fall finds

i went to the farmer’s market in the parking lot of the fairfield theatre company yesterday. it was chilly, more than a little overcast, and drizzly. i didn’t expect much on a day like that. i thought it might be slim pickings.

instead, i found a still-bountiful display of vegetables and other produce. i went home with my prizes: fresh artisanal bread, mesclun salad greens with edible flowers, fresh pea shoots, heirloom tomatoes.

(i kicked myself for not picking up the “hen of the woods” mushrooms. however, they were being sold for $18 a pound. another time—perhaps one not so economically tight.)

while at the market, i kept thinking of an excerpt from barbara kingsolver’s animal, vegetable, miracle. she had gone to the farmer’s market near her family’s farm in virginia. it was a windy, cold, drizzly november day without much promise for a farmer’s market. yet, she went anyway. when she got there, she didn’t find an abundance of produce. but, she did find fresh honey, fresh walnuts already shelled, and a host of other little morsels to take home and make a yummy meal. she had gone with an open mind and no expectation.

i went to the market yesterday with the same mindset. sometimes, life gives you little surprises. you just don’t know until you get there…