Also, Morehead City where we live part-time and Beaufort-by-the Sea nearby have Saturday markets where I spent this Saturday morning. One vendor stood by jangled piles of jewelry she had brought back from Kenya, some fashioned from noodles that had been spoiled by weevils, now painted gold and silver. Necklaces were a dollar, bracelets and earrings 25 cents. Almost everyone left covered in noodles and beads. The money went straight back to the crafters.
I bet all of us have a Farmer's Market nearby. Even though the markets are colorful and crowded, they are also havens of respite. Choosing the right peach or tomato keeps us in the present. You don't have to buy too much of anything. An outdoor market is not a place to worry. It's a neighborly place. Somehow the supermarket with its fluorescent lighting is not the same. Buying al fresco is like dining al fresco.
The biggest and best outdoor market near us is the Piedmont Triad Farmer's Market, open year-round selling flowers, fruits, veggies and pork from "happy pigs." Now that's hard to come by in North Carolina. The fresh egg dealers even have pictures of their perky hens. Harriet lays green eggs, Tallulah the speckled brown.
Haven't we all noticed the artistry of the farmer's displays? The jumble of colorful peppers hard and shiny, the textured cauliflowers, the fragile tomatoes.
I talked with a photographer in the Morehead City market. She had displayed a large close-up picture of augers framed in bleached wood. You know, those finger-tip cone-shaped swirled shells inhabited by what must be the world's tiniest carnivores. She said, "No one sees the world the way you do." What an encouraging thought. So, when I got home with my treasures, I tried to create my own still-life on my windowsill. See what you think. Olive oil, tea kettle, eggplant, a few okra, peppers in the shadows. What an enjoyable morning. I wish it for everyone.
