You just never know . . .

. . . when something will come along to brighten your whole day.  This morning I drove to the farmers' mkt.  It is held rain or shine throughout the year, and the one closest to me is in one half of the parking lot for the light rail.  Parking is always abundant and easy in and out.

There are a lot of markets in Sacramento, and every one I've been to seems to have a middle aged man and woman singing dismal folks songs.  Don't get me wrong, I like most folk music, but some of it is plain garbage, just as some of any kind of music is garbage.  When I got out of my car this morning I heard the voice over the microphone, but something sounded different.

There was a woman with a gorgeous voice singing and playing a tambourine, another woman playing a guitar, and the best part of it all, a young boy about 8 or 10 who had a drum on his lap and was providing an exotic beat.  I don't know drums so I can't say what kind it was, but this young kid was the most endearing little thing.  He also was very good on the drum.  They played some of the better folk music that I've heard before, and some I haven't.  They looked Mexican but not really, but of course that's kind of a stereotypical statement and I'm not sure it matters what their heritage is.   As I said in the beginning, you just never know when something will come along to change your attitude - I have always wished these markets would just forget the music, but this small group changed my mind and my mood.  I'm going to have a very happy day!

I want to thank all those who have written me such encouraging comments.  Your kind words are lifting me out of the mood I've been in the entire month of October.  To have spent a wonderful 3 weeks in New York and then come back to being ill ever since is not conducive to writing, and I apologize for the negativity.

So I've spent $10 on produce this morning (and come away with all I could carry), plus $1 I threw into the flower pot in front of the singers, and now I need to decide what I'm going to use in which dishes.  I'm definitely going to make my own tomato sauce!  Not too much of it at first because I'm not sure how I will like it.  Tomatoes don't agree with me since my gallbladder removal, but I can eat heirloom tomatoes with no problem so that is what I bought this morning.

We had occasional periods of heavy rain yesterday and throughout the night, but not enough to even put a scratch in the drought, much less a dent.  Anything we get will be good.  I'm a bit jealous of the folks in the southeast this morning when I think of the snow they are getting.   Too bad I can't be in the Smoky Mountains right now.