Friday, October 02, 2009

The Quiet Man on Saint Antoine

 

When you stroll the market in the city, look for bunches of crisp tender greens attached to the Autumn roots for sale.  They are the mark of the freshest produce.  There's one man along the riverside who places things thoughtfully down on his table, as if he wants to stay in harmony with that which nature has given him. Amongst the burgeoning splendor of crops on the move at this market, this zen kind of presentation can hit you quite squarely. He does not impose strict order on his table, nor does he make his activity seem like a daily grind of repetitive stacking and selling. He does not shout, pile things up or line up splendorous rows of the same thing over and over. He does not shine his goods with colored lights or erect red umbrellas to cast a rosy glow on everything. He lets the natural beauty of what comes from his garden speak like quiet poetry on an Autumn morning. A bunch of this, a group of that, a flourish, a swirl. Some wild things, some which he's planted in rows. Fifty-fifty him and nature. No matter what the pace we choose to profit from this labor, or how we present the fruit, it will continue to grow. I find that heartening.

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7 Comments:

Blogger Carolyn said...

The radishes show that he is happy to bring you what is actually in his garden--not just the most symmetrical--and I would be happy to buy and eat.

4:56 PM, October 02, 2009  
Blogger SmitoniusAndSonata said...

Can I see lovely thyme , grown on a hillside ? Local market shopping at its best .

10:09 AM, October 03, 2009  
Blogger Maria Verivaki said...

and you know that you can eat the green tops of the radishes too!

2:01 PM, October 03, 2009  
Blogger lisa said...

Oh Lucy I don't know which is more beautiful, your eye or your words. Thanks for an instant transport to a wonderful place.

5:55 PM, October 03, 2009  
Anonymous The Cookbook Apprentice said...

This is my first time visiting your blog. It's so nice to meet you!

11:42 PM, October 04, 2009  
Blogger Judith Klinger said...

Ciao Lucy!
Although our local Italian markets are noisier, messier affairs, they echo what you experience. Strange shapes, dirt, leaves with bug holes in them, it's all wonderfully good and real.

5:12 PM, October 19, 2009  
Blogger Unknown said...

Our farm market organizer, who is also named Lucy, presents her sometimes-meager produce well but it also has a zen-like feel to it that I appreciate. We are so fortunate to have markets here. But I would love to visit yours.

1:06 PM, November 03, 2009  

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