Monday, July 16, 2001
Impressions of the Oregon Country Fair
(Since it was my first)
Trees, dust, cloudy sky. Sunday. Spectrum of people: young, old, black, white, thin, fat, short, tall. Glitter. Fairy wings and diaphanous draped arms. Dried rosebud circlets atop creatively adorned heads: braids, headwraps, dreads, or no hair at all. Satin and silk. Cotton and hemp. Painted bare skin, arms, legs, bellies, even breasts -- men and even women. One booth (midwife association) even will paint one's pregnant belly as if you could see through to the baby -- at the correct stage of development. Air filled with the scent of patchouli and smudging sage. Drumming. Voices in song. Wheeled carts selling wares. Permanent booths with two stories and tree branches woven into the lumber. Giant tubes pressed to your ears that vibrate with a digeridoo-like sound, hearing what the trees hear. Pizza -- organic chocolate ice cream topped with fresh raspberries -- Afghani cuisine -- hot coffee. Puppet parades and artistic licenses. Sound sculpture and physical music. Crowded shuttlebus, tired feet.
