Fair Friday

Not much to report today. Things were busy at the office -- I was nowhere near caught up when I left, but when I was hired I was told not to expect everything to be done at the end of the day. That is still taking some mental adjustment...

I had a nice lunch with Marty at the Cheese Factory. My black bean burrito was very good and it is a pleasant place. She brought some booklets about her religion, and I listened politely but am not interested.

Another beautiful day. Tomorrow is the Faire on the Square in Baraboo, arts and crafts, the opening day at Circus World, bag day at the library book sale and so on. I have already been through the book sale once, but I didn't find anything that appealed. I may give it another shot. They have great things at the arts and crafts fair, but I prefer to wander through things like that with someone. Tom is an artist, and the house is decorated largely with his paintings and his former wife's pottery. I have encouraged him to consider selling things at one of the fairs. He likes to talk to the exhibitors and get ideas, but he has too many irons in the fire right now to get serious about painting enough things to exhibit anywhere.

Last night my friend Rick called from Iowa. I haven't talked to him for a while and it was good to catch up. If I can get a long weekend I hope to get down there to visit him and some other Iowa friends. I had thought about trying to go this weekend while Tom is away, but I wound up with some other commitments. It is almost a four-hour drive each way, too, and I don't particularly want to have to stay overnight. After a long drive these days, I have learned that I need a full day to recuperate afterwards before heading back to work. Oh, for the days when I would drive with another guy from Michigan State to Texas straight through in twenty-two hours and be ready to go do something when I arrived! Not hardly no more.

Rich and Peggy across the road had a bonfire last night. This is a frequent thing for them. It seems to be a big tradition in Peggy's family, and they have a large stone-ringed fire pit in front of their house. The first time we went over for one they showed us how throwing in old burnt-out Christmas-tree-lights makes for wild colors as the wires melt and burn. A little weird...