OK, I’m not a “fair” guy.  It’s always too hot, too crowded, too loud, and too dusty for my extreme sensibilities.  Yet every year, I somehow manage to allow the supervisor to drag me along to look at bunnies and quilts and to wolf down a few krumkakes and a Missus Wicken lemonade.  This year I couldn’t complain about the weather.

So, the Douglas County Fair – famed in song and story.  I most remember riding the Tilt-A-Whirl as a kid with my Uncle Dick.  We would complete a ride, get off, buy another ticket, and get right back on again.  Well, you had to be there.  I’ll always remember sister Gretch’s fondest memory of the fair when we were kids – a kid had barfed cotton candy all over his shirt and continued to wander the fairgrounds being forever in our view.  On that day – and to this day – we all refer to him fondly as “Pink Boy.”

[The midway – with teeming masses of humanity.]

This year we went to see Cassie & the Bobs.  We had never seen them perform, and it was beginning to be an assault on our reputations as local bon vivants!  Always good to see, and hear, Annie and Bruce and Terry and, for the first time in a long time, Fiddlin’ Sami.  I had a nice visit with Sami – she has had issues with her bowing arm for quite a while now.  The pain caused her to come home from the University of Colorado because she could no longer play.  She has finally been diagnosed as having rheumatoid arthritis in that arm – so here’s hoping it can be “treated” well enough for her to reclaim her college scholarship.

[Someone forgot to shut the back door?]

[Our guy Terry is the “Bob” in the middle.]

[“Bob” and Cassie, channeling Patsy Cline.]

[“Bobs” Bruce, Sami, and Annie.]

[Cowboy hat]

[We bid adieu to the fair – with a parting shot, for the Indiana and Virginia sides of the family who are quite fond of them, of the Cheese Curds sign.]

The next day it was off to the winery for the Velines.  The supervisor and I enjoyed our first Italian panini there.  And with our bottle of Trinity, enjoyed Matt and Julie.

[We had to “ford” through the Corvettes to get to the stage.]

[Julie and Matt were joined by their 3-year old son Will, a left-handed bass player.  🙂 ]

[And Will had several girl cousins there.]

[Super Fan Vivian (middle) was there with her girlfriends from Minneapolis.  When the girls come to town, Super Fan Bob leaves – this year to Glencoe so he could check out Bump’s Restaurant, home of the famous Bump Burger!  😉 ]

[Will is already planning his solo career.]

Unfortunately as we were readying to leave the winery, we were joined by the likes of Rock, Gary, and Dangerous Dan.  We advised we needed a slight break in the action before heading to Bug-A-Boo Bay for Uncle Willie’s Gutbucket Blues Band – the supervisor requested we head home for a quick nap.  Dangerous Dan misunderstood and went directly to Bug-A-Boo – when we got there an hour later, he scolded us for being late!

Cloud:  On the way from home to Bug-A-Boo, I shot the same cloud over a ‘bean field, Lake Carlos, and Lake L’Homme Dieu.  Yes, I’m easily entertained.

[I’ve looked at clouds from three sides now . . .]

[When we arrived at Bug-A-Boo Bay, Bruce (yes, the same Bruce who was playing with Cassie & the Bobs the previous night) was entertaining his fan club by the shores of beautiful Lake L’Homme Dieu.]

[Al was fine tuning his mandolin.]

[And away they went – Uncle Willie’s Gutbucket Blues Band.  And, as always, no matter what my angle, Annie is hidden behind someone!]

Some videos:  Uncle Willie’s Gutbucket Blues Band’s “Deep Ellum Blues”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppd0C3_5wjM

Uncle Willie’s Gutbucket Blues Band’s “Galway Girl”:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jzd4UoGooo

[It was an absolutely perfect evening!  Chamber of Commerces would pay mucho dinaros for such evenings.  70 degrees, dry, no wind, no bugs – we could have sat out all night listening to the boys, and girl, play!  🙂 ]

Editor’s note:  I subsequently learned that some fraudulent survey company determined Minnesota to be one of the 10 worst states to retire to (as they dangled their participle).  Keep it up, fraudulent company – keeps out the riff-raff!

[Anybody sitting there that night – with the lake in the background – would just say, “Wow!”]

And blog contributor, Sue Elliot, sent the latest Patchouli video.  Thanks, Sue – “Woodlands” is one of my favorites.

Patchouli’s “Woodlands”:  http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=vIaArcC9wYo&feature=em-share_video_user

I think we’re caught up for now.  Uffda.  But fall sports are just around the corner.  Soon the blog will be featuring Cardinal athletes instead of near and distant relatives.  I sent out a notice of the fall sports schedules and was immediately set upon by the villagers in Young Frankenstein for not including those for tiddly-winks, Parcheesi, and adult somersaulting.  But I kid.  Yes, all the other fall sports are wonderful, too.  It’s just that the Super Fans have to pick and choose – and we can change on the fly – and football and volleyball have been the fall sports of choice in recent years.  It’s bad enough that almost all volleyball games are on Thursday nights – thus totally disrupting “date night!”