Report from the Brazoria County Fair south of Houston in Angleton, Texas: In Brazoria, spangles reign. I have never seen so many cowboy boots, jeans, patterned shirts, and spangles congregated in one place -- men and women, both, had rhinestones and pearls on their jeans, belts, and shirts. Nor have I ever felt I was more of a hippie-intellectual-art-loving-vegetarian-flower-child of flower children. Billy and I stuck out among these thousands of people to the point that we got polite stares -- I almost felt I was back in Japan. But the other thing about Brazorians is they are Texans, and like nearly all of the Texans we meet, terrifically welcoming. We were completely adopted by a girl and her father. She was showing a cow named Duchess. They introduced us to Kelly whose son's steer may win the fair. He is a steer from Wisconsin bred by the May family whose son came down from Wisconsin to groom the steer just for the Brazoria county fair. We met a grand prize winning pig named Uno who weighed as much as Billy and me put together. And we felt the wiry hair and warm pink skin of some pigs who have already met their end this morning after not being chosen to be part of a breeding herd. County fairs are not for the faint of heart or vegetarians, either, I'm afraid. But, I will always remember running my hand along the back of this gentle Steer and feeling the thrilling softness of his coat. And I will also remember the gracious Brazorians in their boots and spangles.
