physics (af)fairs

I have fond memories associated with the State Fair. Five years ago, I walked all around the fair with my accelerometers and climbed on top of a haunted house to make eye-level measurements for Kolena's physics lab. Fair-goers looked at us with half suspicion and half amusement. Two years ago, I found myself at the fair with an unexpected date. As we had to weave through the crowds, I thought about holding his hand and blending in with the hundreds of other hand-holders there. I would never do such a thing of course, what silly thoughts. We shared a deep-fried twinkie and a slice of cheesecake on a stick together--standing there under the booth light as if we had always shared twinkies and cheesecakes. When we were waiting in line for the "ring of fire", he said things that could have possibly meant that we should keep on sharing those twinkies and cheesecake slices, bring them into the mountains, bring them into broadway shows. He was pretty suave for a physics major. The fireworks went off at 9:30pm, we were second in line for the ferris wheel. We were on the ferris wheel and the fireworks lit up the right side of our faces. I could feel the heat from the sparks, and my stomach was a little tight at high altitudes. We both pretended not to notice that his knee was slightly touching mine. The old couple across from us exclaimed how nothing like this had ever happened to them in their half a century of union. We soared above the fairgrounds. We soared and soared, he said a new decade was a decade for changes. We soared and soared, he said those sugar-coated apples on sticks were delicious. I ate mine and he ate his. We soared from this continent to that, my stomach was just a little queasy. When he was thousands of miles away, he said, just remember, one day we would be here again. I said, sounds good to me. And that was the end of this story.