One thing to know about the New York State Fair.
You want to garner that good karma. Do a good thing at the New York State Fair, and it will pay off later in the day.
Or at least I hope it will.
So let’s hop in the car and go for a ride, shall we?
Two and a half hours after leaving Albany, I arrived in Syracuse for the Fair. Now normally my plan is to park in the Fair’s Orange Lot, and ride the shuttle bus to the Fair entrance. But this time, I went a different route. There’s a parking lot adjacent to the Crucible steel foundry where, if you make a $15 donation to the American Red Cross, you can park there all day. And it’s closer than the Orange Lot, and I don’t need to take a shuttle to the Fair entrance.
I parked there. An attendant took my money.
“Would you possibly have exact change?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, “All I have are twenties.”
“It’s okay,” she smiled. “We just run out of $5 quickly, but I think we’ll be okay.”
I parked the car. On the way to the Fairgrounds, there was a table where a Red Cross volunteer offered bottled water for $1/bottle. I purchased one. Gotta keep hydrated, don’tcha know.
Took some pictures at the Fair, and did my obligatory pose at the I ❤ New York sign.
Yep, I’m rocking the B&H Photo T-shirt today. I mean, it’s not like B&H are going to send me a free roll of film in exchange for being a walking brand ambassador – it was a clean T-shirt and I felt comfortable in it.
Oh, and it’s nice to see that my federated social media platform Mastodon is represented at the Fair.
Trust me, you should sign up for a Mastodon account. Especially since I just heard that BlueSky is now restricting access to its platform in Mississippi. Hmm.
I even shared the photo with one of my blogroll friends, Elena Rossini. She caught the reference. Because she’s smart like that.
Oh, look. There’s a hands-on build-a-birdhouse area over by one of the pavilions. For a small donation, one can build a bluebird house, or a solitary bee enclosure. Solitary bees are good for gardens, and bluebirds are good for people who like to sit outside and enjoy their gardens.
$20 and 20 minutes later, I built a birdhouse and a solitary bee house. Had to walk them back to the car, though. No way was I carrying those birdhouses all over the Fairgrounds.
Damn, it’s hot and humid today. But I put both enclosures in the car trunk, and walked past the Red Cross water station. “I’ll buy another water, please,” I said to the attendant. Then I thought for a moment. “Let me have two more bottles, please,” I said, handing the attendant $3 total.
As I crossed the street, I handed a bottle to one of the police officers who was in charge of traffic control. “Here’s a bottle for you,” I said, “And one for your partner,.” He thanked me.
I should also note that there were the usual mix of funny T-shirts and downright offensive T-shirts out there. And the one that really got on my nerves was worn by some bonkbrain. Here’s what it said.
“If you don’t know the difference between a man and a woman, why don’t you try to milk a bull.”
Oh, funny. Ha, ha. I wonder if this clown realizes that to “milk a bull” means you’re extracting bull semen by manual manipulation. In other words, you’re trying to get beef stroganoff by performing beef stroking off.
Okay, did I earn enough good karma today?
It’s 1:00 p.m. Let’s check out the artworks. How did they do?
I submitted six artworks, and five were selected for show. And right off the bat, here’s Soaring on a Manhattan Morning …
It’s there … but no ribbon. Nertz.
Maybe the CPKC Holiday Train had better luck …
Nopes.
Come on, Miller, let’s see if 90 Minutes of Moonlight received some love. And …
Before anyone starts to celebrate … that Third Place ribbon is for the photo NEXT to mine, not mine itself.
Two pictures left. Maybe my stitch shot of the Hamilton College Chapel will earn some silk.
Yeah, no. But someone did get an honorable mention for a great photo BELOW mine.
Okay. Deep breath. Maybe the Petzval Dandelion survived where no other one did. Come on, baby. Show me a sweet ribbon next to some swirly bokeh, and … and …
Ugh. Oh for five. And so far , oh-for-the-entire-Competition-Season.
And as for photography at the New York State Fair, I’ve whiffed two of the last three years.
Resolved. Must try harder next year. Must improve. Must find a way to take photos that even Ray Charles couldn’t deny.
Oh well. As an insurance policy, though, I entered two physical artworks in the Arts & Crafts section of the Fair. And maybe things will work out more successfully for my two arts and crafts pieces.
The Coca-Cola soda crate should be over here somewhere, and …
Wait, that’s a pink ribbon?
I had to look it up. The Arts and Crafts category does have a fourth place category, so I just earned my first-ever fourth place silk for an art project. And I’ll take it for sure.
Okay. All I have left is my drive-in speaker with the color-changing paint job and the Bluetooth enabled connection. Come on, come on, give me a …
That, friends, is a second place ribbon. That’s something good to smile about. If nothing else, this is the second time one of my drive-in speakers has earned silk, and the first time one has earned silk without it being part of some other non-electronic-specific category (i.e., the “Ribbon Refresh” from the 2024 Big E).
