By Mark David Blum, Esq.

Today I had to take a day off the Fair. It wasn’t really by choice but sometimes the real world comes crashing in. Today I had to put on my lawyer hat and deal with issues involving real people with real problems. As much as I may have wished to be at the Fair, I consider my obligation to my customers to be paramount to everything else. I tell every client that they are my most important client – in turn. Today was someone’s turn and there was no ignoring the problem for another six days.

Let me tell you, I have ached. So much of me wanted to get up 1,000 times and head out to the fairgrounds. I had to fight the demons that taunted me with food, fun, sun, and a swirling sea of humanity. Nope, I had to focus today on a paper war.

I consider myself lucky having had a day off. Fair workers, and I speak from personal experience, do not get a day off. Most workers work 10-12 hour days for 12 straight days. They work in the rain and mud and the heat and the wall-to-wall people. I can tell you it takes a great deal of strength to work the run of the Fair. It isn’t always physical strength but rather the strength of mind and character that drives fair workers. That, and the remuneration. You can make a fair sum of money working long hours for 12 straight days.

Of course the one day I take off the Fair, I get a phone call that a reporter wants to interview me for being “that crazy lawyer who lives at the Fair”. Despite trying to set up an interview for tomorrow, I could tell there was a great sense of loss in the voice on the phone. Because I took a day off, my potential chance at local news stardom was lost.

I do have to admit that having a day off has been welcomed. My bones and back and legs can take a day off as well. The rest they are getting is very much appreciated.

Still I have no regrets. My sense of duty is greater than my craving for the spotlight. There will be other reporters and other stories.

The work which greeted my day is not complete this evening. But I am not missing any more of the Fair. My work will follow me tomorrow as I return to the land of Templeton and a veritable smorgasbord of life food and fun. Walking around as many hours as I will, the task that faces me will continue to cook and fester inside my head. I will work out the kinks, find pathways through the mine fields, and ultimately solve the puzzle. All I have to do is stop now and then and write stuff down. When all is said and done, I bet several tours about the fairgrounds is a great way to think and solve problems.

I am sorry I have no Fair story for you. I shall endeavor tomorrow to make up for lost words.