Enjoy the warmth while you can

The calendar says it is officially autumn.

As we all know, sometimes the calendar lies and summer lingers or winter shows up early. Weather is a fickle phenomenon that cares not for the calendars we have created. This year the weather was cool but perfect for the annual Heritage Festival. It is the local version of a fall celebration.

The weather guy was predicting afternoon showers. Thankfully, the weather guy was wrong. Since it was a bit chilly I put on jeans. Miracle of miracles they did not shrink in the closet like they usually do each winter.

If you have never been to this event, I encourage you to stop by next year. There are crafters selling things you didn’t even know existed but would make a nice Christmas or birthday present. There are people you haven’t seen for a long time and space to catch up with them. There are stilts to try for the well balanced people. Not being well balanced I have never tried them.

You can “milk” a two-dimensional cow. It wasn’t very realistic because the imitation cow couldn’t swish its tail into the face of the person trying to milk it. It also couldn’t kick the milk bucket over. I guess with today’s technology most people use automatic milkers, rendering hand milking obsolete. I doubt that the automated milkers can squirt a stream of milk at a waiting kitten. There’s a price to pay for everything.

One of the things I like about this event is all the experienced people driving the golf carts from the parking lot to the event and back again. Sometimes they are talkative and sometimes not. Sometimes they get a person where they are going at record speed, while others are a bit more cautious. Always they are polite and I enjoy the brief moments of conversation I have with them.

If one isn’t interested in crafts or the other outside attractions one is free to go inside the historical museum and wander around. If you don’t find anything to compel you to say, “we had one of those” then you are far younger than I. The antique washers weren’t exactly like what we had, but they were close enough to remind me of when my brother, Michael, got his hand stuck in the wringer. It didn’t do any damage, just hurt for a bit. Don’t know what a wringer is? Ask a grandparent.

For me, the greatest attraction is the people. I am fascinated by what people create. I would never even think of taking spoons and creating a frog. Scraps of metal that most of us would throw away become sculptures of zany critters waiting to go home with you. Tables upon tables of stuff prove that the arts of crocheting and knitting are not dead.

A good number of children were carrying used yogurt containers filled with soil and grass. They had decorated the makeshift pots and learned a little about recycling in the process. There were enough other activities to keep the children from getting bored.

It was a perfect venue for people watching and catching up with old friends. There are other festivals and events to choose from in the fall depending on how far you want to drive and what your interests are. My brother, David, is a fan of the renaissance festival in Ohio and spent the day there with some of his friends. My other brother, Michael, keeps an eye out for anything related to model trains or old, rusty tractors.

Whatever interests you, there will be a group of people somewhere who share your interests and who have taken the time to organize a gathering that will revolve around that subject. I hope you can get out and enjoy the warm days of autumn. One day Mother Nature will realize summer is over and she will make up for the sunny days we have had.