All the fun of the fair

There is a saying "One day your life will flash before your eyes... make sure it's worth watching". My life flashed before my eyes this weekend when I went to our local spring fair. The first 'flash' happened when my friend (who has no sense of motion sickness) persuaded me (who can't even sit in the back of a car without going green) to go on a ride with her. It was a ride designed to let your stomach know you were alive, your heart believe you might not be much longer, and your head wish you were anything but. It was ghastly.
However, after making it back to terra-firma and taking a (long) moment to compose myself, we all walked around the fairground, taking in the sights, sounds and smells – candyfloss, bright lights, goldfish, music, fluffy toys, waltzers, tin cans, dodgems... And mingling through the multi-coloured mayhem were couples, families, and groups of teenagers, all out for a good time. It took me right back to the days when the fair arriving in my home town was one of the highlights of my childhood/teenage years. The rides may require stronger hydraulics (and stomachs) now, and the music isn't quite so easy on my ears, but the sense of excitement and wide-eyed wonder that I used to have came back to me in a flash. And it was worth the watch...