From an earlier edition of my BLOG - Written on July 17th, 2008.  Funny how so few - and yet, how many things have changed since then...  

Saw a lightning bug and other Clark Kent Observations..

Interesting weekend, in many ways. Have I ever said how much as the years have gone by I love the fair? There’s something so.. .nostalgic and reminiscing about your local Wisconsin County Fair.. The cheese curds. The artery-hardening-greasy-lions-cheesburgers..to die for..  Gyros made from some mystery meat…served in tin foil and dripping sauce on your shirt..  Cheap beer in the beer tent… people you haven’t seen in years… Those Budweiser Mirrors… tilt a whirls.. Zippers…  Farris wheels.. on top of the world with your sweetheart. Kissing in the parking lot.

A few years back, I think I lamented about how I hated the fairs. Seemed like such a gyp…  but the last couple of years, I’ve learned to love them again. Just in the way of re-connecting with a past part of me. I don’t miss those days, but it was cool to re-visit just a little part. Of course it’s not the same..  first off, no sweetheart to go on the Farris wheel with and steal kisses…  but still got to spend some time in the beer (pavilion) not a tent… and listen to a great band.

(Of course, then she walks by… and the band starts playing… “WHEN WILL I BE LOVED?”  coincidence?) 

Anyway… I got what I wanted out of the experience. Saw people I knew from long ago. Had some cheap beers. Smelled the smells of the diesel engines that power the rides. Saw the show animals and the cool 4H stuff. Had the POWER GYRO… The crying kids and the teenagers all “meeting up”. It was nice.

Tonight when I was walking I saw a lightning bug. I think this is the first one I’ve seen in 2 years. I remember as a kid chasing them in a farmer’s field by our house in Wonewoc. Collected them in a little jar and my dad poked holes in the top “for them to breathe”.

I recently met a friend that (surprise surprise) actually likes Baraboo. We’ve had some great conversations.. and come to find out that she’s lived pretty much all over the U.S. and she said that she loves it here and does not ever want to move. I find that refreshing. Seems like some acquaintances I’ve known always want to move away… “If only I could move away from here…”

Brings up an interesting topic. Where ya hang your hat…   Though I am looking at kind of “hunkering down” over the nine or so months, to ride out what is turning out to be one tough recession. It’s just downright scary out there…  But, out of every bad storm comes a good thing…I believe. And maybe out of this one I’ll finally get me Dale on, and get past my very checkered past.

Does that include a move? Hmmm.. not sure. I really do (now) understand that willingness to start over again, fresh. New job. New town. But for someone that’s pretty much an introvert.. it could be very hard to start again. I would have to face my “social anxiety fears”, and not depend on the music/band part of my life to introduce me to new people. I am a little surprised that I have learned to come out of the shell a bit over the past year. I found…that…aside from drunks and sluts in bars… I enjoy having conversations with people. I like to hear their views (whether I agree with them or not), and their life histories.

And all this time, I thought I had the corner of the market for being…uhmmm… interesting.

Where you hang your hat is home? Maybe it’s where you hang your heart. I guess as the zen master once said…Hmmm.. We’ll see.