Thursday, February 03, 2005
Waste
For a few weeks out of the year, it's noisy. It's filled with chatting families and polished animals. A swirling, chaotic vortex of farm oriented "fun", political activism and the screams of citizens on the assorted rides.It's the Nebraska State Fair grounds and for a fraction of the year, it's actually used.But what happens when its over? What happens when the 4-H kids back up and the animals are sent to slaughter? What happens to the fair grounnds?It's hard to explain or sum up this track of land just outside of campus. It's shattered and empty, a ghost town setteled bitterly in the north of the capital of the state.On the surface it seems dead. All the buildings sit quiet and posters for ammendments that didn't pass cling to moistening tape, about to fall and be forgotten. Lights shine down upon a grouund that nobody walks, and the wind sweeps across large, empty parking lots that seem to cry out for the feel of spinning rubber across it's frozen face.Everywhere you look, there's a USA Today and an Omaha World Herald paper stand, containing current headlines, which nobody will read. Every machine remains fully stocked, everyday, but they won't be emptied until the next day's edition arrives, to follow the exact same path.The race track remains void of cars, horses, competition, and attention. Horse stalls fill with leaves, and lights blink on and off, in bad need of maintanence, but left behind until the fair rolls around again.Electricity and water flow freely to nowhere.It's not completely dead out there. It has the occasion train show or hockey games, but those are under the radar. Only when the fair is in town is it used to it's full capacity, and the rest of the time, it's dead.
posted by Dan # 9:10 PM 0 comments