Teacakes and Tomatoes

Since I didn'’t work Tuesday night we made family plans to go to the Farmer's Market early Wednesday. My mother was even going to drive in from Haughton. The weather was grand --– the low humidity has been a treat.

Time came to load up the van and Charlie decided to stay behind. His bipolar meds have been slowing down his digestive system -- that'’s just one of the side effects he deals with on a daily basis.

I like the idea of an open-air market. A parking lot full of pickup trucks and farmers standing behind tables of purple hull peas, eggplant, yellow squash, green squash and watermelons. Sometimes the produce isn't grocery store pretty but then it tastes much better than those cardboard objects that look so lovely.

Katee and I met grandma there. We had no trouble finding a free parking spot at the new pavilion in Festival Plaza where the market is held on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Katee and I both had $20. She purchased blackberry jelly and I got tomatoes and teacakes. She also bought her daddy some pepper jelly. She couldn't resist when the man selling it said it tasted great over cream cheese and Ritz crackers and that he liked putting his on meat. Jelly for meat? What better treat for a dad could there possibly be? She even had plenty left over for a Dr. Pepper and a biscuit from McDonald's.