I used to bring a cart to hang bags of produce on. Then, throughout the week I'd throw out vegetables that we hadn't used. So bad. Now that I'm not working, we've developed a more realistic outlook on food shopping. This should be a surprise - just buy what you will use. So now I take two Trader Joe's bags to carry through the market. Because my purchases are limited, I look at everything much more closely.
Has the market always been so beautiful? Yesterday the sun was just coming up. The market is at the base of the San Gabriel mountains. They were clear and stunning, a great backdrop to the market. The light of the sun made all the vegetables even more colorful. I gasped when I saw one stall with beets and carrots glistening in the sun. I was singing softly to myself as I strolled. If I was a good singer, the blind guitarist or the steel drum player would have had a vocalist for the day.
In between appearances at the farmers' market, I've been cleaning house and reading. I have read a slew of crummy mysteries as well as this nice non-fiction book, Outcasts United, about a little town in Georgia. Who knew that relief agencies were putting a part of every immigrant group in a town outside Georgia. There are people from many countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Eastern Europe. They are all poor. Many don't speak English. All are looking for a better life. As you can imagine, this has adversely affected the people who have lived in the town for decades. I thought this just happened in Southern California.A young woman from Jordan starts and coaches a soccer team for young men. The young men come from every country represented in this diaspora. The story takes place over a couple of years, but the author does backstories on the coach and key players. I enjoyed this story and needed this story. It was important for me to remember why people come here.
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