Fall doesn't start in Fairbanks until the Tanana Valley Fair. With perfect timing, the day the fair opens it starts raining. It hasn't stopped for weeks. I asked when it would stop & cringed to the response. "It doesn't, it just turns into snow."
The fair was different. Everyone was excited about the rides & the food. There were gyros! $10 to get in to just for Greek food. Atleast I got in for free. I was helping out the Interior AIDS Assoc. by giving them bathroom breaks. One break a man came up to tell me how you cure AIDS by basic cow husbandry. Apparently a calf doesn't have an immune system without three weeks of saturation with milk. He believed you could rebuild immune systems in humans this way. The conversation ended when I got serenaded by the barber shop octet.
Before it started raining I went berry picking with two coworkers. It was disturbing when they called Itchy "bear bait." Bears love blueberries. Luckily they like them at a late ripeness then we do. That doesn't mean that you don't keep a wary eye out. The way to keep a good distance between you & bears is noise. Some people attach sleigh bells to their clothes. I personally think that's like a dinner bell. James likes to do Mr.T impressions while Mike sang. With those two carrying on we spent an afternoon on our bellys picking low-bush blueberries. Then we drove to Chattanika Lodge to eat a Dredge burger while basset hounds lay at your feet.
I have the title on the Vespa now! I got excited to see that there was a course titled "Intro. to Small Engines." In the class you got to dismantle a 2 stroke engine, remantle it then bring in your own project. Just what I needed! When I went to register they wouldn't let me because it is only taught to Hutchison high school students. I was able to register this week to a graduate level Arctic Engineering class without any background checks but I can't get into high school.
Finally fell down the stair ladder up to my bedroom. I miss you more than a hot pad.