TexasGirl Photography

I wrote the below last year, October 2020, but never published it. Before I had the chance, my Grandmother passed away, and I pretty much put everything on hold for a few months while I focused on other things. In celebration of the fact that YES INDEED THE HOT FAIR AND RODEO was back in full force again, I’m publishing my thoughts from last year in retrospect. New work from the Fair, coming soon!

This year, our beloved HOT Fair and Rodeo was curtailed to just a few nights of the rodeo, with a livestock show, but no carnival. Limited numbers allowed in, masks required, the whole 2020 dreadful drill. It’s heartbreaking. For some reason, this cancellation hits me harder than all the others. We look forward to it all year; I’ve looked forward to it every year of my life. This is just one more in the long line of things to deal with, and my coping mechanism has been writing (and prayer, but most of you probably would rather not hear about that).

If you’ve spent any time on my website or blog, you will probably have noticed that carnivals / fairs / rodeos are almost my most favorite things to photograph. I’ve written about my hometown fair at least twice – here’s one, and another one. I also have a whole folder of photographs on display right here on the site.

Recently, I’ve started writing over on Medium. I shared a prose type poem there recently that was a mixed bag of nostalgic memory. You can take a look at that one here .

But of course there was more poetry to come on this, a topic that has been a family tradition! Below, you can read another piece. I’ve peppered it with some of my favorite photos from fairs of the past. (there’s a couple in there from the Austin Rodeo, too, which convey the same feelings at the one in Waco). I hope you enjoy it; I hope next year we will be smelling all the smells and feeling all the thrills in person!

Aroma comes first, from the instant of arrival
What the nose knows, the heart remembers

Pizza, popcorn, corndogs, and turkey legs
The sticky sweet of cotton candy and roasted nuts
The warm scent of hay, so strong my hands remember
gripping the side of the wagon
on a fall ride behind a tractor, in 8th grade

Creosote of hot asphalt
The oiled metal of the Ferris Wheel
Brake fluid at the Tilt A Whirl, exhaust from the Kamikaze,
where decades ago from the tail end of the ticket line
I watched puke drop out of the upside down cage

Carnival food and motion sickness, mixed
makes a messy cocktail
Hands that raise a snack to lips
reek of the swing ride’s chains,
the bar of the haunted house roller coaster,
palmy perspiration from the grip of the Zipper

Navigating the throngs,
there’s the whiff of a cowboy’s cologne,
his sweetheart’s chewing gum,
popping in tight stacked jeans and Ropers

In the livestock pavilions, the barnyard greets your nose
The earthiness of pigs and cattle
Wet dog scent of sheep
Horses’ muscular sweat
The pungent peck of poultry,
and of course manure,
because everything in here eats

Outside it smells like the first cool night of autumn
washing in after a hot day
Before they paved the whole midway
it was dust in the lungs and the squelch of mud after rain
Now it’s concrete and the tripping possibility of skinned knees

Inside the exhibit halls, the bouquet of candles
drifts through the chilly concrete air
Potpourri and leather tag along, enticing sales

Inside the coliseum, more horses
Rope, and the brute strength musk of the bulls
Nachos, perfume, and chaps
Waxy makeup on the faces of the rodeo clowns, like crayons
The rich soil of the barrel racing floor
The snapping polyester of the American flag
The grateful breath of a thousand souls
as they stand, hats off, one hand over their hearts
for God and country
for tonight’s pageant
for the comfort of traditions
for 8 seconds of glory
the thrill of it all
at the Fair

All photographs 35mm Kodak Tri-X film