Farmer's Market Angst and a Tote Bag

Flowers are blooming.  The sun is warm.  Trees are sending out their tentative, baby-green leaves.  And the newspaper is telling us that very soon the open air Farmer's Market will be starting up down town on Saturdays.

So, in expectation of trips to the Farmer's Market this year, I've started knitting, Elisa's Nest Tote, which looks like it was just made to fill with a a bag of radishes, a jar of homemade salsa, and an eggplant or two.

No, that's not me or my pregnant belly.  But it is Elisa's Nest Tote (pattern here).

Last year was the first time I got to go to the Farmer's Market, and I loved it!

The rich, ripe vegetables . . .

. . . mounds of freshly homemade pastas in 13 different delicious varieties . . .

. . . even these gorgeously dyed fleeces.  ::sigh::

Last year I arrived, ready to purchase farm-fresh produce.

And then I found myself inexplicably uncomfortable with this new concept of purchasing from the farmer as he stood right there.  I realized I was wishing for the impersonal bins and bags at the grocery store, instead of looking into the face of the owners of this produce.

I wanted to press the ends of the melons, examine the tomatoes on all sides, smell the radishes---without their nurturer watching over me.  I felt like someone who was critiquing another's loved offspring.

I couldn't do it.  I hid behind my camera lens.

This year, I think I'm ready.  I'll gird up my emotions and boldly take the plunge.

And if all else fails, at least I'll look good with my tote bag!!