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#WhiteChairDayDAY

And follow our author, Joni Jesme as she prepares for the first White Chair Day DAY! Coming August 28, 2018!!!

We have desperately needed rain in the Twin Cities.  Everything has been dry and in need of a good rain – and finally, relief has come.   Driving home from work, I rounded the corner of a neighborhood I pass through after picking up my Miss Nala from puppy play care.  It was raining, and I had to do a double take as I witnessed a woman having a VERY White Chair Day!

There she was, standing in her front yard in a rain jacket, hood pulled up… watering her garden in the rain!  I had to slow down – blink hard – and yep, watering her garden in the rain.  And I thought my gardens were dry!

I have a crazy itch for the St. Paul farmers market.  I love going there, and this longer winter has me missing it even more than usual.  There is something about stretching out from the sheets on an early Saturday morning, brush my teeth, toss my hair up on my head, throw on some jeans and a t-shirt, flip-flops, light jacket if chilly, my canvass bags, making a good pot of Joe and filling a thermos cup and heading to the farmers market.   I think for me it’s a combination of the smells, tastes, people watching, sounds… just a smorgasbord of senses, very stimulating, sexy, down to earth, a sensory fulfillment…

The freshest of veggies to sample while getting to know who really grows locally, and then developing those relationships with the vendors.  The herb guy who has been there for years has the best herb plants, and has worn the same felt hippie hat with the peacock feather in it… love that guy.  And of course, I have to pinch his basil, rosemary, and sage to smell the treats that I will be bringing home to plant and cook with.  The vendor who makes the best homemade soaps; the earthy woodsy smells, the lavenders, etc.  wonderful smells…  The honey’s, fruits, egg, and meat vendors.  The baked goods where you know the guy who makes the best garlic bread and remembers my curly hair before he remembers my face.  It’s good to develop relationships with the growers, bakers, makers.

Sometimes there is music, the guy playing his timpani drums and little kids dancing their own dance in-between the aisles.  Hoping someday in the ‘distant’ future I can be watching my grandkids dance at the farmers market and I would join them…  Calming music that evokes a warmness in what can sometimes be an otherwise noisy and crowded place as the morning progresses.  Sometimes blues, sometimes jazz, sometimes Celtic, and sometimes just the music of people.  I like to dawdle and find myself passing a couple of hours.

Then there is the chocolate lady who makes the most wonderful, creative chocolates, and knows I am fond of the adventurous palate and says “Hey, I have a curry chocolate you asked about today that you ‘must’ try”… and of course I must!

Then the pungent cheeses, the overly priced goat cheeses, the homemade varieties that have a bite to them and make my taste buds dance and say “good morning”!

The people watching is eye candy.  Old couples still holding hands and hanging on for dear life as some people are more focused on pushing through rather than watching out for others.  The new lovers, the older lovers, the strange, the lonely, the happy, the chatty, the grumpy, all of them… it’s just fun to see.

What is my perfect way to end a Farmers Market day?  Take a bag of goodies to the lake or park, spread out a blanket, and have a picnic in the sun or shade.  A good baguette from the guy who makes the awesome garlic bread, some good cheeses, fresh veggies, apple cider or wine from a local vineyard, fruit, chocolate, and whatever happens to be in season, and just sit, lay back and enjoy it all!

Share your favorite farmers market memories!

Enjoying our senses.  That for me, is just the most amazing, underappreciated part of life – the extraordinary in the ordinary.  So many people just don’t take the time to really enjoy them.   I was thinking about the sense of smell this morning.  Spring is keeping its distance, but there was that slight smell in the air this past week that reminded me that it is not so very far away.

Smelling the outdoors – ah!  And that led me to think of my clothesline that is tucked away in the garage, waiting to stretch its arms in the warmer weather.  There is something just amazing about drying sheets and a few things on the clothesline.  A few years ago I bought an old-fashioned English clothesline that is round (octagonal) and spins with the wind.  It holds a lot of clothes and sheets, and by spinning in the wind, dries everything pretty quickly.  I absolutely love the smell of sheets dried outside.

Taking a pillowcase or piece of clothing off of the line, and pressing it up to my nose – and inhaling deeply – is such a wonderful experience.  Then that night, being surrounded by that fresh smell as I snuggle under the covers…  just such a sensory joy!

Other favorite smells?  Fresh cut grass, rain, a newborn baby, a campfire, pine needles and strangest of all – the first time I smell a skunk in the spring – it reminds me that it is spring after all!

What are some of your favorite smells?

Joni

“Lines on Life”…  It seemed an appropriate title for this author’s blog page where I will share random ramblings on life, and living life.  Words can take a bounty of forms within writing. The world is profound, and I cannot imagine a life that didn’t involve writing.

I hope you enjoy these ramblings!