I Missed the Apple Festival?!?

Well for the first time in my entire life (at least as long as I can remember) I passed right through Apple Festival weekend without going even once. Even as I write this I cannot believe it.

You see, the Apple Festival used to be one of the highlights of my fall.

When I was in elementary school, the Apple Festival was all about FUN. The school I attended had a booth set up at the Festival affectionately known as the "Apple Fritter" booth (Mmmm...I sure love those warm delicious fried chunks of yummy). I always looked forward to working at the booth. I was the kid who carried the fritters from the men at the fry kettles to the powdered sugar ladies. Not only that, the fun of the festival also included the boy scout area (which had a maze and mole hole made from bales of hay), skits by the Hasty Pudding Co. (not sure I spelled that right), and Raise-a-Ruckus.

In middle school, the Apple Festival was all about FRIENDS. I would end up spending my entire weekend at the festival hanging with friends. Since none of us could actually go on dates at that point, and we were all starting to be interested in members of the opposite sex, it tended to be a great opportunity to lay your schmack down (to impress and flirt with - for those of you 40 and older). In other words, the Apple Festival was all about socializing.

Finally in High School and College, the Apple Festival was all about FOOD. It transitioned from a "let's spend as much time as possible with as many people as possible" kind of thing to a "let's see how many thousands of calories I can consume in 30 minutes" kind of thing. Suddenly it became somewhat of a competion among my friends to see who could spend the least amount of time at the festival and yet consume the greatest amount of grub. My friend Bake especially will know what I mean. We couldn't wait to indulge. I would save up my money for weeks just to go and blow it on fritters, dumplings, tenderloins, chicken and noodles, soup, ribs, cider, and more.

So this year I didn't go. Partially it was because of my schedule (I was at the Notre Dame game on Saturday and had to work on Sunday). Partially it was because of money (I don't have the luxury any more of saving extra money for such non-essentials as all the junk food I just mentioned). Partially it was because of physical ability (make no mistake, I can still pack away the goods - plenty of room in the tank - the problem is that I'm not sure my body will be as forgiving...eating like I used to now results in tighter pants and a spare tire inconveniently located around my waste). So, I missed it this year. It's a weird feeling for sure...but there's always next year.

Besides, I did manage to pick up one Apple Fritter through my good friend Aaron, so it wasn't a total loss.