The State Fair is something that you must attend to legally call yourself a Hoosier. That’s a state law I believe?? There are fundamental Indiana values and sights to experience that can’t be found anywhere else in such concentrated form. For a couple weeks each year, it gives all of us a chance to visit and catch up on things with each other. Our Indiana contemporaries from small towns, large cities, farm communities…people from all walks of life and every corner of the state drawn together. A curious mix, but that’s what we are.
I took a couple hours off and went there yesterday. Parked and took the free shuttle bus for the first time. Unbelievably effortless way to get there! I’ll never do it any other way again. Inside the gates, it’s clear to see that eating is the most popular activity at the Fair, the attraction with the biggest draw. Besides eating, everyone has their own list of things they must do there. I know mine’s different than most, but here it is: Stroll through the pig, horse, cow and sheep barns…Beyond entertaining for a city boy. People watch…Something astounding continually crosses my path. Knock down a Lemon Shake-up…Yeah, kind of pricey for a little sugar, water and a few pieces of lemon, but it’s tradition, you can’t put a price on something like that! Ride the Tractor-Tram one lap around the Fair…Get the big picture while choking on bio-diesel fumes! Last but not least, check out any ongoing events at Pioneer Village…My absolute favorite. They were running sugar cane through a horse-drawn mill at the time. Pretty convenient too, just a couple hundred yards away from the shuttle pick-up stop.
The tomatoes are coming in. Big time. There are so many it’s impossible to keep up with the harvest lately. Besides the typical uses in salads or on sandwiches, I have even been having tomatoes for breakfast… well, brunch actually. Open face on a section of baguette sliced-lengthwise, skillet-toasted lightly with olive oil, and with slices of tomatoes and a little homemade dressing of the day. Sounds elaborate but it only takes a minute. And for dinners, often lately there’s a plate of sliced tomatoes with basil and fresh mozzarella with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I made about 2 quarts of some incredibly spicy salsa the other day which is hard to stop dipping into. But there are more tomatoes now than when I started. I’ve been looking seriously at homemade ketchup recipes lately in order to use a bunch of them up. I’m running out of ideas.
If you watch the news channels or read the papers, you’d think we were on the verge of a total meltdown, right? A record heatwave turning half of the country into a rerun of the 1930′s dust bowl, the stock market in a free fall and the world economy collapsing with the US leading the way. No wonder the average person probably thinks the local real estate market must also be awful. Well, here is the truth. Although it is far from being a hot market generally, it is still a good market. Over 1,800 homes sold in July locally with sales up 3.6% over this time last year. Also the number of homes on the market declined by 11% compared to last year at this time, and the average sale price continues to increase, both of which are good news for Sellers. Still sound like an awful market? I don’t think so.