19 August 2005

A Trip Worth Taking

The KY State Fair opened yesterday. Because it was my day off and we needed to do something as a family we made the journey to Louisville.
We've been to the state fair in KY before and so Moses and Asa were anticipating elephant ears and the pig races. While we had a lot of fun and saw several things the two things they talked about before we arrived they didn't get/get to see.
However we did get to experience a lot of good things: a KY History trailer, the Frazier Arms Museum booth (swords, helmets, chain mail), old time tractors (an AC D-19 Diesel with a seat for a rider), German roasted almonds, cotton candy, and a big blow up obstacle coarse for the boys.

There were two things Anna and I noticed that made the fair a cultural experience.

1) The Concert goers. The fair hosted two concerts, one paid and one for free. Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich were the $$ act and Cheap Trick (80's R&R band) were free. Cheap Trick lured the 80's look out of the closet, long hair, t-shirts emblazoned with Iron Maiden, Kiss, etc. Uncle Rico was in the house.
The paid concert was a rowdy country fans attraction. The problem as Anna saw it was this - too little clothing on the women who were streaming to the venue. She said if Aravis ever went out with so little on she'd have to put a stop to it. The problem as I saw it was that this lack of attire was across the age spectrum (I agree with Anna on the first part and add this). The lack of modesty was a shared experience by grandmothers, mothers and daughters.

The concerts would have been a cultural experience, or as I should say a decultured experience.

2) The attraction of Aravis.
I had forgotten what a baby does in the wider world, how it attracts looks, musings of other people, and unsolicited philosophical advice. In the church it seems like some family is welcoming a little person. But I wonder if this isn't the norm for most people. The attraction is striking - when people see the stroller with the little car seat they begin to peek - then the ooohs and aahs.

I am afraid our culture doesn't see enough babies in the midst of life - maybe the lack of babies in our midst is why we're seeing culture despair and degenerate. People behave better around babies - this seems to be part of the wonder of Christmas.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

i think our culture sees plenty of babies...it's just that the mom's are getting younger and younger...that's the only sad thing. and that babies may be thought of as a burden instead of a blessing, especially if there aren't dads around or money to pay the bills.

Anonymous said...

i meant "moms" not "mom's"

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fetzer said...

Duke,

I just found your blog and it's very good. Congratulations on the new baby.

Fetz