thing much of a shot.

Randy had explored the real livestock barns that morning while I was in meetings. On a Tuesday, there wasn't a lot of activity there.

This kind of "livestock" was plenty active.

We attended the free Mason Ramsey concert that evening. And I couldn't resist a stroll through the carnival to snap a couple of photos before coming home.

It was back to reality yesterday. We again found dry corn to cut. We'll see if I continue the trend today and make another parts run. I went to Pratt for parts last Saturday. Parts stores were closed on Sunday, so I skipped that day. I visited the guys at the parts counter at the Hutchinson Case branch Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I'd be OK without seeing them today. They're nice and all, but our pocketbook could use a reprieve.

More on corn harvest next week. And, yes, photographs, too.