Whidbey Island Fair

Whidbey Island Fair

The Island County Fair was last weekend.  In spite of it having changed its name to the awkward and all-inclusive Whidbey Island Area Fair, it is still the best little country fair around (I say, as if I’ve been to all the others). 

A friendly fair.

 We do an annual pilgrimage around all the animal and 4-H exhibits and I wait for the familiar line from the 4-H er working in the barn  “welcome to our cow/horse/chicken/goat barn.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask” Something about that always makes me smile.   

Georgia Gerber sculpture

We reminisce about the days of the “Barnyard Scramble” which our kids enjoyed a couple of times before it was finally decided that letting a bunch of small animals loose in an arena and allowing hordes of children to chase them until they catch one is probably not very good practice. 

vegetable animal

We walk through the agricultural exhibits where our daughter won a ribbon for her organically grown zucchini nearly 20 years ago.  We see little piles of what were once a handful of home grown raspberries that have withered in the heat, but still have friendly, encouraging ribbons attached to them.   There’s beautiful art and craft exhibits, and the commercial building where modern, digital businesses seem oddly out of place amongst the barns and horses and dust and carnival rides.  I find that very comforting for some reason.

This little piggy...

Then, of course, there’s the pigs, all shined up and ready to sell off as “organic pork” as advertised on Drewslist.  They look so much more glossy and well-cared for than Izzy, but since she’s the piggy who stayed home, that’s probably ok with her.

    

The Timebenders

We finish our rounds of the exhibits and then settle in for our annual musical pilgrimage.  The Timebenders is my second favourite  Canadian band (after Great Big Sea from Newfoundland).   They are an unusual act of talented musicians who also do hilarious impersonations and engage outrageously with the crowd.  Those of us who have seen them for the past 14 years (an Island County Fair record by about 11 years!) miss the days when their leader, Tom Watson, did more of the performing.  He is bringing on the rest of the group really well but no-one can compare to his comic timing and genius.

 

Eggplant art

As we sit up high in the bleachers, we see familiar faces and old friends walking by, and children who are transformed each year - they seem to reach a certain teen age where their looks and maturity change so rapidly, you can hardly recognize them. 

 

That happened a few weeks ago at another Whidbey Island event.  We met a friend whose daughter I would not have recognized if she hadn’t been with her mother.  She raced off suddenly and came back with a group of friends who all stood looking at us very cheerfully and slightly expectantly while we continued chatting. 

Later, my husband commented that he thought we were supposed to know who they were, but we didn’t recognize them.  The puzzle was solved when I ran into my friend’s daughter at a barbeque on my way to the fair.  I asked her if we'd known them but not recognised them.  She laughed - it turns out she had gone to get them to have them come and listen to my accent!  

Thanks for listening…

Rosie

Food for Thought

Good Cheer garden

This weekend I went to a reading by a well-known author from her new book about food.  It’s based on a one month experiment of only eating food that is available within 10 miles of her house.  The biggest impact that it had on her was an appreciation for what’s involved in feeding people and how much more gratifying it can be to actually develop a relationship with the people who provide your food. 

The event took place outside on a sunny Friday evening at a local coffee house that is a community hub in the seaside village of Langley.  It is run by volunteers and students who get training and school credit for participating.  The ongoing events and presentations about a huge variety of topics are free to the public; they just ask that you come a bit early to buy a coffee or snack to support the work of the “Commons”.  This is very typical of Whidbey Island - community, inclusiveness and generosity.

 

Good Cheer garden/greenhouse

South Whidbey has a local “Good Cheer” food­ bank.  It is an extraordinarily successful operation for such a small community, providing food and basic supplies for 860 families a month.  The facility is set up just like a grocery store - customers take their cart and choose from a huge supply of items which are either donated or bought with proceeds from the Good Cheer thrift stores.  Instead of $, the currency is points that customers are given for their family for the month, and even though it doesn’t get more real than the food bank, there is something unreal about how they handle their food.  

The place has its own, huge garden overflowing with fresh vegetables that are beautifully presented in the refrigerators at the magic grocery store.  There is one big difference though - unlike the “real” world, the higher the nutritional value of the food, the “cheaper” it is.  So a bag of fresh, organic vegetables costs one point, whereas a box of hamburger helper or other processed food would use up 5 points.

So while the food bank is providing sustenance and support to the community, they are also focused on the bigger picture of how the food balance has tipped so much in the wrong direction; where processed, genetically modified so-called food is the “treat” to be indulged in once in a while and the fresh, healthy “real” food is the cornerstone of your family’s health and well-being. 

view over the Good Cheer garden

I wonder about the proliferation of food and cooking shows in a country that no longer requires people to know how to cook as a basic survival skill.  It’s as if cooking has suddenly become this elite, special thing that is a hobby rather than something you do because you’re human and you need to eat.   

The part that gets lost is community, the coming together for food and sustenance and companionship.  Many families in the USA only share one meal together a year – Thanksgiving dinner.  My naïve hope is that they all turn their TV off while they eat it! 

Thanks for listening…

Rosie

Whidbey Walking

Wetlands

In spite of its reputation for having a less than ideal climate because of the rain, the Pacific Northwest will often have beautiful weather while the rest of the country is sweltering, like now, or mild weather while everyone else is shoveling snow.   When the sun does shine here, it is possibly one of the most beautiful places on the planet.  This has been particularly appreciated lately as I have been walking every day and it has helped me sustain a consistency that is not necessarily my strong point (as witnessed by these blog posts). 

country roads

Walking is surely the ultimate exercise – totally adaptable, can be done anywhere, all you need is a pair of shoes and you don’t even need those if you’re at the beach.  I love that it can be so many things – exercise, meditation, socializing, brainstorming or head clearing.  Mine is an anchor that keeps me focused each day and also provides space for contemplation and the practice of what a friend once called the “highest form of prayer”- gratitude.

One of the main things that strikes me as I set off down our laneway is the miracle of being safe.  To be able to walk alone, a middle aged woman, down a quiet (depending on ferry traffic) country road and feel physically safe is a gift that so many people in the world don’t have.   That thought mixes with hundreds of others; some I try to let pass by, others help me get caught up in the magic of eagles and hawks circling overhead, the wetlands teeming with life and birdsong, the occasional deer stepping out of the woods and friendly locals Islanders going about their day.  

The best little golf course on Whidbey

Part of my walking route takes me past a little par 3 golf course nestled among dozens of rhododendron bushes and towering Douglas firs.  I’m not much of a golfer – seven holes is about my limit before I get bored, but Island Greens has a special feel to it.  Probably not in the eyes of a serious golfer, but it has funky little tee-off points from the backs of old trucks and an honour system for paying and a cat called Sweet Boy who leaves treats around the course to encourage people to come and play at what is now the only public golf course on the south end after the closure of the only 18 hole course on South Whidbey.  

Whidbey golf

I love that quiet echo-y sound that drifts across a golf course on a sunny day – the whack of a ball, the murmur of voices; groans, laughter, encouragement - the sound of happiness and being in the moment.  

Island laneway

And I stay in my own moment, walking, contemplating the joy of being not only safe, but of being able to walk.  And then another bit of magic to be grateful for – being able to sit down every morning at my little table in my little apartment in one tiny corner of the world, with my favourite cup of tea of the day (the first one) and be able to turn on a computer and be in touch, instantly, with the whole world.