My favorite season of all

Friday marked the start of my local farmers market.  Of course, Wyatt and I went to show our support and to celebrate opening day.  We admired each of the market stalls, especially those with vegetables that were bright green and orange and red and smelled like dirt.  We treated ourselves to a kid's tamale and sampled some cheeses.  The market musician and his harmonica entranced Wyatt to the point that he was clapping and dancing and throwing gravel at the guy (luckily from the back row . . .  so none of it reached him).  He did have my toes tapping as well -- a good choice for opening day.  We talked with friends whom we ran into at the market and spent a few minutes running around the kids' play area.

There were also dogs -- so many of them that Wy had a hard time barking at them all.  An hour and a half later we came home with asparagus, kale, dried garbanzos, a pound of salted peanuts, and a hunk of a very luscious blue cheese from Willipa Hills.

This is the season of the year I like best -- farmers market season.  It means I can easily buy and eat locally-produced food, and that I have more varied, fresher, and better quality food to choose from every week.  Market season makes me once again feel part of the community in a tangible way -- meeting and talking and buying from familiar faces each week.

Although these pictures weren't taken on Friday, I did take them at the market last season, and when I look at them I smile and feel excited about the season that lies ahead.