What I learned at the Common Ground Fair

I haven't been to the Common Ground Fair since I was a little girl. Mom reports that I made my own paper (a precursor to future endeavors?) back then. This time around, I learned a few new things:

Traffic of "Woodstock" proportions will greet you if you arrive mid-afternoon during the best fair weather in "years," so plan accordingly for those last critical 3 miles. Better yet, ride a bike.

Dreadlock mullets have made a comeback/appeared. We counted at least two among what my brother called "the largest collection of hippies I have ever seen." This coming from a man who has lived in Maine for nearly 27 years and goes to school in Orono.

A writer known for his footnotes, but remembered for much more

At the risk of becoming the food obit blogger, I think it's important to note the passing of writer David Foster Wallace, who was found dead in his California home on Friday, allegedly by his own hand. His famed 2004 "Gourmet" essay "Consider the Lobster" chronicled the life and times of the crustacean and the lobgasmic spectacle that is the Maine Lobster Festival. But it also sparked massive controversy in the food world over how Wallace portrayed consumers, marine biologists, animal rights activists and lobstermen & women – by delving into the ethics of cooking and eating the lifeblood of the state. It really hit a nerve with the magazine’s readers, many of whom felt that "Gourmet" shouldn’t have run a story that derided how a widely beloved gourmet food item was prepared. The editors stood by the reporting – and supported DFW’s style – though I have yet to see another "Gourmet" piece spark the same outcry, even when touching on gavage, animal slaughter and biotech crops. As a writer, reader reaction is one of the things that can make us the most proud. And, oftentimes, the most tortured.   

Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.