Lazy Summer Days of August
I’m not sure how it happened but August is here. For so many, we look towards August as a break, providing us with a couple of days off, a vacation to the beach or off to enjoy the cool breeze of a mountain. The pace of life just seems slower in August as we cling to the summer, the heat, and the warmth. However, while we slow in summer, it seems all of our gardens tend to speed up, and the fruits and vegetables of the garden tend to ripen almost right before our very eyes. The red tomatoes are now ripe on the vine and ready to be enjoyed on BLTs. The sweet corn on the cob is just picked and waiting to be placed on the grill for your summer BBQs. You walk through your garden and see the bountiful cucumbers, summer squash, and zucchini ready to be enjoyed. You return from your garden with your arms brimming because you know that if you let the zucchini go another day it will be the size of a baseball bat tomorrow.
This Saturday will bring you a smaller farmers' market than you are used to this year. Many of the vendors are taking the week off from the market to attend to family obligations, spend time with their children, and a few are just stepping back to catch their breath after many weeks of bringing their wares to share with us, and taking time to enjoy a bit of summer. Whether you are attending the market as a regular or a visitor, enjoying our area on your summer break, be sure to take some time to enjoy summer and what that means in regards to our Farmers Market. Wake up and ease into your weekend with a stroll about the market, visiting vendors, and be inspired by the tastes of summer for your dinner plans and spend some time cooking, utilizing the freshness and ripeness of summer to add flavor to your meal. Purchase teas to brew and enjoy with a good book, sweets to enjoy with the grandchildren, breads to share as you pass a dish around your outdoor patio with friends, or a refreshing hard cider to ease the heat of the day away. Take the time, enjoy the moment and savor the flavors that are summer.
As a child, I remember my grandfather sitting under the shade of a tree listening to his Red Sox on the radio while sipping on a beer. He always told me that was his favorite way to spend a summer day. I once asked him why it was ok sometimes to just sit and be “lazy” when so often, in other moments, he would be rushing to get things done. He smiled and replied that he wasn’t being lazy, he was simply sitting and thinking. He was as he would say remembering what was, and imagining what could be….As a child I didn’t quite understand what he was telling me.
August reminds us it’s ok to slow down and take stock. That it's okay to relax and enjoy something simple. For my grandfather, it was the cold beer and the baseball game on the radio. Today now that I am a father and grandfather, I better appreciate the advice he was sharing. We all need to sometimes step back and reflect on the past and think about the future. To remember the good times as well as the hard times and be grateful that we have gotten to where we are at. To enjoy the simple pleasures, the refreshing drink of lemonade, the ripeness of a peach, the crunch of the first apple of the season, the juice of the watermelon you enjoyed after a dip in the pool.
Thank you for your support of the market. Hope to see you Saturday but, if not that’s ok, we’ll see you there soon.
GREG
MILLBROOK FARMERS MARKET MANGER