Resslin' Around

I met an old friend Thursday. We get together every August, usually in the rain as cold starts to come after a summer of heat and daylight.

Since the last time I saw this friend, on Labor Day last year, a few things had changed, but not a whole lot. It's like that every time we get together, come to think about it.

We hang out for 12 days, although we sometimes take a day or two off during that span. The first night we get together -- last Thursday -- I try to find everything that has changed with this friend. Usually, there are a few minor things that have changed, but for the most part, it's the same old friend I've always known, which is just fine by me because it's what I've grown up with, and what I'm most comfortable with.

After that first night together, it's just like old times, almost like riding a bike -- once you do it once, you get into the groove and it feels natural.

Of course, that old friend is the Alaska State Fair, Alaska's rite of summer that leads right into fall. The warm nights of June and July have given way to a sudden briskness in the air, and the early morning -- and early evening -- hours are filled with darkness rather than daylight, which means it's time for the fair once again.

Some people come to the fair expecting a big change from the previous year, and that doesn't happen. The fair is the fair, the same one many of us grew up with, and that's why we keep coming back. Many of the food booths are the same ones that were there a decade ago. There are still all of the livestock and vegetable exhibits. Heck, I remember the SBS Lumberjack Show from the first fairs I went to as a young kid. But those are what define the Alaska State Fair. If I wanted a shopping mall, I'd go to Anchorage.

Thursday night, as rain pounded down on our windshield and the fireworks cracked overhead, illuminating the night sky, I was happy to have caught up with that old friend. The next nine or so days should be a lot of fun catching up and having fun.

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