Festive Events

What a weekend! Canada Day, Farmers Market Day, July Fourth parade, not to mention all those speeding tickets being issued to the unwary. While not doing much of anything, I managed to see two of them issued today: one on Tyee and one on South Beach.

But let's go to today's event..the farmers market held in the Community Center parking lot from 9-1 p.m. Today was the first such market, and it is to be repeated every two weeks this summer.  This event turned out to be a virtually perfect kind of event for Point Roberts...not too ambitious, not too demanding, not too long, not too serious, expectations not too high.  And further, useful and friendly, and filled with wonderful pictures, but I forgot to take my camera (which just demonstrates that I'm not a serious photographer).  Great people pictures, including one little girl dressed like a circus of amazing colors, and a little guy in a soccer(?) shirt about 40 sizes too big plus yellow boots; great dog pictures as well, including an Italian whippet and a shaved Pomeranian.  We were there for the entire four hours because Ed decided to take postcards of some of his 'Somewhere in Point Roberts' series in order to assist in having this first market get off to a good start.  There were a few other people there with photos, books, and art stuff, but there were also people selling a Persian rug, some amazing Barbie dolls, a barbeque, extra clothes, and a coffee pot, among other garage sale type items.

And, of course, the real farmer's market stuff: herb bouquets, sour dough bread, lovely lettuces of several kinds, cucumbers, and garlic and green onions: all the early garden goods.  Plus pear butter and strawberry-rhubarb jam and cherry pies.  And a couple of people brought plants for those whose garden is still to be planted.  Most of the attendees showed up promptly between 9 and 10 in order to get some of the edibles, which moved out quickly.

What I liked most about the event was its sociability, its multi-tasking nature, and its low-key scale.   Somebody was teaching kids about bicycle maintenance and helmet safety; somebody was playing music without the benefit of any amplification system, somebody was selling pulled pork barbeque sandwiches for $3.  Nobody was looking to make big dollars; everybody was friendly and happy to talk to one another.

The kind of thing that makes Point Roberts, just for that little while, look like the utopia that we all wish for, including gentle breezes and sun.  Not too much to ask for on a July Saturday.