The largest Rapidograph nib employed

After blowing the egg out of the shell, I let the shells dry for several days so the paper wouldn't stick. (This time, however, I kept the drying shells where no raccoon could get at them.) And I outlined some designs on the shells using a Rapidograph pen with waterproof India ink.

Colored

The next step was to color the designs in with Sharpies.

Finer point

On each egg, I wrote something inviting people to leave their own message in the egg for the next person.

Example

The wording was a little different on each egg. This was the only egg where the entire message was visible at the same time.

fortunes

Finding useful things to say to strangers is not my strong suit. Most of these came from ancient Chinese philosophers I admire. If anyone wants to know, Confucius has gotten a bad rap and was not about preserving the status quo unless it was good already. Anyway, I slipped the fortunes into the not cookies and was ready to go the the Fairfax Festival with my carton.

1st not cookie placed.JPG

On the way to the festival, I found this handy and very visible spot for my first not cookie.

Musical float

The parade had already started when I got into Fairfax. The Fairfax Festival has lots of music. It is a very musical town. I think this float represented a school, because the singer (the one in the dress) was singing something about math.

Green message

Very little petroleum was used to convey this message. The sign says, "Drill, baby, drill! Kill, baby, kill!"

more music

I didn't get such good pics of the parade this year, but this gives a little piece of life in our little town.

2nd not cookie placed.JPG

I was now in the heart of Fairfax, with the festival going on around me. This potted geranium provided an attractive location for a not cookie. Others were placed, for example, in a redwood tree, on a bench, on the sound stage where some musicians were about to play, next to a bird house for sale. When I headed for home a while later, this not cookie was still there (I guess a little too well hidden), but the first one was gone. My hope is that the not cookies, at least one or two of them, will circulate for a while bearing messages from many people.