Name a food... it'll be on a stick

Softball-sized hail.

Severe flooding.

Blinding sheets of rain.

The apocalypse? No, state fair time is here.

After logging an evening shift for the Humane Society at the Minnesota State Fair tonight, I think I've seen things that I can never unsee and that will haunt me for the rest of my days.

It's an overdone bit, but simply going to any fair will make you feel pretty good about your own life. I saw so many variations on the mullet that I may have stumbled across a few new sub-species. I'm thinking of naming one after the blog, one after Disconnected's and a previously unseen variety after the Tank.

That's how I roll.

I'm pretty sure I'll have more to say if we head back this weekend or next, but tonight was a good introduction to the whole atmosphere. Really, it's no different than Wisconsin's or the Illinois State Fair, but it's always a little crazy to see it up close and personal.

I haven't seen it yet, but the big buzz is surrounding hot dish on a stick. In one of those weird cultural deals, Minnesotans call casseroles "hot dish" here and it's kind of a statewide inside joke that it's a big deal. It's basically any meat, wild rice and cream of mushroom soup thrown in a baking pan and heated. Then, they cover it with crunchy dried onions and serve it any time or any place.

It's allegedly on a stick this year. I need to see how many laws of physics this violates to believe it's true. Also, it comes with cream of mushroom dipping sauce.

Anyways, the highlights of the night included nudging The Girl (or vice-versa, raising our eyebrows and giving the international eye roll for, "Check out that fucking guy..." and shattering all myths about hot farmers' daughters.

All this and corn dogs? What's not to love?

(Image from: collections.mnhs.org)