A trip to the New York State Fair, 2023 edition

All right. Let’s get in the car, drive 2 1/2 hours to Syracuse, and see how my photos and latched hook rug did in this year’s competitions.

Now last year, all six of my photos made the walls of the Harriet May Mills Art Center, with five of them claiming silks. This year, only four of my photos made the walls … so now let’s find out if any of them have any ribbons attached to them.

Off we go.

Now one thing to realize with the New York State Fair is that you have to get there AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE to find any decent parking. My usual tactic is to arrive by 9:00 a.m., park in the elevated Orange lot, ride one of those Centro shuttle busses, and all is good.

Well … for some reason, the Orange lots were closed. I was directed to the Brown parking lot, where the volunteer parkers sent me as FAR AWAY from the entrance as they could. Well, I’m going to get MY steps in today, ain’t I?

All right. I’m here. Let’s do the usual routine. Pose in front of the I ❤ New York sign.

At least THIS time I didn’t pose in front of the big heart and earn a photo with red Mickey Mouse ears coming out of my head. Ha.

Apparently it rained last night, so I tried to capture the New York State Fair sign with a puddle reflection. Trick shot. Eight-ball in the side pocket.

I can work with that.

Okay, let’s take a walk over to one of the animal pens. Apparently the goats were in full force at the Fair, as Sunday morning was goat-judging day. And trust me, those goats were doing as much judging of us as we were of them. Including this little guy, who apparently thought it might be a good idea to chew his way through the leather cage lock.

Meanwhile, another goat was too busy chomping on hay to pay attention to the guy taking his picture. Trust me, little cheviot, I’m overdue for a blue ribbon goat photo, and you could be that winner. Probably better than the lock-picker I captured earlier.

Apparently the Fair increased their number of wine slush stands, because every row and corner seemed to have its own wine slushie store. Normally I’d just ignore them – that is, until I saw this one.

That’s right, kids. Drink XTC Wine Slush and you’ll feel like Peter Pumpkinhead. Have some XTC Wine Slushies and all your senses will be working overtime. XTC Wine Slush – endorsed by most generals and majors. Dear God, these puns are a bit too much. Kinda feel like the Mayor of Simpleton.

I should note also that some of the T-shirt sellers had shirts that were … shall we say … not exactly family-friendly. One store had the following shirts available for purchase –

• I ❤ MILFS
• I ❤ DILFS
• I’M NOT GAY BUT $20 IS $20

I guess whatever sells T-shirts, but … ugh …

And in that vein, someone else was selling large novelty flags. Yep, United States flag with a blue line. United States flag with the star field replaced by hemp plants. And …

Yep. Found a Trump flag for sale.

So, what do you do when you see a Trump flag in the wild?

You salute it, of course.

Okay. Let’s go to the Harriet May Mills Art Center. Four photos and a rug. Let’s see how they did.

Oh, there’s my Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson photo. And …

Okay … no ribbon, but it’s on the wall.

Certainly Atomic Tulips impressed the judges, right?

Nope. It’s on the wall … but that’s it.

Okay. Around the corner might be – yes, there’s my Ran Out of Firewood image.

Dang it. All right, there should be one more image over here somewhere … my Hudson River Sunrise. Come on, give my little solar sun trail image some love …

Nope. They’re on display … but that’s it.

And the best way I can explain this is … the competition got stronger. I heard that twice as many people submitted photos this year as last. So that means I need to step up my photography game. No goofing around.

Well, maybe there’s some love with the hooked rug. My image of A Bicolor Sunflower didn’t make the show … but the rug I crafted based on that photo is over in the Arts and Crafts wing, let’s see how it did.

Looking left … looking right … and …

Okay. Second place. I’m definitely good with that. I’m wondering who took first place in the category … so I looked around.

There were no other hooked rugs on display.

Apparently, I was the only person to enter a latch hooked rug this year … and I came in second place in a one-horse race.

Now before somebody screams foul and shenanigans, let me explain. The judges determined the ribbon level based on the Danish system, where the judge is based on the standards of what would be the best representation of a blue-ribbon entry. So I’ll definitely have to find out from the judges whether I was just a tick off here or a tick off there from first place – or, whether I was just a tick above falling to third place.

Trust me, I’ve been down this route before.

So … I scored my first ribbon in the Arts and Crafts category since before the pandemic. I’ll take that for sure.

And although I’m not happy about going ribbon-less … at least four images made the walls, and it just means, as I said before, I have to step up my game. Without question.

On the way out, I passed by the Grange building … and since it was Sunday, the Grange held an interdenominational ecumenical service.

I took a photo, said a prayer, and moved on.

I still have two more opportunities for Competition Season 2023 – one image at the Big E, and a decision on whether or not I’m entering at the Durham Fair this year … and if I do enter at Durham, what to choose.

I guess it’s time to find out.

Because although I think I’m a decent photographer …

There’s always a chance to improve.