Color at the Iowa State Fair

Shortly after attending the 2009 Iowa State Fair, I wrote a piece called It’s Iowa Nice (published December 2009). Yet this year, my focus at the fair was different. I focused on a specific location within the fair, rather than the people who visit, specifically, The Master Gardener’s Discovery Garden.

In a sentence...no...a paragraph, I could list a thousand, poetic words to describe the garden, yet, only one word truly paints a perfect picture of the garden: color. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, color is “a specific combination of hue, saturation, and lightness or brightness.” Now, imagine every color ever flashed before your eyes: soft blues, strong reds, comforting purples, daring yellows, contrasting greens, shifty magentas, monochromatic pinks, and warm browns.

With that in mind, come with me. Imagine, sitting at the base of a tree on bench at 9am in the morning as I did that day. Rest your eyes. Open but rested, taking it all in. Notice Dorothy’s shiny ruby red slippers hang over her blue house; a miniature yellow cow painted with green and orange flowers on its belly stands in the children’s garden; larkspur creating an effective border, preventing an aggressive sea of red flowers from disrupting the calm brown ground; even iridescent dragonflies and black and yellow honey striped bees flit from stamen or carpel to the next. You’ll soon notice your ears and nose want to join in. Do you smell the softened mulch in the morning air? Can you hear the light dribble of water running its way through the makeshift stream?

Scenic beauty exists in the middle of the Iowa State Fair, where turkey legs, beer tents, carnival rides, and band members wear shimmering gold jackets sing their melodies. I hope you enjoyed your visit as much as I did.