Days are getting shorter now as we move deeper into the autumn season. Days are coming quicker to the day when Patrick will be born. Already, Andrea is starting to feel contractions. After so many alarms of the past few weeks, it seems that he will be coming to us sooner than November 2nd. Doctors want to wait as long as possible to allow his lungs to developed as much as possible. That is the one part of his physiology that needs to develop in these last weeks. Otherwise, he seems to be fine. His weight looks good and while he is not moving with the utmost vigor, he is moving well enough to leave him well enough alone.
We have not gone to the Dixie Classic so far this week for various reasons but there are still days left in the fair’s schedule for us to go.
Will we have a health plan by year’s end? Given the sturm und drang of the past few months, the chance for success has never been brighter now as the various bills in Congress come together. What final form the bill takes remains to be seen of course but a quick look at the various bills shows more in common than not.
The Dell computer manufacturing plant closing announcement here in Winston-Salem should not have been much of a surprise. The market for customised desktops has been declining for years as people use laptops and netbooks and even smartphones as their primary computer devices. There will still be a significant role for desktops for some time to come; some people prefer the ability to customise their home computers to a degree which is not possible with laptops and you are able to achieve significantly more power with a desktop than for a laptop of a comparable price. But there is too much manufacturing capacity right now to support desktop manufacturing so after the millions of dollars of incentives to bring Dell to the area a few years ago, they will depart.
… and that is all I wrote for this day.
Today is the start of the Dixie Classic Fair. An exposition of food, fun, livestock and oh so much more. Of course, my own personal interest is how my photos fared in the photography contest. It will be interesting how I stacked up to the rest of the amateurs.
My main disappointment for the fair is that I can not indulge myself on those items you can only get at the Fair: funnel cakes, turkey legs, sausage rolls, corn dogs and so on. But when you have chronic gout, you have to be extra careful on what you eat. I do not want a relapse.
So if my health is good and the weather co-operates, then it looks like Sunday afternoon is when we will head out to the Fairgrounds after the Stillborn children remembrance ceremony in Lewisville. Saturdays are not promising days for a trip to the Fair as Wake Forest is hosting back to back home games which means that parking will be at a premium.
Speaking of football, Wake Forest faces a must win game against North Carolina State Saturday Afternoon if Wake wants to contend for the Atlantic Division. Last week’s heartbreaker loss to Boston College did the team no favours. The team is in a groove offensively now and Riley Skinner has never been better but just for a mistake or two, Wake could have been 4-0 now.
Finally seeing some activity again at the ballpark. All of the financing is in place now and bills have been paid so we should see the first game at the ballpark at the start of the regular season next year.
Finally, NHL hockey has started again. Let’s see how Canada’s teams fare this year. of course, one question this season is whether Phoenix will still have a team by year’s end.
Starting to feel like autumn now and that is a good thing.
The arrival of autumn means many things to many people. Fall colors, farm harvests, football contests and so forth. Around here in Winston-Salem, it means that the Dixie Classic fair will be starting up again.
With the fair, comes the rides, the huge quantity of food, the music, the lights and sounds, animals galore. But being a fair that is based on the agricultural roots of the region means that people will be bringing their best creations, whether it be a quilt, a cake, a floral arrangement or their home grown pumpkin to the fair to be judged and get a ribbon.
Of course, for me, it is my photography.
Last year, I managed to win a 5th place ribbon for my black and white photo of some Triumph motorcycles. I had higher expectations for other photos I entered but I as pleased with what I won.
So this year, I will be entering more of my collection into the amateur photography contest. Considering that I have nearly 5000 images in my portfolio, I was not sure what I could select. One problem was that out of the various categories, I tend to be overweight on some like my landscapes while having little in others like birds or sunsets.
There is also the problem of how to account for the various tastes of the judges. What are their preferences? Conservative or experimental? The bold new look or the tried and true? it is difficult to say so I will go with what I like and see what happens.
So without further ado, here are my entries in this year’s contest:
Color – Other
Color – People
Color – Flowers
Color – Animals
Color – Landscapes
B & W – People
B & W- Landscapes
B & W – Other
This year, we made it out to the current edition of the Dixie Classic Fair. It has been several years since we last went; I think the last time was when Madeleine was not even one year old. So we were overdue for a return visit though frankly, given the state of our finances and the higher costs of the fair, I might have given the fair a pass this year if it was not for the entries I submitted to the photo contest.
A cheap day for the family it is not for the fair. Even tightly controlling the expenditures, it still came out to $80 for parking ($7), admission($24),rides($22) and food($27). Definitely an indulgence for us these days.
Still, we made the most of our time there. Arriving in the late afternoon, we avoided the heat of the day and by lingering for several hours, we managed to take in the fair at evening when the midway and rides are all lighted up. Good size crowd too at the fair.
We wandered around the fair. It seems that nearly half of the vendors there were selling food, way over priced ($7 for a turkey leg? $5 for funnel cake?) and seemingly the same vendor in multiple locations. We checked out the exhibits at the Education building. Some really nice crafts there in wreathes, quilts and the like. We checked out to see if I won a prize for photography (I did).
Wandered around the Midway to see the rides and I was surprised to see the quality of the rides they now have at the fair. Much better than it was before with the Top Spin ride, two ferris wheels, and a beautiful carousel. Plenty of rides for Madeleine to go on for a change.
We checked out the prize winning animals at the stables. There were some poultry there that look amazing.
We did not get a chance to see any shows; limited seating at those places make it hard to see what is going on from behind the crowd. That was a bit disappointing as the theme this year was Wild West Shows which I thought were potentially quite interesting.
So all in all, a decent outing for the family. I am a bit lighter in the pocket book but at least the family is happy. As for me, I am just waiting for the time when we head up to the mountains to see the fall colours.
Note
Of all of the submissions I made for the Dixie Classic Fair photography contest, this is the only one that won a ribbon. 5th place in the Black & White other category. The ribbon and $15 of prize money are greatly appreciated. I always thought that this was one of my stronger photos I have taken in the past year.
My other photos did not get any prizes or honorable mentions. Looking at the winners in the various categories, it is difficult to determine what sort of photo will get the attention of the judges and an award. But I think I have a fair understanding on what it takes for next year.
Today is the start of the 126 edition of the Dixie Classic Fair in Winston-Salem. As always it will be a time of family fun as people come in to see the crafts, the agricultural winners in produce and animals, the shows and enjoy the rides of the Midway. Plenty of fun for all.
After passing it by last year, we will return to the fair this year. Madeleine is old enough to enjoy the rides and appreciate the animals and other good things from the farm. This year, we have extra incentive to attend the fair. After receiving so much encouragement to enter my photography into contests and display my skill at the craft, I went ahead and entered a selection of my photography into various categories. I have eight submissions entered as seen below. One thing about the entries is that they had to be all of a certain dimension (8×10 inches). One thing about the photos I have posted is that I modify them for maximum impact and most times that is cropping them to remove distracting elements or to emphaize a certain dimensional aspect like the horizontal aspect of landscapes.
The contest features prize money along with the ribbons for places 1st through 5th. Considering how much I spend on the development of my prints, the mounts and fixing tapes to display them, I doubt I will recoup my costs but still there is certain pride to be gained if I have the second best landscape photo in the contest.