Anderson Island is known for the "island wave." That is, everyone waves at everyone whether you're driving, biking, or walking. It mystifies and charms visitors. Hot tip: Remember to stop doing the wave when you leave the island as people look at you funny.
Overall, residents are incredibly warm and welcoming. By now, we've met many islanders, either at the Old Swimming Hole, in the dog park, or as we're out and about on the island. As such, we've been invited to attend concerts, parades, parties, and other social events as if we are locals.
Writers Retreat and Lunch
Anne Marie received permission to take the first weekend of August off to attend the Island Arts Writers Retreat. The retreat was led by two English professors from Oregon and California. Anne Marie brushed off the dust from her decades old poetry writing skills and put pen to paper for two days. The upshot? She'll never be a poet. But that's okay. It was something different and she got to know a number of new people. Meanwhile, Cliff demonstrated why he is the Senior Vice President of Gate Operations as he managed the park solo.
Anne Marie also attended a semi-annual "Ladies Who Lunch" event. The event began with a craft project: making a greeting card with decorative tape. As usual, with any project that requires a modicum of "artsiness" and patience, Anne Marie failed miserably. Her greeting card ended up looking like a project straight out of her kindergarten days. Add to it a big smear of blood from her finger that she sliced with an X-acto knife and it went straight into the garbage. But she met many new people and the lunch spread was delicious.
Dîner en Blanc
At the beginning of the summer we were invited by a fellow dog park goer to attend a private Dîner en Blanc event that was taking place on August 17th. What, you ask, is Dîner en Blanc? Good question. We had never heard of it either and had to look it up on the world wide interweb.
Dîner en Blanc is a social event launched in Paris in 1988 by a gentleman named François Pasquier and has since become an epicurean phenomenon that takes place in local communities worldwide. Essentially, it's an ultra-fancy picnic where participants show up to a secret location wearing all white clothing bringing their own table, chairs, cutlery, dishes, and food.
In preparation for the event, we ordered white clothing and table decor from Amazon and reserved a table and chairs from the community clubhouse. Fortunately, we already had white dishes in the RV.
Then, last Tuesday we received a text message with the address and were told to head over to the location on Thursday morning to set up our tables. It turns out it was a local resident's home on Amsterdam Bay. After setting up our table, we headed back to the motor home for an afternoon of cooking. On the menu: Leek and Potato Soup, Mushroom Quiche, Caesar Salad, and Raspberry-White Chocolate Hand Pies.
At 4 p.m., we hauled our cooler of food to the venue. Turns out, about 50 people attended. A band played on a deck overlooking the bay and we drank, ate, and danced the evening away. It was super unique and fun. We highly recommend it if you ever have the chance to go to one.
Line Cutter
Of course, not all is pink ribbons and butterflies here on the island, especially when it comes to the ever important ferry. The ferry system has not been as reliable as one would hope when it's your only means to get off and on the island. It's a standard running joke amongst islanders. It is not uncommon for the ferry to be either running late, delayed for repairs, or not available because it's on a fuel run.
And you definitely need to learn the ferry boarding and disembarkation rules. There are three loading lanes at both ferry terminals. If you end up in the third lane, you can pretty much bet you won't be on the incoming ferry. You'll have to wait an hour or more for the next ferry. Line cutting is subject to a fine and the scorn of others.
Case in point. Last week, we headed off island to do our weekly grocery shopping. Just as we boarded the ferry, in front of us a woman was out of her car and yelling at another woman for line cutting. Because it was hot, we all had our car windows rolled down and got to listen to the drama unfold.
"I'm going to report you and post a picture of your license plate on Facebook!"
"I didn't cut. I saw there was a space in Line 1 and the rules are that you can fill empty spaces."
"That's not the rule. You can't jump over from Lane 2 into Lane 1 in front of others who've been waiting longer than you."
"Yes, it is the rule."
Sounded like line cutting to us, but what do we newbies know? We've been yelled at several times over the summer by a ferry employee while boarding with our bikes for not following the unwritten rules. It's pretty much a learn-by-your-mistakes process.
Meanwhile, ferry personnel listened and waited until the kerfuffle dissipated and sidled away with grins.
Island life.
The Last Two Concerts
And it wouldn't be a complete blog post if we didn't talk about music. We attended two more concerts at "The Farm" this month. They will be our last as we're headed home after Labor Day. One was a repeat of the Canadian music concert we attended when we first arrived on the island. The other was a repeat of a new country western band, Uncle Daddy and the High Tides, whose members are a younger generation of islanders. Both were completely enjoyable and a great way to relax and enjoy the weather and great tunes.
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Do not sell my info. This is why we always enjoyed the Blue Grass festivals. Good food and the music was mostly good and fun with no amps allowed. And we met some great people.
Damn! There goes our profit margin, Wally. 😆
This was some much needed levity! I read this thinking, "I did not know that AM was a poet!" Okay, maybe not. And then, AM was doing crafts?!?" Who knew! Okay, again, maybe not. But occasionally we have to reach out beyond what we routinely do. Because we just never know.
I'll have to watch for those dinner events. That sounds really fun.
The writer's retreat sounds cool.
Cant wait to see you even if for only a day. What are the rules for e bikes on the ferry. Great blog by the way. The best yet! We got a slight taste of Hillary down by Mammoth but not like So Cal. How are your friends down by Palm springs Area?
What a blast. The big questions is will you be managing the gates next summer?