Exploring My European Heritage...at the County Fair

Posted July 24th, 2006 by Laury Silvers

Given the discussion of community and idenity and such, I thought I would share a few pictures from my visit to the Saratoga Country Fair yesterday. I went with my best buddies Mike Knight and Kathleen Self. I don't know about them, but I was feeling mighty white among my people. All was as it should be except that there was no mayonnaise available anywhere and no visibly Jewish farmers. Yes, there were Jewish farmers in the North East.

I come from a Protestant Irish farming family who settled in central Florida and a Jewish Polish/Russian peasant family that settled in the Irish -tough Brownsville, NY. My dad said my grandfather ended up speaking Yiddish with an Irish brogue. My dad was the youngest in the family and the only one born here. The rest of the family came through Ellis Island. My parents were among those in these families who made good, real good. So all to say, I did not grow up farming but still longed to grow things. I had a great garden in the backyard at my grandparents house in Florida when I was a little kid, but some neighborhood kids tore it up. Later I had a garden on the stoop of my apartment in New Haven. I grew the majority of our fresh food every summer. Right on the stoop. I even, oh yes God, I even grew potatoes in half a barrel. Potatoes.

My great grandparents place in Florida. The photo is taken after they had died and the place had fallen apart.

At the County Fair:

The Muslim-Irish-Jewish American Professor eating fried dough, the Muslim-Irish American Writer admiring a Rooster.

The Muslim-American Writer and the Multi-Ethnic Southern Atheist Professor admiring a very handsome draft horse; This cow was far too large to be realistically a cow. Just trust me. Maybe it was the Surat al-Baqara Breed. (Ouch, bad joke. Take my wife, please!)

The Demolition Derby. We enjoyed this, a lot.

What would Upstate NY life be like without the new commerce in prisoners? At this booth, you can learn how to be a NY State Correctional Officer.

The Strange Thing. I took a picture of it. But it is too strange to post.

I ran into my friend Cheryl and her two kids. I took Nico on the big slide and into the Thriller House. He asked to go! He was very brave, but I had to carry him through the second half of it. He recovered immediately on seeing his Mama and took off for the next ride. I also won him a Green Lantern doll at the water shooting game.

Top photo is of the pig race taken by phone photo. The race was hysterically funny.

Comments

Ahem. Pardon me.

On July 24th, 2006 Baraka B says:

Ahem.

Pardon me.

Muslim-American-Irish Writer staring at a caged cock?

Set it free Muslim-American-Irish Writer! Set it free!

Yes, I thought that photo

On July 24th, 2006 Laury Silvers says:

Yes, I thought that photo was gorgeously funny given how his characters, including his author-character, acts. Just to state the obvious, though, Mike’s work is fiction.

Mike looks a lot different

On July 24th, 2006 Hakim Baker says:

Mike looks a lot different here than in his picture on the “about us” page.

Glad to hear you’re into gardening.

hakim

What I love about that photo

On July 24th, 2006 Baraka B says:

What I love about that photo is his facial expression. The unspoken understanding MK appears to share with the caged cock. I think something shifted for the both of them that day.

And Laury… powdered sugar and fried dough does not a veil make!

I thought the Miu Miu

On July 24th, 2006 Laury Silvers says:

I thought the Miu Miu sunglasses were my veil.

Maybe the picture of Mike with the Rooster is a good illustration of the paradox of the person, author, and the narratives he produces. I mean, if anyone who hadn’t heard of Mike saw that photo they would say, “There is a decent young man at the County Fair.” He has such a straightforward decent smile on his face. But because it is Mike, all the narratives he has written come into interpreting the photo. You know this Baraka—since you’ve met him—most people are usually shocked to find that he is a straightforward decent guy, a sincere Muslim. Mike is one of my best friends. He wouldn’t like me saying this, but tough. He helped me through one of the worst times in my life. He and Kathleen both, they were the ones with the kleenex box, ready to drive me to the lawyers, go grocery shopping for me, feed me, joke around, pat me on the back, watch dumb TV with me, and not become frightened of me when I was feeling like I wanted to die. Mike did the magic thing. We’d order pizza, watch wrestling, and we’d talk about the wrestlers, wrestling narratives, and me feeling like dying, all like it was nothing. And so I am starting to pass out of that time, grateful to my friends. Alhamdolelah, he is one of those friends who has become family for me. Kathleen too.

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Deja Fu is the feeling that you have been kicked in the head this way before. —Terry Pratchett

There's something very

On July 24th, 2006 Baraka B says:

There’s something very calming about that picture. Hard to pin down.

In any case, I only know MK as a super humble awesome guy who has periodic car trouble. Honest honest honest person.

Thanks for reminding me why

On July 24th, 2006 Fashion Mujahid says:

Thanks for reminding me why I love Mike Knight to pieces.

Wow, isn't it a bit early

On July 24th, 2006 Muslim Hedonist says:

Wow, isn’t it a bit early for county fairs? Up here, we don’t start to have them til August at least. More often, September. Because farmers show off their produce at them, so it helps to have at least some of your harvest done.

I’m looking forward to going to one, as soon as they start to open. But I agree that they’re pretty white places to be. I realised that the first time I went to a small-town fall fair in hijab. Click!

All leading up the State

On July 24th, 2006 Laury Silvers says:

All leading up the State Fair in August. The qualifiers for the State Fair are all being held now. Since we are in the middle of farm land up here, we get farm food quite easily. Even the grocery store chains sell local stuff. There are farming co-ops as well as farm stands and farmers markets selling fresh local produce, baked goods, and meat and poultry. Most of it either organic or at least no hormones and really awful stuff. There is a strong feeling that we should all support our upstate farms by choosing their products over others.

You know the whole whiteness thing made me think of History of White People in America? If you click mayonnaise up top, it will take you to the IMDB page for it. Martin Mull’s mockumentary on exploring white culture. It is hysterical. Each family member has their own 5 gallon jar of mayonnaise.

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Deja Fu is the feeling that you have been kicked in the head this way before. —Terry Pratchett