09 July, 2020 - The Weekend Approacheth & Country Fair at Home

Dear, Mom -

Hi, sweet Mama. I am very ready for the weekend. It is supposed to be very nice this weekend and my best friends Kim and Ward are going to come over with snacks and we are going to celebrate the 51st Oregon Country Fair together. It isn’t the same as a state fair, it is more community focused, eco-friendly, with a hippy vibe and lots of great music. I think the first time I went to the actual fair in Rowena, Oregon (outside of Eugene) was in 1996. Kim and Ward and I camped for 5 days on a farm that a family rents out to campers every year. We got there early and found a fantastic spot. We would walk down the road a quarter mile to the actual fair, spend most of the day there, then walk back and enjoy an evening of everybody at the campground having their own celebrations. There were food and craft vendors, music, a place to shower...it was great fun. The fair is much more well known now so lots of people show up and it gets very crowded and dusty. The setting is amazing, though. It is on private land that has this amazing grove of large trees that booths have been built into and around. It winds around the property for a couple of miles. It’s like nothing else I’ve ever experienced before. Even though there are a ton of people, the vibe has not changed. People there are genuinely nice and caring. It’s very care-free with lots of art to look at and some to buy.

This is a guy playing a steel guitar and a gal playing a saw. They were just set up along the trail. It was pretty cool music they played. July 2019

These were some stilt walkers as we entered last year. The artistry there is really imaginative, unique, and fun to be around.

Ward, Kim, and I last year at Country Fair. 2019

This year, due to social distancing and the virus (the reason I cannot visit you in person) the Oregon Country Fair is online as a virtual tour. It sounds really fun. They are going to have the physical space of the fair mapped out and you will be able to click on places on the computer that you would like to interact with. You will be able to watch musical acts that performed in the past, buy things from vendors, etc. We will supply our own snacks, but it will be awesome to share the experience with my dear friends. Last year, because the fair was so dusty, I ended up feeling a bit ill and extremely asthmatic. It took me until the next day to be able to clear out my lungs. I wore a bandanna around my face all day the second day and felt much better. I guess one benefit this year is we wont have to put up with dust. 

A Rose for You!

I love you very much, Mom. I hope you have an absolutely fabulous day today. I will leave with with some more pictures from today with my client Bob. We took pictures for you! Enjoy and know I am thinking about you all the time! I will talk to you soon...Sal

Butterfly Weed with a Honeybee on it

Oregano or Wild Marjoram 

Garden Rose (Coral)

An amazing watercolor Hydrangea