The 54th annual North Stonington Agricultural Fair rolled into town a couple of days ago, and tonight, I was finally able to make my annual trek to this wonderful, small town tribute to our definitely rural heritage and still-semi-rural present. For me, one of the delights of fair-going is a chance to document the event, particularly the often tawdry fun and spectacle of the midway, with its rides, food, and carnival-type games. There's no hoochie-coochie tent anymore to entrance the gentleman—this is a family fair, after all, and it's 2018—but there's more than enough hoochie-coochie-ing going on in plain sight to make such things historical relics. Off the midway, there's the heart of the fair: the displays of the fruits of farming, from blue-ribbon-winning pies and vegetables, to the best-raised breeds of cows, draft horses, sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits, and ducks. Then, of course, there's the main event: the ox pull—a contest of supreme strength and coordination. You come for the corn dogs; you stay for the outcome of oxen and drovers against concrete weights. Maybe you have a little side bet awaiting the final tally.