A festival of harvest joy

Common Ground Fair 2024. We had a great time at the fair, as usual. Until I go to the fair, I don’t completely accept fall is coming. Being at the fair teaches me to embrace it in the most joyful way.

Here are my photo highlights.

I loved this sign along the forest path from the South Gate into the fair. Maybe someday I’ll use this word in a sentence. We walked the forest path once over our three days, from then on we took the shuttle buses. The drivers were very friendly. I miss the old hay wagons they used to use, but the buses are much more efficient and can move more people.

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson was the keynote speaker on Saturday. She didn’t lecture, but talked with Sarah Alexander, head of MOFGA (organization that puts on the fair). I had heard Ayana before on On Being. Her topic and the title of her book is “What if we get this right?” It is a great perspective for dealing with paralysis in the face of climate change.

This couple was working hard to make bread in a big portable bread oven. There were two small girls at their booth that seemed to have an insatiable desire for bread. The woman remarked to us “Clearly, these children have never been fed.” While we were standing there, an even smaller brother ran up to them and started eating bread too.

A large crowd of people was watching these folks putting up a yurt. They were at a critical moment here, bracing the round roof hole into place. There was another smaller yurt nearby that they might have built the day before. It was set up for tea service but no one was in there, or I might have entered for a cup.

I found this table full of young stone workers fascinating. Who knew that a table full of tools and chunks of granite would draw such enthusiasm? Everyone at the table was fully concentrating on their task. I don’t know if they had any instruction or were just free-styling.

When I felt jangled by the presence of so many people and so many things of interest, I found peace with the animals. These two goats have that bewildered, yet patient look – What’s going on here? Their breed wasn’t posted, or I missed it. I wonder what kind they are. They look great in their black and white spots.

I watched this woman exercising her horse for a while. A beautiful pair. The horse was mesmerizing.

Susan Barrett Merrill was there along with a pile of her figures. It’s hard to tell, but I think there are three woolly dolls there surrounding one huge hat. The large face surrounded by orange flowers and green leaves is part of the hat.

A collaboration between Susan Barrett Merrill the weaver and the Maine Stoneworkers Guild resulted in this permanent loom installed in a dye garden on the fairgrounds. Of course, I wove a strip in there. Every day a new weaving was commenced and finished by fairgoers. I asked the attendant what happened to the weavings and she said they were all promised to various people.

I thought Susanne looked like a creature out of a Scandinavian fairy tale, wearing all her woolly knits. She seemed constantly busy and imparted a lot of information to people. I sat in on a backstrap weaving demonstration that she did. I might take a full-day class on it from her in 2025 if it’s offered.

At least half of the women and some of the men wore flower wreaths like this. I later found the vendor that was making them, and there was a long line of course. These flower crowns added a lot to the festive atmosphere.

Now I feel free to move into the harvest season, done with the sadness of leaving summer behind.