Oregon Country Fair 2009

We were so back and forth and back and forth about going this year, and in the end, I ended up going Friday with just Akasha and taking a local teen along for the ride and to share a motel on Thursday night. I thought I would get really into taking pictures, but I decided to take the stroller, and it was just a bit too much for my hands to deal with so much stuff! At least I got a few shots though!

For the first time ever, I was there right at opening! And for the first time ever, I listed to some speakers, which I have always wanted to do. When I got inside, I rushed right over to the Energy Park to hear this guy, Doug Fine.
He was talking about, among other things, chickens, goats and WVO cars - all things I want to do! He also mentioned growing agave, which I was just wondering about the other day!

Not the best picture of Akasha ever, but her first official picture at OCF!
I would have loved to stay after and ask Doug some questions, but I decided to rush over to see... Carl Hammerschlag! And how great he was!
Where else but OCF can you listen to a speaker of this caliber while lounging around on pillows?

Akasha butt goes exploring.
She particularly liked this guy.
Just kept going up to him and the girl he was with. All day, she was doing this thing where she would crawl right up to somebody and catch their eye, then just STARE intently at them. And the lovely thing about the people at Country Fair is that they usually held her gaze.

The Schlag!
He said alot of amazing things but the one that made the biggest impact had to do with healing and growth being connected to shining a light on the areas of your brain that are in darkness. I wish I could remember how he put it. It was very simple yet profound. At least for me, because I was thinking, yes, most people like to sit and be comfortable in those places that already have the light. Especially if we have found a place we like being or feel is "right". If it ain't broke, don't fix it? Yes, I agree with that, and yet I am also a believer in humans needing to be growth oriented. Stagnancy is not healthy for any living thing. I am still thinking about this and what it means for me....

Random fair art.
Akasha was in heaven with all the straw!
"Is it naptime yet?"
Is it just me, or does she look a little like Jack Nicholson in that shot?!

More art - I think this is my favorite piece at the fair!
Sarah would love this place!

Akasha found this cart parked near the drum circle and made herself right at home.
I'm sure it was somebody's drum hauler! We went inside and danced a little, but there wasn't much shade, and this old mama didn't have the energy to last long.

I love this shot because it has the sign and just happened to catch the guy with the beard, who was the main mover and shaker when we were in there. He must have stepped out for a break and walked right into my frame!
Waiting for the belly dancing show.
Love this shot of Tessi and Amma!
Action shot!

But the best moments were not captured on film. Here are two of my favorites....

At the first talk of the day, I was sitting next to this older guy who turned out to be a local farmer himself. When Doug started talking about the goats, he mentioned he had cows at home, and as it turned out, one had just birthed that morning! As he held his hands in front of him, palm up, he said, "I rushed right over after she calved this morning. I still have afterbirth on my hands." Hahaha, he was sitting next to the right person. I am sure some would have found that creepy, but my thought was, "This guy rocks!"

As a nice bookend to my day, Akasha had a totally magickal connection with this one vendor in the evening. She has been much less suspicious of strangers lately, but it is still pretty person to person. She often lifts her arms to be picked up, then cries within seconds or reaches back for me. So there I was, looking at shirts in a booth attended by an African guy. At least I think he was African. He had a lovely, dark skin tone you don't see very often in the US and a beautiful accent that had me thinking Nigerian. He was immediately taken with Akasha and started making all kinds of cute noises at her, totally ignoring all his other customers LOL. She did her little arm lift thing, and I had no idea what to expect.

The stare thing started. She usually only does that when she has crawled up to somebody and they aren't holding her. But she stared, and she stared. She was quite serious about it. Stupidly, I was worried she was dumbstruck because she had never seen anybody that looked like that before. I was hoping she wouldn't start screaming suddenly. Instead, she did something that totally floored me. She leaned over and planted a kiss right on his cheek! She has never, ever done that to anybody! Well, sometimes she makes little kissy noises at Orion or she will do that if I say the word "kiss" to her, but she has never leaned over and spontaneously put her mouth on somebody like that. It was the sweetest thing ever! He was clearly flattered as well. :)

All around, a lovely day. There were some purchases I would have liked to make, but the darn place is so big, I ran out of time to go back to things I saw. I did get a couple things for Sarah's birthday, a tutulike skirt for Akasha and a magnet for me that says, "Ask for what you want." I will put it up in the kitchen to remind me of the abundance of the universe!