THE GREAT SUMMER SMOKE-OUT.

The Walworth County Fair takes place Labor Day weekend, part of the formalities of summer vacation ending and the new school year, or perhaps the pro football season, beginning.

That does have a county fair look about it, what with the portable Ferris Wheel and the always obligatory Paratrooper and Tilt-a-Whirl, as well as the flea market.

The photo is from last Friday, though, and the main event involved food.

The Elkhorn Rib Fest is back after a couple years hiatus thanks to the corona tyranny.  The banner line is definitely not the side show, it is the main event, and apparently the itinerant pitmasters have these banners and trophy displays ready to go, and, as you see, the participating vendors are from all over.

Memphis, Tennessee, and Woodstock, Illinois, no smoked groundhog, please.  Although the weather got nasty later in the evening, with a few tornadoes and strong storms presenting along the State Line and to the east, a lot of people were getting their treats in.

There were two tents dedicated to live bands, and the free parking on the fairgrounds was all occupied by six p.m.  It's possible that the event, which coincided with the end of the Harley-Davidson 120th birthday party in Milwaukee, brought in more than a few tourists.

Yes, Aussom Aussie would put a stick of shrimp on the barbie, if you were so inclined.  A bottle of their "Blue Flame" sauce went home with me.

There's an emergent diversity among the pits, as there are many ways to prepare smoked meat, and the audience at the festival is beginning to reflect that.  A Rib Fest, though, is not a safe space for vegetarians.  Or dieters.  Among the itinerant vendors on the grounds was one selling a cream puff that was probably eight inches tall from the base of the puff to the powdered sugar on the upper half of the puff.

Yes, there's still a lot of crazy stuff going on in the country and around the world, and yet: when it's high summer, and the sunsets are beginning to come perceptibly earlier, and there are two or three days running when the air conditioner can rest and the nights are cool enough to throw all the windows open, the best thing to do is enjoy the moment.  The opportunities to post on the crazy stuff will be there tomorrow, or next week.