There's plenty to see at the State Fair. That's an understatement. But there's also the understated — little things, those things we see without seeing them, that add to the joy. Pause and look closely to see the beauty of detail.
A pig pushed its snout through its cage in the Swine Barn.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
A nearly-eaten cone of Coffee Chocolate Twist (Mocha) custard from the Grandstand Frozen Custard booth.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Aurora Xiong, 2, of St. Paul, licked her lips after a spoon-full of ice cream during her first ever day at the fair.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
A sunflower was almost ready to bloom outside the Kemp Little Farm Hands booth.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Blistered roasted corn, photo on the left, and a Pronto Pup with ketchup and mustard, photo on the right.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
A dropped French fry rests on the ground beside the foot of Michele Lukkason, of Farmington, near the Midway.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
A stack of Sweet Martha's Cookies.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Ron Kelsey, 82, the superintendent of Farm Crops for the fair, got his first and only tattoo of an ear of corn at 75. "I'm a corn person," said Kelsey with a chuckle.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
A Blue Ribbon in the Education Building on a STEM exhibit.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
French fries and ketchup.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Samantha Allman, of Lindstrom, looks on as she takes a break at the fair.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Seed art, by Benjamin Denson, of Minneapolis, depicts fair mascot, Fairchild, standing by a pair of Minions. The piece is made up of brown and gold flax seeds, chia seeds, green split peas, mustard seed, pearled barley, sorghum seed and wild rice.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Thousands of yeasty bubbles rise from a Coors lite sitting beside a fairgoer near the Grandstand.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Bubbles are blown by a duck at a vendor booth as the SkyGlider moves riders across the fairground.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
The texture from a strawberry vanilla twist cone from the Grandstand Frozen Custard booth.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
A pair of busy bees near the "Buzz Booth" in the Horticulture building.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
The back of Luigi, an iguana on display outside Monty's Traveling Reptile Show.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Norah Paquette, of White Bear Lake, 8, received a fake pig tattoo in the swine barn.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
An award-winning musk melon, photo on the left, and texture on the side of an award-winning pumpkin, photo on the right, in the Horticulture Building.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Pickle Pizza from Rick's Pizza.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Julia Pederson, 11, of Maple Grove, takes a bite from her Shrimp Skewer from the Shrimp Shack outside the Horticulture Building.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Texture on the side of an award-winning pumpkin in the horticulture building.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
A demonstration outside the ABC Seamless building saw tiny waterfalls trickling onto asphalt shingle roofing to show the effectiveness of gutter guards.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
A nearly eaten chocolate vanilla soft serve from the Dairy Building.
Aaron Lavinsky, Star Tribune
Yupeng Moua, 7, of Oak River, lays down on a bench as the SkyGlider operates above, the ride he hopes to go on once he's done digesting his food from the afternoon. He's had a busy day of going on rollercoasters, eating pizza, lemonade and ice cream.
