We must have known that it couldn't last. As we went about our days enjoying the novelty of the cool but beautiful fall weather and all of its 
charms and activities we had to have known that the tempest was just about the bend. Cool weather, even cold weather, is completely enjoyable, especially when the sun is shining, but even when not. Wet weather, on the other hand, can be hard to work around, though far from impossible to enjoy. We intended to greet yesterday early with beautiful plans for a fun filled morning downtown followed by a relaxing fall afternoon of football. Instead we 
would find our first waking moments tempered by dark gray clouds urging us to roll over and return to sleep. So we lured ourselves out of bed and into the chill, damp morning with visions of pancakes and coffee at our little breakfast place at the edge of town. Being in a little town diner so early on a Saturday morning is like putting ones ear to the heart and lips of the village, and I'm sure we came away from our meal knowing more about the 
pulse of our town than we could have gleaned from reading its little weekly paper. Almost as alluring as warm breakfast was the draw of the monthly used book sale at the library, right around the corner. Where else can one go shopping amidst thousands of titles, coming away with armloads and bagloads of books, including several anthologies (of great poems, fiction, and short stories—some really great writers included) all for a total that didn't even 
require a Hamilton, which is good because we needed him at the fair that came next. And wouldn't you know, just as the fair was opening up, so did the clouds, letting loose the mournful deluge they had been hinting at since dawn. No matter, really. It is just as fun to attack a clown, feed a sheep, and ride a horse (not any horse, mind you, but a percheron, since the itty bitty pony wasn't good enough) in the rain as when it is dry, and in fact, the warm cider and doughnuts, ingested under the protective canopy of the gazebo, was an even more gratifying snack in such fall-like fall weather. Really, we didn't lament the outcome of the day until some four plus hours later, faced with a disappointing end to a bitter football game, putting our first loss of the year up on the board. Yes, all good things must come to an end.
Take that! Who likes clowns anyway?