Hey...no fair!

You live in a bit of a time warp when you spend most of your hours on a film set. In fact, most of the time I'm wearing a watch that is set to Little Mosque time. It gets weird. And if you don't work at it you can drop out of the world a little bit. This morning I called my wife on her cell back home and she told me she couldn't really talk as she was busy helping out in the 'food booth' at the Fair. The Fair. Good Lord I'd forgotten that my beloved Sunderland Fair was today. I haven't missed it in the 16 years we've lived in town. It's a little thing but it hit me like a one-two punch. I would miss the Fair. This must sound ridiculous to many of you, but the Fair has always been one of those precious touch stones that remind me of why I live in the country. There are very few things more beautiful, in my mind, than the view from the top of the Ferris Wheel at dusk. Looking west on a cool September evening the fields are bathed in orange and you can smell Fall coming on fast. And of course there is the Demolition Derby. Another marker that the Fair and the summer are over and we are moving along. I won't get those this year. Oh, to be in the Food booth.

Comments

[sarah w.]

My husband proposed to me in front of his whole family at our state fair. I thought it was very romantickal.

[M. J. Roberts]

I moved from Sunderland to Hamilton in August 1998 so that my daughters could attend McMaster University. For the next four years I faithfully travelled back for the Demolition Derby and a taste of the fair. I still maintain a number of very close friendships. Then grandchildren came along and I haven't made the trek "home" since. I hear you loud and clear, Neil. It is a definite void that is hard to fill. The fall fairs around Hamilton just aren't Sunderland! Hurry home.

[Tracey]

We'll miss you Neil. I'll get a little 'mud in my eye' in your honour tonight!