Rain spoils the Scottish play

Living in the Pioneer Valley in the People's Republic of Massachusetts, a conservative like me can feel like soldier behind enemy lines.  But although I often bristle at the flower-power wannabe hippies in the Valley, I will admit that there's a lot of great culture in the area.

Every summer, we try to catch one or two performances of the Hampshire Shakespeare Company.  Last night, we tried to convince ourselves that the advancing rain would stay south of Amherst but - alas! - we had to leave after half of Macbeth.  That was a shame since the actors were putting on a great performance despite the inclement weather.

The Company puts on four weekend performances during the summer and I always feel bad when it rains for them on a Saturday night, which must be their most popular night.  (When it rains, they move the performance into a two-car garage and that's not quite so much fun.)  I always liken it to a NASCAR track which typically hosts two Sprint Cup races a year: you invest so much time into a single event and it's ruined by Mother Nature.

Speaking of which: today's NASCAR race at Pocono is currently delayed due to - you guessed it - rain.