Every year the volunteer fire company in my small town has a carnival, a fundraiser for their organization. There are several rides, some food booths, a few carnival games, and fireworks. There is neon. This year there was a classic car show. I do not know how the rides and carnival games come to be – are there itinerant carnival operators who contract with various organizations and travel the US, in summer, running the little carnivals? I’ve seen little carnivals used as fundraisers for organizations around here; the church on the border of my small town has one. I have never seen these small carnivals in California. Perhaps small carnivals are local to regions of the US.

I like small town Americana, in limited doses, so I went, early one July evening this year. In a delightful change from other years’ carnivals, it was not broiling hot and humid.

Since I went early, I got parking! Parking is a big deal for me. Without easy parking, I go home.

I entered from the side, going past our town’s softball fields, another slice of Americana. None of my photographs show the entrance to the carnival, which is not as pretty as you would think, as there is a parking lot in front of what I would call the “front” of the carnival. And I can’t see an overall theme on how the carnival is arranged, except the food booths are in the front.

You can see neon. I like neon.

Ticket booth. You need tickets for the rides, not the food.

Funnel cakes are the best carnival and summer festival food. You make a funnel cake by pouring batter into very hot cooking oil, in a circular motion, hence the term funnel cake. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funnel_cake).Funnel cakes are traditionally covered in powdered sugar. Sometimes they are covered with cooked fruit, but I am a funnel cake purist, no fruit for me. If you eat a funnel cake, be forewarned that the sugar and the fat can make you a little sick. It works out better if you eat half a funnel cake.

This is what my funnel cake looks like.

See how big the funnel cake is! It was yummy.

Walking around, I saw some entrepreneurial people were selling neon sticks. I like neon. I bought two. The neon sticks helped me get to my car. Here they are, lighting up my screened in patio.

I could have stayed for the fireworks, but I decided to go home. Depending on exactly where the fireworks are set off, I can see my town fireworks from my alley, from a couple of blocks away, by the golf course, and sometimes from the second floor of my house. This year I did the alley and walked down to the golf course. The golf course has a tall chain link fence surrounding it, which is new, so the shots from the golf course are not that good.

My other phone had better settings for fireworks. I’ll have to play around with this phone to see if I can get better shots.

I didn’t see the fireworks finale, since my neighbor saw me outside and rushed over to talk to me. Apparently my fence has some openings in it, and her dogs are getting through to my side. Such is life in a small town. I can’t see the damaged fence because my bushes are overgrown; I promised her I will fix my fence after my landscaper tames my overgrown bushes.

My virtual life has a carnival too! I have what is called a smart wallpaper on my Android phone and Android tablet – My Beach HD by DualBoot Games, a 3D beach image. Things move, the scene pans. It is wonderful. I selected the carnival option as the point of interest for July festivities (4th of July is a US holiday). My virtual self can go to a bigger carnival, if I want to! I will have to imagine going there as there are no pictures of the carnival up close. And my real life food is better.

I’m fond of fireworks on my cell phone and tablet. I installed Fireworks Deluxe Full by Jetblack Software.

Happy carnival. Happy fireworks.