State Fairs

August usually means one--well two--events in my very extended family--especially for my brother. For the past four years Jim has delivered papers to RAGBRAI and to the IowaState Fair which is celebrating its sequescentennial this year. It's also been named by USA Weekend as one of the top ten fun places to visit.
Now, I'll start mea culpaing that I haven't been to the Iowa State Fair in what feels like175 years. But I can dimly remember hopping into the family Chevy with the rest of the gang and heading for a day at the fair. We used to line up to go into the home shows because those were the only places with air conditioning. So, Jim, let me know how you rate this particular fair. Anyone going to a fair in your state, care to comment. And I'll just sit in my air conditioned library and dream of sawdust and noise and dust and sunburns and butter cows.
Of course, Florida's fair isn't until February. Somehow, that just doesn't seem right! :-) And all the rest seem to coincide with the start of a new school year. Definitely a seasonal marker for all.