Tomorrow marks the beginning of the two-week wonderfest known as the Minnesota State Fair.
When you live just six blocks from the fairgrounds, you have to deal with your more industrious neighbors who know how to make a buck when they get a chance: The Neighbors Who Sell Parking Spots in Their Front Yards.
No one really does this on my block, and the one family that does, well, they've got a fabulous corner lot to do it on. Plus, they know me, so they will never do the thing I dislike the most about living in this neighborhood during the fair: wave giant PARK HERE signs at me as I drive down the street.
The people of this Como Park neighborhood stand outside, in rain or shine, from dusk til dawn, waving their PARK HERE signs at everyone who passes by. Don't get me wrong, there is serious money to be made during the fair when you let people park on your grass. Lots of folks take time off of work to do it. It's that lucrative.
Still, I feel like every time I head out to the grocery store, I'm running the Gauntlet of Greed.
Besides, I don't NEED to PARK HERE. I LIVE here.
I know it's silly. I know I should just smile and nod, but ever since I made The Sign in 2007, I can't help but feel like I'm making my own, special, neighborhood statment:
Happy fair going, and if the wind is blowing due East, I can't wait to hear Def Leppard rocking it out from the Grandstand later this week.
