Here in Seattle it’s fall. Leaves are turning, as much as they turn. Skies bring more shades of gray than you thought possible; rains have begun. Days are shorter than nights; mornings hint at the chill of winter.

The great cultural signal of all this is the Puyallup Fair, now known as the Washington State Fair. Washington’s largest fair, it brings over one million people to the valley beneath Mt. Rainier. The fair wrapped up last weekend, but I bask in its afterglow…