This past weekend marks the official beginning of fall for me.  The last two weeks getting ready for school were crazy, as they are for most parents I’m sure.   Our small little hamlet has its annual fair the first weekend in September, where good Christian souls sell pies and hand-made crafts and the noise of the tractor pull keeps me awake until the wee hours.  The carnies come into town with their brightly color rides, and over priced prizes (this year the fav was toy guns that shot nerf bullets, last year it was plastic swords) and the parents watch in the distance in the beer garden while their teens hang cool in clumps and throw furtive glances at each other, and various bands play cover tunes.  It culminates in the parade when the school marching band struts proudly (that’s my eldest to the left) and every organization in town throws out candy…this year I marched with the swim team.  You can actually see us in the picture behind the cabin watch float in the light blue t-shirts.  I am barely visible on the edge of the crowd passing out leaflets.  Anyway it is always sad when it ends because it means that summer is indeed over and the days are really beginning to feel shorter.