We left Millersburg exceptionally early - before midnight on Saturday night. Drive to Randolph was quite long and full of little reminiscences. Like if those whiles blurred in the starry darkness all around, like if it merged together with last year's experiences, like if I was reaching for something deep in my memory, something abstract, hardly describable, for a scent that has been hovering in the air since ever. The atmosphere got denser, and a slight misty cover veiled my eyes. However, eventually there comes a click of fingers that brings me back to presence, back to reality with all that bounds me and binds me.
We arrived at Randolph fairgrounds around 2.30 am, put all trailers on their spots, washed them and set them up. At 5 am Ryan took us to a great steakhouse nearby. Everybody else was very tired, but I felt good and really enjoyed the meal. I got to bed at 6.20 which didn't prevent me from getting up early though. Sunday morning was fresh and sunny, encouraging in a certain way. In the afternoon, when everybody was already awake, we set off to New Philadelphia. Our destination was a shopping mall with Chinese Buffet where we stuck ourselves, Auntie Anna's store where we said hello to Charlie's son Adam, and then various shops, of course. It was nice to become normal people for a while; get dressed nicely and get out of the dusty fairgrounds' environment.
Portage County Fair is one of the biggest we go to. We have five trailers there: two gyros, two lemonades and a lemonade cart. I worked in gyros with Dorothy and Sheila. Every day we got two more persons to help us: Shannon - a woman in her forties, Kimber or Christina - sisters, high school students.
The weather was great again. I went running on Monday, Wednesday and Friday the route that Ryan recommended to me. The road was hemmed by pastures on which I could see horses grazing. Every 200 or 500 yards I passed a house that was usually located at the end of a long driveway so that its inhabitants weren't disturbed by traffic (quite slow, though). Those houses were actually mostly farms.
Days off - Berlin, Wallnut Creek, Wooster
On Monday morning I woke up a bit earlier than the others so that I could go running around the Burton fairgrounds. Ryan told me the directions where the Sunday running contest should lead but I chose my own way instead. I ran over meadows surrounding the fairgrounds and then along a road in a hilly countryside. Some houses had their porches right by the road. Most of them belong to Amish families, which I could easily distinguish because there were their typical white and blue outfits hung and fluttering in a fresh morning breeze. There were people having breakfast, kids swinging in yards, men driving tractors to start working on fields. Bunch of farm buildings, barns and granaries could be seen nearby. Everything felt so peaceful and right, everyone accomplishing their tasks, everyone playing roles they have got.
After 10 am we started our way back to Wooster. It got a bit complicated due to a necessary stop in Randolph and several detours. It was a fresh day, colder compared to the previous week, though nicely sunny with amazing blue skies. Exactly like last year. Once again I felt that kind of scary similarity, kind of deja-vu. Well, we talked about different things and people changed, of course, though some little details stay the same. So same that I get dizzy when I start thinking about that.
Finally we arrived at home about 2 pm. All that I remember from that afternoon is that we somehow managed to do laundry, go to Lodi shopping mall and then in the evening we came to Sara's new place. She invited us to a party with her sister and three other girl friends of her; I knew Emily and Nina already from last year. It was very nice to see Sara after such a long time. The party was great; easy talking and lots of fun.
On Tuesday morning Peter, Tomas and Tereza left for Cedar Point. Neither I or Pavel and Mike are interested in roller-coasters so we didn't go there. Instead of that I and Pavel were invited to join a family trip to Amish Country (Mike wanted to stay at home). It was nice to see Ryan and Kelly with their boys somewhere else than at fairs. We went to traditional Amish stores in Berlin and Wallnut Creek and then we had lunch in a fancy Amish restaurant.