"Fair" ... misnomer? Or aptly named?

Well, we have just finished another county fair. WHEW! The boys are 4-Hers so we're there every day of the fair for something or other. During this ordeal ... I mean adventure ... I started thinking about the word "fair" and wondered if it was really appropriately descriptive for what this event entails.

Merriam-Webster offers these definitions of the word:

1 : pleasing to the eye or mind especially because of fresh, charming, or flawless quality
Ummm, ever been to a county fair? This definition definitely does not fit. They look kind of cool at night with all the lights of the rides. In the raw light of day? Nope. Trashy, dusty, crowded, dirty, smelly. Flawless doesn't even come close. Strike one.

2 : superficially pleasing
Okay, this one probably works.

3: clean, pure
See #1. Strike two.

4 : not stormy or foul
Well, no, it was not stormy. Actually, a few storms would have been a welcome respite to the triple-digit temps. Actually, stormy would have made it much fairer (is that a word?) Not foul? See #1. Strike three.

5 : marked by impartiality and honesty : free from self-interest, prejudice, or favoritism
Ever looked around at the judging of exhibits and wondered how in Hades they came to those conclusions?? I sure have. Strike four (yeah, I know the three-strikes-you're-out analogy doesn't work if you go beyond three strikes but just go with it. I'm tired.)

And, to add one of my own, fair as in temperate weather.
No, no, no, no, no, no, NO! On Sunday evening we had to be at the fairgrounds at 5 p.m. for our 4-H club meeting. It was 106 as of that time. Read back a few posts to see my opinion of temperatures in the one-oh-anything range. They are less than favorable. It was one-oh-plus every day of this year's fair. Strike five.

So, five to one, in my oh so humble opinion, fairs should not be called "fairs". What should they be called. Man, don't ask me. Didn't I say I was tired? Gimme a few days and maybe I'll come up with something.

BUT, on a positive note, the boys had a good "fair". Here are the results of their entries:

Foods –
Lane – Apple Nut Muffins – SUPERIOR BLUE
Levi – Gingerbread Sour Cream Muffins – BLUE

Craft –
Levi – Bird Trap (hard to describe but I'll be taking photos later!)– SUPERIOR BLUE

Plants –
Lane – Croton – SUPERIOR BLUE and RESERVE CHAMPION

Photography –
Lane – Two BLUES and two REDS
Levi – Two SUPERIOR BLUES, one BLUES and a RED (including two Spotlight Awards)

Rockets –
Levi – SUPERIOR BLUE
Lane – BLUE

Photography Judging –
Fair judging contest:
Levi – 1st place
Lane – 2nd place

Overall (averaging the highest scores from 2 out of the 3 county contests for this year)
Levi – 1st place
Lane – 3rd place

So both boys will be going to the state fair to judge and taking one or more of their purple ribbon entries. If you want to see their photos, I’ve uploaded them to my Epson site:
http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=4007675&a=30295653&sp=25
They are the last 8 ones on this page. You can go back to page 1 to see previous years’ photos if you care to.

I can honestly say there's one thing about a fair that can be called "fair". The ending. It's one of those things that I enjoy seeing come, but enjoy seeing it end even more.