They call them family farms for a good reason, they are all about family, they could not exist without family. The closeness and connection and love of these farm families for one another is profound, and a wonder to me. My family was anything but close, but at the county fair you see the farm families come together in the most visible and beautiful way.

They eat together, sleep together, talk to one another, support and console one another. They come to the county fair in their trailers and sometimes sleep on blankets and sleeping bags close to the barn so they can be with their cows. In the barns, in between the shows and competitions, friends and cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents and neighbors all gather to talk, play cards and games, eat and gossip.

The family farms are dying, so I suppose these kinds of fairs and family gatherings are dying also. We don’t talk politics much, but I know almost every one of these families are supporters of the President. They feel everyone else has abandoned them, and they feel he speaks directly to them, even if they joke that he speaks and tweets too much.

I feel very close to these people, and yet I could hardly be more different. They are good and kind to me, and they always let me take their photos, and I thank them for that.

I love the sense of family this photo conveys in part because of its soft focus.

At the county fair, I love to sit and linger and watch and listen, because I know one day soon we will not see this. More and more kids are foregoing the rigors of 4-H for Facebook and a different, more lucrative and easier way of life. One with a future.