So if I came in second place … I wonder what recycled artwork earned top honors.
Looking around, looking around …
I don’t see who came in first.
And after further investigation …
I discovered that my drive-in speaker was the ONLY entry submitted in that category. And for that, I came in second place.
If you think that’s something, I can tell you – it’s not the first time that’s happened to me.
In 2016, I submitted an artwork that was awarded a first-place ribbon – but actually earned third place.
And in 2023, my bi-color sunflower homemade latched hook rug also earned a second place silk … despite it being the ONLY entry in the latched hook rug category. In other words, I finished second place to nothingness.
It’s almost like the old joke about, “You’re the second-smartest person I know.” “Well, who’s the smartest?” “It’s a tie for everyone else not named you.”
At this point, all I have left is the Big E. Three photos there, with hope against hope against hope.
Look. At this point in time, I’m happy that my artworks actually made the walls of the Harriet May Mills Art Center. And I picked up a second place and a fourth place in the Arts and Crafts locale.
But I need to take better photos. Obviously what I’m doing isn’t working with the judges’ eyes.
I need to get better at this.
All right. Deep breath. Let’s at least celebrate the Arts and Crafts wins.
As per my tradition at the New York State Fair, if I earn any ribbons for my artworks or photography, I must consume one of the “Fair Foods” that might make others go eww.
And I found it. One of the vendors offered a 23-karat encrusted chocolate covered bacon strip on a stick. I ordered one. The cashier shouted to the kitchen staff, “We’ve got a baller!”
A few minutes later … look at this.
Apparently one can consume gold leaf. And chocolate. And bacon. And wash it down with a diet cola.
I should note that you can see my camera bag for the Pentacon Six TL, which I brought to the Fair – along with several of its proprietary lenses. And trust me, when you’re carrying a yellow-leathered camera, it gets some attention. It was essentially my wingman. Ha.
And at one of the midway carnival games, I decided to try my luck. All I had to do was throw a dart into a star, and I would win a stuffed animal. Seems simple enough.
“$10 for three throws,” the barker said.
At that point, all I had in my wallet was a $100 bill. “Can you make change?” I asked.
“I can,” said the barker, “if you don’t mind me giving you lots of $5 bills.”
$90 in $5 bills later, I successfully threw three darts into the big red star, and walked away with a small blue dolphin stuffed animal. Which lasted about fifteen minutes in my hands, until I saw a family walking by.
“Did you win anything at the Fair,” I asked them.
The father shook his head.
I handed him the little blue dolphin stuffed animal. “Now you have.”
He gave the dolphin to his little girl, who jumped up and down like she had just won Taylor Swift tickets. More good karma.
Had to stop at the dairy barn and pick up some of the various Yancey’s Fancy cheeses – ooh, they have Hatch Chile cheese spreads again, gotta get some.
I also stopped at the Fair’s “Center of Progress” building, and picked up a few souvenirs – ballpoint pens, fridge magnets, a 2025 New York State Fair souvenir license plate. I mean, why not?
There was a booth for the New York State Thruway and EZ-Pass system. The EZ-Pass system allows you to place a transponder on your car windshield, which will automatically pay your Thruway tolls. And because my Chevrolet Volt is a hybrid electric-gas vehicle, I get to drive a green transponder, which gives me 10% off all New York State Thruway tolls. Whee!
Unfortunately, the EZ-Pass transponder has one small flaw. It won’t let me change my name. Three years ago, I officially dropped the “Charles” and made Chuck my legal first name. And although all the other businesses and companies understood the change, apparently EZ-Pass did not.
I explained the situation to one of the attendees at the EZ-Pass both.
He quickly opened up his laptop and said, “Please show me your driver’s license.”
Five minutes later, Chuck is now officially no longer Charles on the EZ-Pass platform.
Good Karma.
And on the way back to my car … there was the parking lot attendant, still guiding cars all around the lot. “Do you need $5 bills?” I asked.
She looked up at me. “How many do you have?”
“I can give you $80 worth.”
Four twenties and sixteen fives later, more good karma was achieved. And I’m on my way home, with a bird house, a solitary bee keeper, a bag full of cheese, and a ton of photos.
And hopefully … lots of good karma and great photo ideas for Competition Season 2026.
Let’s make this happen.
Chuck The Writer 
I scratched my crass follow-up comment about the biologically inert gold leaf.
But seriously, the Fair’s photo judges seem to have been culled from the livestock section. Sounds like you’re up against a pretty dense crowd out there. I’d say any hesitancy about getting back on the horse in this case would be justifiable.
Glad you had an overall good experience, though. And just think – you still have some good karma to cash in!
LikeLike