Tractor Pulls and Calf Fries

Fair season has begun in Oklahoma. We attended a local fair on Saturday for two specific reasons: so that Barrett could view the tractor pull, and Jason could stuff his face with calf fries.

I may have mentioned Barrett's fascination with all vehicles. His favorites word is undoubtedly "truck". "Truck" applies to most things with wheels, though. We are still working on "train", "tractor", "car", etc. We were pretty sure that he would be excited to see some "truck truck"s, or tractors. I don't think that I had ever heard of a tractor pull until I moved to Oklahoma. If you have never attended one, I will give you a synopsis of what occurs at a "tractor pull".
1. People show up with their tractors. By people, I mean men between the ages of 52 and 109 who wear wranglers and baseball hats.

2. They mill about, chatting about tractory stuff while complimenting one another on their 1952 John Deere, or 1960 Case (no, mom, there is no such thing as a Hoight-Clagwell like Mr. Douglas has in Green Acres). There is a big division between brands. We are Case people because we have a Case. ....no arguments. The John Deere people look down on Case people, and the Case people think the John Deere people are snobs. There are a lot of subtleties to this tractor stuff. I won't pretend that I understand it.

3. Once the track ( a 200 yard strip of dirt) is prepared, the tractors get in line to begin the "pull". What do they pull? Something called a sled, but it's really a piece of machinery with a weight on it....I think.

4. The tractors take turns pulling the "sled". The point? Uhhhhhhhh.............

Well, Barrett enjoyed it anyway.

Then we got food. Jason gets very excited about this particular fair, because they serve calf fries from the local high school's Agricultural program. Do you want to know what they are? I'm warning you: it's gross!
Calf fries are the harvested testicles from the male calves from when they neuter them. They batter them and fry them. They resemble fried oysters in appearance and texture. Calf fries are a rural Oklahoma delicacy....mmmhmm.....I guess.