It's fair time!

Resslin' Around by Casey Ressler

In football, there are minicamps and preseason games to prepare for the season. In baseball, spring training gets the athletes ready. But nothing -- I mean nothing -- can prepare you for a daily diet of meat on a stick, cotton candy and greasy French fries over a two-week period.

The Alaska State Fair kicked off Thursday afternoon, and by Friday, I had my 4-year-old daughter pushing me around the fairgrounds in her stroller.

"Honey, daddy's a bit bloated after two bratwursts, a Husky burger, a candy apple and four Cokes," I told her. "Just push me back to the car, and tell mommy to take me home and drop me on the recliner until we leave for the fair tomorrow."

It didn't work, and neither did the bribe to let her ride the ponies seven times if she would let me take a little nappy-poo in her stroller for an hour.

But that's what the fair is all about -- eating a ridiculous amount of extremely unhealthy food, then walking around and taking in all the sights and sounds of Alaska's largest event. The ringing of the Midway and the oohs and ahhs of those visiting the giant vegetables are standards. The smell of the food booths -- and of the agriculture exhibits -- come back instantly when you first walk into the fairgrounds. It's like you never even left last September.

The fair also has a way of making you feel young again. The sounds and smells almost have a real energy to them, invigorating fairgoers as much as the rockin' good times at the Borealis Theatre do.

For the next week and a half, forget the rain and make sure you get over to the fairgrounds and take in those sights and smells. They are the last blast of summer, and you don't want to go into the fall without the memory of the Alaska State Fair fresh in your mind.

Make sure you check out the world class vegetables, too -- they are why the Alaska State Fair got started in the first place. They are a link to the past. You'll even get a chance to see a world record cantaloupe, and how many times can you really say that you've seen the world's largest cantaloupe?

Have fun, and we'll catch you at the fair.

Casey Ressler (valleylife@frontiersman.com) is the Valley Life editor.