Fair on the Square

We woke to chilly temperatures this morning, hovering around and a bit below freezing. But it was a sunny day and things warmed up a bit as the day went along, making it a pleasant but cool October day. I doubt we made it to 60 degrees (15.6 C) all day.

We thought about going to Madison today, but opted instead to go to the little Fair on the Square in Baraboo. There are arts and crafts booths, a farmers market, music, children's activities, fair foods and so on. "Fair foods" are, of course, not fair because they are attractive and certainly not because they are healthy. Things fried and put on a stick tend to prevail. Most of it is offered by local school or church youth groups and such as fund raisers. We thought about getting gyros, but it was a bit chilly to try to eat lunch, balancing messy food on the lap while sitting in the shade on a rock wall. We decided to return to the Dells and get gyros at a place we like and where we could eat more comfortably.

The courthouse square is the scene for a lot of these sorts of things in Baraboo, as I imagine is the case in county seats across the land. There is a Spring Fair as well as a Fall Fair. Most Thursdays during the summer there are free Concerts on the Square, something we used to attend regularly when I was working in Baraboo. The Sauk County Art Association hosts a Summer Art Classic that showcases some of the very fine artists in our area, including a number of our friends and acquaintances. 

I think Tom could do well at the Art Association show if he would offer some of his things for sale, but he lacks the interest. Even when people ask to buy one of his pieces, he just gives it to them. And he is reluctant to take commissions because he paints pretty much as and when the spirit moves him.

 It seems to me that when we first came here, these things were called Faire on the Square -- which Tom insisted on pronouncing, "Fairy on the Squarey." You know how we Americans think that calling something Ye Olde or putting an -e on the end of a word that doesn't ordinarily have one makes it sound quaint and interesting: Ye Olde Booke Shoppe, for example. Perhaps I am wrong about the Baraboo fairs, however, because I can find no photographic or other graphic proof of this failing online.

We also ran into friends who were there with a grandson and chatted with them for a while. Before we left, Tom bought a Plum Valley Bakery cherry pie from an Amish lad at the farmers market. Dinner tonight is probably going to just be soup and salad, but the pie will make it special.