Summer has gone by really fast. The local kids are back in school and tonight you can almost smell a touch of autumn in the air. It has been awhile since I cleared off the memory card in my camera so I thought I would just see what was on it.
We have never had as many flowers in the garden as we have this year.
And what can I say about the veggies? It is amazing what a little rain and a few happy honey bees can do.
These are some of the veggies I picked last Friday for the Farmers Market.
Amazing! Just check out that BEA-UT-I-FULL box of tomatoes. I was so impressed with them that they rode to town Saturday morning on the console beside me so I could admire their beauty. And I did… right up till the moment I turned down into the narrow road through Hell Canyon and a sweet little speckled white-tail fawn jumped out of the ditch right in front of me!
I slammed on the brakes…
Our eyes met in wide-eyed horror…
Time stood still…
And foul, four lettered words spewed from my dainty, pink lips.
With white knuckles I clutched the wheel and waited for the impact of tender flesh against hard, cold metal…
I missed the fawn – Thank goodness!
But before I could heave a sigh of relief all hell broke loose in the pickup.
In one felled swoop all the veggies and supplies which had been in the back seat unloaded onto the floor – wedging themselves into a jumbled mass between the seats. In the bed of the pickup it was even worse. The pumpkins, beets, squash and gourds which had been neatly stacked in lovely, hand-woven baskets slid forward followed closely by the little red wagon, tables, shelf unit and canopy (complete with the 4 cement blocks I use as corner weights) which slammed into the front of the pickup bed leaving a pile of damaged veggies and busted wicker. I can still see their multi-colored veggie ‘faces’ pressed against the back window.
And last – but not least, that whole flat of luscious, BEA-UT-I-FULL, red-ripe tomatoes hit the dash causing them to jump out of the box, and cascade down the side of my leg onto the floor where they rolled around like a class room full of kindergarteners hyped up on cherry Kool-Aid and sugar cookies on the first day of school. They frolicked around my mud-caked boots before finally lodging themselves under the gas and brake pedals.
It wasn’t pretty.
Hell, it wasn’t even funny.
I pulled over and put the pickup in park before lifting my feet out of the tomato soup on the floor. I picked up the split and bruised tomatoes that I thought I could salvage then opened the door and kicked out the ones that were beyond hope. I tell you, there is nothing sadder than smashed tomatoes on the side of the road – unless it is a smashed baby Bambi. I was glad he had avoided the bumper and hoped he had at least learned a lesson about fast-moving vehicles.
Yes, I was thankful I had not hit him – at least until I came home later that day and noticed that all the tomatoes I had left bleeding on the side of the road were now gone. The greedy little deer. I don’t know how he knew which vehicle to jump in front of but I’m convinced that was his evil plan all along. Nasty little bugger – I’ll be watching for him this week.
Now, one week later, there are still tomato guts on my floor mat…
and the dash…
and console…
But even after all that my little booth still looked pretty good and I sold more veggies last Saturday then I ever have.
I even sold a bag full of mangled tomatoes. Am I a salesman or what?
But last week’s trip wasn’t my only memorable trip to the Farmers Market – in fact – the trip the week before was a bit bazar too. I was just glad I had my camera handy because no one would have believed me without the photographic evidence I now have.
Flashback to Saturday, August 17th – 6:47 am:
It was a beautiful summer morning. The sun was shinning brightly, its brilliant golden rays glittering across the rain-soaked highway – which was still wet from a storm the night before. There were no deer in sight and I had almost made it to the outskirts of Custer when I topped a hill and saw this:
Yes… Those are vultures!!! Yes… 24 vultures all in a row!!!
One vulture on each fence post as far as the eye could see.
I had coasted past them before my groggy brain cells registered what I was seeing. I grabbed my camera and turned into an approach, checking the traffic from both directions. I would be late to the farmers market but I had to go back. Really, how many times does a photo opportunity like this present itself?
You should know – I am a rather superstitious person so coming across 24 vultures, lined up in a row beside the highway next to a speed limit sign could be taken as a warning or even worse – A REALLY BAD OMEN!!! Especially to someone like me who has seen every Final Destination movie they ever made.
It looked like a Highway Patrol commercial meant to scare teenaged drivers into following the speed limit. All it needed was camera men filming the scene and subtitles printed across the bottom of the fence:
“Go ahead and speed. We’ll be there to pick up the pieces. Bahahahahahahahaaaa!”
I looked around. There weren’t any camera men.
Frankly, it freaked me out – especially when every one of the birds stayed put and let me move in close enough for some good (and creepy) pictures.
The thunderstorm the night before had been pretty nasty so the logical part of my brain knew they were just enjoying the morning sun, perched there ‘spread-eagled’ (LOL – I crack me up!) to dry their feathers off. I had seen lots of vultures do this many, many times before.
The superstitious part of my brain wasn’t so sure.
That part of my brain reminded me that I had never seen a grand total of 24 vultures all in a row, near a busy highway with no sign of road kill and only a speed limit warning sign in the middle of them for good measure! It also didn’t help that I was the only one out on that lonely stretch of road that early in the morning.
Talk about your Twilight Zone moments.
Needless to say, I have followed the speed limit ever since and so far I haven’t seen the vulture patrol again.
After the last two weeks I’m not sure what to expect this week but I’ll be sure to report back to you if anything out of the ordinary happens on Saturday.
Otherwise, I’ll see you at the Farmers Market…
I hope! Bahahahahahahahaaaa!!!
RanchDaze 