I just got back from walking through a bustling and busy farmers' market in a neighboring city. Regular readers of this blog may recall that I am a 'frequent flyer' at farmers' markets and have written more than one posting about experiences gleaned from these fascinating composites of Americana.
Today's jaunt was a bit different than most of my trips to FM's, as I'll call farmers' markets from now on. My/our usual pattern is to go on the early side. This is mostly due to the heat factor but also due to the availability of a reasonable tomato selection. Sometimes our schedule is predicated on being able to purchase bagel knots from our favorite market-side restaurant but they will now create bagel knots on-the-spot, if they've run out, which is often the case if you go later. (We do love our bagel knots.) Today's trip was so late that a bagel knot did not interest me. (Fascinating thought: What if I would have said "a bagel not that did knot interest me." How I love words!)
But, I digress.
Because I arrived late morning to the FM, I felt as if I should be hurrying and scurrying. My inner spring was wound tightly and my brain kept saying, "Focus, accomplish, stay on task!" Once I moved into the area where all the vendors were displaying their wares, the walking areas were so clogged with people, strollers, dogs on and off leashes, wagons, carts, etc. that I was forced to change my foot speed to what felt like a crawl. Initially, I was highly annoyed. However, having no choice but to match the speed of the hordes of humanity around me, I slowly began to realize that my muscles were relaxing, my inner spring was loosening, and I was becoming more aware of my surroundings. Moving along with the speed of your average garden slug, my eyes took in all of the colors in the booths, the aromas of the foods being sold, the vivid array of freshly-cut flower bouquets, the wide variety of dog breeds, the wide variety of dog-handlers, and the wide variety of dog-handling skills - a topic for another posting.
In the end, I purchased everything I went to find, with the exception of cucumbers, which I forgot to look for. Another disappointment might be that I purchased Carolina peaches and not Michigan peaches........a slip-up I'm certain we'll become aware of with our first bite. Although my walking pace was more like the step-step-together shuffle of a wedding processional, I came away with a heightened awareness of my surroundings, a lowered heart rate and, probably, lower blood-pressure numbers than when I first arrived.
Can a nap be far behind?
Ancora imparo
