Not far from Seattle is a set of secluded islands called the San Juans. I've been fortunate enough to spend a good deal of my Pacific Northwest time exploring San Juan Island, and this weekend I participated in their Islands Village Faire. Growing up in Connecticut, then living in New York City, I had never seen such an assortment of people (retirees hand in hand, young families with babies in brightly colored sarongs, fuzzy bearded men, girls in long flowy skirts who looked remarkably just like me) matched with such a sense of community; throughout the Faire, I experienced a heady mixture of peace, serenity, and overall goodwill to my fellow Islander. It was a beautiful thing. And since a major tenant of this Faire, in going along with the theme of community, was bartering, I was able to give away or trade off all of the cookies I had made, spreading the joy that I pompously believe comes with each bite of the cookies I make. I spent a better part of the week mixing batter for my favorite chocolate chip cookies and my Teff peanut butter cookies (the gluten-free kind), and after that hard yet gratifying work, sharing the fruits of my labor with friends and strangers alike was as different to me as it was fulfilling.
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I'm looking forward to more opportunities to get my cookies out there, so to speak. The San Juan Islands Village Faire was a remarkable step in that endeavor.
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