Way Back When

 

Last night I went to my very first Sterling Fair.

It was ridiculously fun. I haven't been to a carnival in years and years. All of it brought back so many memories. Not specific ones, but just reminders of the way it feels to be a kid. When your stomach drops because the ride you're on comes swooshing toward the ground at 80 miles per hour; when you're thrown into the air and your bum lifts off your seat and you start screaming because even though you're completely safe, that illogical, irrational part of your brain still thinks you're going to die; when you pay $4.00 for a glob of fried dough and smother it in cinnamon and powdered sugar, simply because when else do you ever eat fried dough?; when you reach the top of the ferris wheel and can see for what seems like miles; all of it.

I'd forgotten what it felt like, that incredible, unadulterated joy.

It was nice to rediscover it.