Funny how one can not attend a county fair for many years, then find nothing changed on his or her return. A decade since I visited one, and no discernible difference: same number of Harley guys wearing t-shirts whose backs are emblazoned with "IF YOU CAN READ THIS, THE BITCH FELL OFF". Same dazzling profusion of livestock to be judged, each example of which I must peer into the pen of, no matter how identical they all are (sorry about the half hour in the sheep tent, friends). Same irrefutable parade of evidence that this country's alleged obesity epidemic is not merely the dreamchild of the weight-loss industry. Same "Haunted House" ride in a state of richly shocking disrepair. But have there always been *deep-fried cheeseburgers on a stick*?