During my 2014 Come See Turkey adventure, we luckily stopped for a quick visit to the village of Bardaklı at the base of Mount Ararat, or as they call it, Ağrı. The villagers are mostly farmers and cattle herders, but we did meet one interesting man whose job was selling leeches. That was a first for me. The views were glorious (quite similar to my Oregon) and the people achingly sweet, though clearly they did not have great riches... 

My friend, Rosemary Stafford, and I spent a seriously fun day at the Oregon State Fair in Salem, the capital city. There were many carnival rides, fried foods, happy fair-goers, musicians, artists, gorgeous show animals (like pigs, cows, rabbits, pheasants, horses), you name it. I wish it were going on every weekend! It brings up such happy nostalgia from my early boyhood on a Kansas farm.