I’m figuring since the Idaho County Fair, which commences this week, is one of the few in the region to go ahead with plans as scheduled, and since a lot of people who normally would attend the fair won’t this year because of fears of the coronavirus, my chances of winning the blue ribbon in the bread contest are greatly improved.

In fact, I’m figuring that if I wanted to enter several categories — photography, knitting, flowers, making funny creatures out of vegetables — even though I don’t even know how to do those things, I might snag a few more blue ribbons here and there. The less competition there is, the better my chances at winning everything.

It may seem trivial to be considering personal gain when there are so many other problems in the world. However, the fair board pays $2.50 for first-place blue ribbons. And to top it off, in the bread category there’s the $5 Idaho County Wheat Growers award, which I’ve won in the past. So we’re talking $7.50 here and there’s nothing trivial about that.

My concern, however, is that for some strange reason more and more people have been getting into sourdough bread baking since the coronavirus hit. What the connection is there, I don’t get. Having a sourdough starter is kind of like having a baby — it’s finicky and needs to be fed frequently. Sometimes, just like when there’s a baby in the house, you have to cancel all your other plans and stay home to tend to it. So since we’re having to stay home anyway, maybe folks figure with sourdough at least you don’t have to change diapers and you can have something tasty to eat at the end of the day.

What worries me is that some of these late-onset sourdough bakers may decide to enter the Idaho County Fair competition and try to wrangle that $7.50 for themselves. In these days when people are nervous about being in public and whether or not their children will be able to attend school and maybe even losing their jobs, having a blue ribbon to display on your car antennae might provide a little solace.

And, let’s face it: When there’s $7.50 involved, it’s hard to resist.

Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.