Since 1859,with a few interruptions for the Civil War, WW II fuel shortages, polio epidemics, and the Sioux Indian uprising, Minnesota has held its State Fair on roughly the same week and a half of the year. The 2008 run began yesterday. This is to celebrate the bounty of the harvest, the mature livestock, the dog days of August, and.........the official end of summer in the northland. If a certain esteemed and estimable Milwaukee blogger is reading this, I would suggest stopping now. We don't want to put you on suicide watch this early in the year.
As we sat enjoying our traditional post paddle beer on the edge of Long lake (did I mention that RonO and I were rolling maniacs that night?) we felt a bit of nip in the air and discussed the fact that it was getting dark at 8:00 instead of 9pm. Ron also pointed out that on his trip north this weekend the sumac had turned as red as a fire engine and we discussed opening day of the fair. Labor Day weekend commences one week from today and our annual fall paddle trip begins two weeks from now. My bow has flung a couple of arrows and several yards of gravel have been dropped at the hunting camp to avoid the quagmire that usually occurs with the fall rains.
If history is any indicator, we will have that killer frost that we hay fever sufferers crave in about 3 weeks. I plan on lubricating the dry suit gaskets and actually threw a wool shirt in the pack for this weekends trip to my sisters cabin in Wisconsin. The leaves will begin to turn shortly and after that.......Sorry folks...
But I guess thats why we live here, a combination of a short attention span, memories of last years fall and winter, and yearning and wonder of what the next season will bring. Speaking of that, I wonder when the first preseason cross country ski sale will be announced.....?
No comments:
Post a Comment