Blue Thumb, Butterflies and Cheese Curds
Angie Hong
Blue Thumb, butterflies and cheese curds
On the last Friday of the Minnesota State Fair, I awoke with a spring in my step. Although it was not yet 6am and the sun had barely begun to brighten the sky, I was cheerful, knowing that my usual hour-long commute would be replaced that day with a bus ride to the State Fair grounds. I hopped on the bus near my house and settled in for a short catnap, visions of cotton candy dancing in my head.
I spent my morning in the Department of Natural Resources Building (the one with the ponds and trails outside and the fish and dioramas inside), staffing a booth for the WaterShed Partners. In the four hours I was at the booth, 600-800 people stopped by to play with the interactive computer kiosks, learn about the Mississippi River and find their watershed address. Countless children dropped a ball into the “storm pipe” to find out where it would go, even though it was clear to all of us adults that the “pollution ball” would pop out in the river carrying with it dirt, leaves, dog poop and fertilizer.
At the end of my shift, I ventured out into the fairgrounds in search of lunch, hoping to find something that wouldn’t cause me an instant heart attack. I was immediately surrounded by a heard of marauding fairgoers, gorging themselves on cheese curds, pronto pups, chocolate covered bacon and deep fried Twinkies. As the crowd closed in, I began to feel like a gazelle caught in a stampede of wildebeest. I had nearly forgotten how insane the fair could be, and I imagined myself as Indiana Jones, fighting my way through the throng at the food court and squeezing myself past one extremely large person after another to yell, “One falafel pita wrap, please!”
With a dripping pita in hand and nowhere to sit, I had nearly lost all love for the fair until at last I turned a corner and found the Leinie Lodge, with ample seating for all and fabulous music courtesy of Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue. After filling my belly and rejuvenating my spirits with the sounds of New Orleans, I was ready to once again tackle the fair.
I headed next to the Eco Experience Building where the latest in green technology for cars, homes and more was on display. Outside the building, the raingardens that were planted last summer were in full bloom and covered in monarch butterflies. It was like an oasis in a desert to see such lush gardens in a sea of concrete and I could hardly believe that the butterflies could find the flowers here, in spite of the crush of humanity. Stopping to speak with one of the high school students providing information about the raingardens, I asked if they had raised the butterflies as a school project. He assured me that they were wild butterflies that just happened to stop at the fairgrounds as they began their migration south for the winter. I guess it is proof that if you plant native flowers, they will come.
Exiting the Eco Experience building, I paused to watch the daily parade roll through the fairgrounds. I was amazed by an acrobat riding a giant hamster wheel, entertained by the beats of several marching bands (both high school aged and over 65) and dazzled by Princess Kay of the Milky Way who smiled and waved to the crowd. As the last clown rolled out of sight, I turned one last time to the butterflies in the raingardens, and then headed back onto the street and into the crowd.
Visit www.BlueThumb.org for more information about native plants for your own yard that grow well in raingardens and attract butterflies.
Angie Hong is an educator with the East Metro Water Resource Education Program. She can be reached at (651) 275-1136 x. 35 angie.hong@mnwcd.org
Posted: September 4, 2008