The Last Market

We attended our final market for the year this past Sunday in Morgantown, WV.  The farmers market that meets on Saturdays on Spruce St. hosts a series of indoors winter markets throughout the winter months, every three weeks.  This is an excellent chance for both customers and vendors alike to do their business and maintain contacts.  For the end of December there was quite a variety of produce available!

At the Backbone table you could find
arugala
broccoli
kale
salad mix
mixed mustard greens
French breakfast radishes
hailstone radishes
carrots (rainbow style)
parsley
dill

Others things I spotted include brussel sprouts, beets, cabbages, bok choi, baby bok choi, head lettuce, basil, potatoes and tomatoes.  Then there were all kinds of "value added" products like breads and other baked goods, meats, greenhouse plants, jams and jellies, wreathes, woolen wear, cards, eggs and honey!  Whew!  The market was packed for quite a while, and I saw lots of folks with their Thanksgiving menus in hand, buying what they could locally.  It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that there would be lots of Thanksgiving dinners where our produce would be served.  I do give thanks for our customers.  Without them, we would be just growing for ourselves, and working some kind of jobs we would rather not have.  Most likely.  That's always a strange road to go down though, and I don't think I'll get into hypothetical parallel lives right now.

Thanksgiving being just two days away leaves me obliged to give some thanks myself.  And I'm happy to do it.  I've been trying to live my life in a more grateful manner lately.  As the sign board on some church today put it "live with at attitude of gratitude"  Now that's a bit to hokey and holy for me, but it is a great sentiment.  Life is so unpredictable and can come crashing down on us at any minute.  So I give thanks for each and every day that the most awful things I have to worry about are escaping cows, three year old's tantrums, poopy diapers or car trouble.  Run of the mill discomforts, typical daily trials that can seem terribly troubling at the time, but really don't amount to anything.  I have a wonderful family, and I can't express how much they mean to me.  My children are the cornerstone of my life right now, and I give thanks that they are all healthy and happy (for the most part).  And I am thankful that they still let me into their lives, have not shunned me yet. I give thanks for a husband that loves and respects me, and for parents and in-laws who offer me endless support.  I give thanks for friends that brighten my days, and hold us up when we need it, and accept help in return.  Most days I remember to appreciate and marvel in the apparent beauty of our surroundings.  The farm and it's fields, trees, changing colors and textures.  The clean water, clean air and healthy soil, the animals wild and tame, the woods and the streams. I am thankful that my children have this. I give thanks that we live in a state of peace, no major conflict or oppression, we have our basic human rights met.  And I am thankful for my health.  A mundane thing to say, but really- what else is there?  What else is there but health, family, friends, food and peace?

So to all you out there that I know and love, aven those I don't see and seldom talk with, I hope you have a most enjoyable and peaceful holiday.  I wish for you that you get to be with those you love, and eat what you like till your heart's content.  And then maybe a nap.