What fun the Fair was! Lots of good food … crowds of strangers carrying artsy things on sticks … fiddling boys playing for tips … an earnest young woman pressing a brochure into my hand that proclaimed that ‘Jesus was the greatest Artist of all time.’

And as I was walking east on Liberty at the Fair yesterday, a thirtyish guy, definitely not from Ann Arbor, kept up a running commentary behind me (for the benefit of his silent and bored girlfriend) as we passed all the political booths.

‘Howard Dean?! Yeah, right. You people are crazy. Pppptttttt.’

and the prizewinner:

‘I’m gettin’ really tired of all this peace crap.’

Yeah? Well, just stick around if the Boy Emperor regains the throne in November, buddy. You won’t have to put up with any ‘peace crap’ for at least four more years.

Still and all, it was a fun event and the weather was wonderful.

The one really enjoyable part of yesterday’s Fair was the weather. After five days or so of high-80s temps and punishing humidity, the temperature and the humidity both just suddenly dropped into the cellar (the cellar for July, anyway). It was probably no higher than 72 degrees and the humidity never got near 50%. There was a light breeze and everything was bright and blue and sunny but it was all somehow a lot more manageable. There were even a few instances of civility and politeness: people holding doors open for each other, saying “Sorry” and “Excuse me” when they bumped into you, etc. The weather’s continued that way today: right now it’s 72 degrees and the humidity is only 22%. This is summer weather I can heartily endorse.

Well ….. the Friday crowds were definitely way bigger than the first two days. It was a little overwhelming at times, actually. Not completely claustrophobic; if you wanted to get away you could still move to the areas beyond the booths and find some open space. But very difficult to take photographs or do much of anything else; Steve and I and our friend Scott grabbed some lunch and found an out-of-the-way spot to eat. So, no observations to make about the second two days of the Fair (I suspect it’s even more packed today; our entire complex is deserted today, and I have a feeling a lot of people have gone to the festivities). But I did enjoy the first two days. It was well worth experiencing; I wish I’d made time to see more. Maybe next year.

The most frequent conversation I overheard at the Fair was along the lines of the following:

TEENAGER: I wanna go hooooome!

MOM: No, we’re not going home.

Or:

KID: I don’t wanna waaaaalk anymore!

MOM: We’re gonna keep walking.

Just three pics today … « Ann Arbor Art Fair ‘04: Day Three »