Having spent my child and young adult-hood in small-town Iowa, I have had a fondness for farmers' markets for as long as I can remember. I have distinct memories of sunny Saturdays spent wandering the Iowa City Farmers Market, which was held in a parking lot across from the public library. On those Saturdays, the lot was filled with vendors from across the state, offering a brilliant array of fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, jams, and flowers, often sold out of the back of the farmers' own pick-up trucks. My mother would lead me and my sister up and down the loosely arranged aisles, the gleaming displays of farm-state bounty nearly eye-level to our kid statures. I carefully observed the jewel-like glimmer of pink raspberries, the gleam of shiny, overripe tomatoes, the elegance of corn cobs hidden away in their smooth green husks. It was an aesthetic experience, and I was always far less concerned with actually procuring these items than with simply observing their loveliness.
This reverence for the "farmers' gallery" stays with me still, apparently, as I found myself nearly paralyzed with appreciation at the Dupont FRESHFARM Market yesterday. With $45 in my pocket, I could've filled several bags full of buffalo jerky, feta de Provence, or lush salad greens, and yet, I found myself simply wandering the stalls, stopping to admire the way the midday light illuminated a cluster of basil plants, smiling at a child's squeal of delight upon discovering the display of live Maryland crabs. It was enough to just be there. More than enough.
I returned home with a renewed sense of abundance and three apples, two Fuji and a Braeburn. I ate the Braeburn on the walk home. It was really, really good.
Photo of Dupont FRESHFARM market tomatoes by Flickr user M.V. Jantzen.
Photo of Dupont FRESHFARM Savoy cabbage by Flickr user Josporte.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment