Mark’s Musings – Oct. 7, 2015

Mark Fortune

What a difference a day makes! Or a week. Or one play. We hear these popular clichés and quips frequently but perhaps you, like me, do not take the time to ponder them much.

First, we can write about the difference between a Saturday at the Coshocton County Fair and a Sunday at the Coshocton County Fair. Or even today (Monday) for that matter. Cold, rainy, windy and nasty. That was Saturday of course – and you could even use one of those words to describe the Buckeyes game. Nasty of course. It all turned out positive in the end for the Buckeyes and Sunday at the fair was certainly a great day as well.

I think everyone knows that a lot of time and effort goes into the county fair to make it what it is. Hours and hours of volunteer time, money and resources spread throughout the community. Businesses, groups and organizations take lots of time to plan and decorate a booth that draws attention and spreads a positive message to the community. Adult volunteer leaders give of their time and energy to help the youth of our community learn life skills that will help them navigate the turbulent waters of life. Take a moment to say thanks when you see them at the fair or around town.

Well, in baseball it’s the Yankees versus Houston and the Cubs versus the Pirates. Who can emerge from the one game playoff – and is one game really fair? High school and college athletes would say, “Well, that’s how we do it, so why not?” And I guess they would be right. As far as the baseball post season goes, can anyone beat the Cardinals?

Six undefeated teams remain in the young NFL season – including the Bengals. I noticed that there were more people at the fair sporting Bengals attire than the Browns – or so it seemed. Could even diehard Browns fans be losing their spirit of devotion as the club just can’t seem to get it together? Who is to blame? It’s not the fans, that’s for sure. They don’t make those decisions.

Let’s return to the county fair. The fair is certainly a place where you can hear positive and negative comments. On Saturday we were complaining about the weather, on Sunday it was the traffic and the crowds. Now, to be fair, that was not everyone. I even heard some folks on Saturday saying that they were enjoying the fall like temperatures. Not sure about the rain but the temps. I can relate to that. Too warm and it just doesn’t seem like Coshocton County Fair weather.

We are human after all and our ability to either see things as a glass half full or a glass half empty is somewhat determined – at least in my world – by how tired I am. The fair is all at once an enjoyable, tiring feast for the eyes, ears and taste buds. Good stuff all around. I hope you had the opportunity to get out to the fairgrounds and enjoy it!

Category: Mark's Musings, Opinion