I have always been what you would call a “city girl,” but something about the annual 4-H fair has always sparked the country girl in me.

With the Bartholomew County fair kicking off July 6, I’m looking forward to checking out the latest 4-H projects, farm animals and grandstand events.

I love wandering through the Community and Family Arts buildings and being inspired by the home-canned vegetables, hand-stitched quilts, colorful bunches of flowers, fresh-baked bread and some of the best-looking tomatoes and cucumbers I’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately, I’ve lost some of my homemaking skills over the years as my children have grown and work has demanded more of my time. I simply dream of having a beautiful table spread with home-cooked foods and a centerpiece crafted with flowers from my backyard garden.

I lived for a time in the country where I had a garden, canned vegetables, made jelly, sewed quilts and grew beautiful begonias and impatiens. I used many of the skills learned from my college minor in home economics, or what they call Family and Consumer Sciences these days.

But something about the spiders, snakes, wasps and raccoons — not to mention being too far away for pizza delivery — soon made me realize I preferred the city life.

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