COLD SPELL

This past weekend, Oct 9-10, was the annual Watonga Cheese Festival, and it was VERY COLD. On Thursday, it poured down rain all day and into the night, but by Friday morning the wet front had passed to the east. It left behind temperatures in the high 30's overnight and 40's on Friday and Saturday, with a chilly breeze. During the day it wasn't too bad; a nice chilly fall day to walk through the main street exhibits and stop and listen to the music. Andy is on the entertainment committee for the festival, and they had arranged to have two stages going throughout the day for free, and two night-time acts in the theatre for paid tickets. At the last minute they had to arrange for a tent cover for the main stage, in case it did rain over the weekend. The tent also helped keep the wind out. One of the people that performed on the smaller stage on Friday was Clint Osmus, a young guitarist who did some John Prine and other old country covers, along with some Randy Newman. He was very good. He also performed later in the day with his band. Most of the acts on the small stage were 30-45 minutes long. The "headliner" for the main stage on Friday night was Edgar Cruz, and Drew and Montana arrived in time to see them. So did some friends of ours from Tulsa, Teri and John. We laid out a couple of layers of picnic blankets on the ground and also had some camping chairs set out under the tent. Once the sun went down, it got downright COLD. We bundled up and enjoyed the show. Edgar had brought one of his former students with him, a girl from San Diego who went by the name "radical classical". She had an interesting and different, avant garde, style. It was a good concert, in spite of the cold weather which I know was hard on the guitarists.

Saturday was very cold. But we braved the weather and strolled through the buildings and tents at the festival, bought cheese and wine, saw the art exhibits, and ate carnival food. The wine tasting exhibits were popular, but the small crowds all through the festival was a reflection of the cold weather.